The Journey Home

A mere 3 hours of sleep was how I started Sunday morning. Rising out of bed around 6:30 I got right to work getting the apartment ready for my departure. My bags were packed the night before, so all I had to do was clean and keep a drunk Alex moving on his packing. It got done though, and we were one of the first apartments done. I checked on who else was up, and upon discovering Seth and Mike were still asleep, woke them up and warned them they had only an hour to clean. I ended up helping them out as one by one, Keiwa students arrived to say their final good byes.

With the apartments cleaned we waited out in the parking lot until James and Nabe-chan showed up with their respective vehicles to haul our luggage over to the school. We crammed the cars full of bags and then turned to say good bye to our friends. For the most part I'd already said good bye to the friends I'd made in Japan, but I still made sure to talk with Yuka and Megumu one last time. The good byes took a little bit longer then expected but finally we were off, walking to the school one last time. It was a quiet walk. Upon reaching the rice paddies I gazed at them, thinking about how high the rice had grown since we arrived. I felt that it meant something, perhaps how much we had grown on this trip.

At Keiwa we said good bye to James, boarded the Keiwa bus, and were off to Niigata Station. Once at the station we bought our tickets (just barely missing the previous Shinkansen run, this would matter later) and waited for the train. Just after 11 we boarded the Shinkansen for Tokyo, saying good bye to Nabe-chan, who was as energetic as ever. Much of the ride to Tokyo was spent dozing, intermittently interrupted by beautiful views of the Japanese countryside. At Tokyo Terminal we dragged our bags down to the lowest level of the station where we met the Narita Express. On the express we once again rode quietly, occasionally joking around, for this was the last time we'd be together as a group. Seth and I prepared ourselves for our arrival at Terminal 1, for we had a small problem.

The problem Seth and I had was actually realized at Niigata Station, but too late still. Because we had missed the 10:00am Shinkansen and instead had taken the 11:00am, our train to Narita would be getting to Terminal 1 at 3:00pm. Seth's flight left at 3:50, mine at 3:30. Mike's advice summed it up pretty well, "The first thing you wanna do is run as fast as you can." Thanks Mike. Upon reaching the station everyone wished us luck and I was off, moving up 5 floors to the departure lounge as fast as 25 kilos of luggage would allow (that's 55 pounds for you Americans). In the end it didn't matter, check-in for my flight ended at 2:30pm, before the train even arrived. I guess Seth made his, I never saw him again. The wonderful stewardesses at the Delta counter helped me get on the same schedule the next day. They said it was JR's fault for slowing me down (I had admitted it was my fault, you can't blame Japanese Railways for being late, it never happens) so no extra cost to me.

Having nowhere to spend the night I hopped on a bus to the Narita Hilton. I knew the twins were spending the night there and after contacting them from the front desk they allowed me to spend the night on their floor. I'm ever grateful to them for taking me in, while I could have easily gotten a hotel room for myself somewhere, I was glad to hang out with friends for one more night, and I was physically and mentally at my limit for the day (remember, only 3 hours of sleep, I had planned on sleeping on a plane).

After a night sleeping on the floor with a pillow (it was actually not that far removed from the futon at the apartment, but the pillow was more comfortable here) I woke with the twins at 9am. They headed down to breakfast while I said good bye and made my way back to the airport via shuttle bus. At the airport I browsed the mall inside for a Japanese-English dictionary so I could start translating some of the manga I was bringing back. After I found the dictionary I headed up to Narita Airport's amazing observation deck. Here I was back in my element, for I pulled out my camera and enjoyed one of my favorite hobbies, taking pictures of planes. After a while I got hungry so I headed inside and found a convenience store where I bought my last meal in Japan. The clerk handed me a spork so I asked for "Hashe" (chopsticks). She was a bit surprised and added them to my bag. After I ate I went back outside where I took more pictures until it was time to head to the check-in desk.

A 747 takes off from Narita International.

I got through check-in without problems, checking 2 bags this time (I had come here with one). Security and customs were also cleared without problem and I browsed the duty-free shops as I headed for my gate. I found my gate and then wandered back to where I could plug in my laptop to recharge and check the internet one more time. Eventually it was time to board the plane so I headed down and got in my seat and prepared myself for another excruciatingly long flight. I ended up watching movies most of the way, unable to sleep for lack of space. We left Narita at 3:30pm and 12 1/2 hours later landed in Atlanta at 3:20pm (now all I need is an orange vest and a DeLorean and I'm set).

In Atlanta I got to enjoy the wonderment of U.S. customs (it was actually not bad, getting my luggage was the longest part, and that wasn't really Homeland Security's fault). I got back through security and proceeded to my gate where I waited for 3 hours for my flight, desperately trying to not fall asleep. I called some family and friends to let them know I was back in the U.S., giving them a hint of how amazing my trip was.

While waiting for my flight I became acutely aware of the fact that I understood everything around me. I could read the signs, know what the food was on menus and what it tasted like, understand the conversations around me. I found all of this to be, well, boring. I realized how much I had enjoyed the adventure of being in a foreign land. This, if anything, was evidence enough that I had made up my mind on future travel plans. I will definitely travel the world once out of college and on my own (time and money permitting, blah).

After an hour delay to replace a tire and brake on my flight to Daytona Beach we finally boarded and took off. I was fairly delirious for this flight, my body and mind unable to agree on consciousness or not. I managed to pull myself together as we started final approach into Daytona around 9pm (10am in Japan). In the terminal I met my roommate Mike who was immediately bombarded with my nonstop chatter on how awesome Japan was and why. He will likely experience this every time he sees me for the next month. We gathered my affects and drove to Steak'n'Shake for we both hadn't eaten in a while (I wasn't quite sure what meal this was for me, either breakfast or lunch).

Once home I immediately began unpacking, despite the fact I should have been crawling into bed. After unpacking most of my things and talking for a few hours with my roommate I finally flopped onto my bed at midnight (now 1pm in Japan). It had been 28 hours since I had woken in Narita. Needless to say, I was out like a light and sleeping soundly within minutes. My Japan adventure was now officially over.