Getting around town with three words

What I first noticed was that it is HOT! Japan is not on daylight savings time, so the sun rises early.  Today, that worked out since I am still jet-lagged, so I got up at 6am and decided to do some walking and exploring around the neighborhood.  About a km from the house I am staying at, is the extensive Mizumoto park.  Its got a large lake in the middle (with plenty of morning fishermen with their umbrellas and fishing poles).  As I meandered along the paved walking and cycling paths, I saw plenty of morning walkers, lots of elderly on their bikes, even a few joggers- with the amount of sweat that was already pouring out of me, jogging seemed unbearable! I exchanged a few "ohaiyo gozaimasu" (good mornings) with some locals! That put a smile on my face.

My other goal for the day, was grocery shopping.  About 2 blocks from the house is a fruit/veggie/fish market where I looked at everything, but only picked up things that looked safe: tofu, peaches, cucumbers, bok choy, green beans, carrots, tomatoes and garlic.  There I exchanged several "ohaiyo"s and "arrigato"s (thank you) and "konichiwa"s (hello).  The store clerks were very friendly.

Closer to the train station, just over a mile away, is the shopping area where there was a larger grocery store.  There I found fresh noodles, bread (six slices of "wheat") and some cooking sauces.  I searched for soy milk, but was unsuccessful- I guess I need to find the correct japanese letters for soy milk!

All ages are riding their bicycles all over town and there are long lines of parked bikes outside of the grocery stores.  As I walked down the street, a lady was turning her bicycle around and came close to me, I heard her bow "gomen nasai" (sorry), which is one of the only other phrases I know.  

I'm cooling off at the house before I go out again.

Traveling to Tokyo- a balance of pitfalls and successes

Traveling always stresses me out. The night before leaving for Tokyo, I decided not to dwell on the worries, because I didn't know what to expect for sure and if I started worrying too much, it would consume me. As it turned out, what I thought would be easy turned into major problems, and where I thought I would struggle, turned out to flow very smoothly. So here is the run down...
 1. PITFALL- when picking up my boarding pass in SFO, the lady at the ticket counter asked me where my Japan visa was. I looked at her strangely. I had been told by my program that I wouldn't need a visa until I started working. Her argument was that since my return plane ticket had me staying in the country for 9 months I would need a visa right away. Tourists visiting Japan for 90 days or less, can do so without a visa. She was able to check me and my bags to LA, but I would have to deal with the visa problem later. Fine!
 2. PITFALL- My SFO-LA flight was continuing on to Toronto Canada, and only a few of us got off in LA. When I went down to baggage claim, only one of my suitcases was there! After hassling with the claims counter, they took down my information and sent me on my way so I could make my next flight (so the bag is probably on its way to Toronto).
 3. SUCCESS- The Korean ticket counter had no problem issuing me a boarding pass! Hurray! I was going to make it to Tokyo! (Well, at least to the airport in Narita, right?)

4. PITFALL- Serious turbulence during our 10.5 hour flight to Tokyo makes me queasy, overheated, and to my dismay, as we start to descend, I throw up- repeatedly!
 5. SUCCESS- No problem getting money from the ATM
 6. SUCCESS- No problem informing Korean Air (in Tokyo) about my lost bag- they will send it to my Tokyo apartment!
 7. SUCCESS- Mobile phone rental! (and its been tested, and it works!)
 8. SUCCESS- purchasing a PASMO- the train/metro card!
 9. SUCCESS- racing onto the CORRECT train and getting assurance from another passenger that yes, this train was going to stop at the transfer point I wanted!
 10. SUCCESS- transferring trains...flawlessly, I might add
 11. SUCCESS- calling a teacher at my program who was going to give me directions to the apartment from the train station, but in fact decided to pick me up - even better! He is from Singapore! (so I referenced hawker stalls!) and his English was flawless!
 12. Moving into my new apartment (stay tuned for photos!)
 That is why worrying would have gotten me nowhere. Because really, I would have worried about the things that turned out to be the easiest!!