First Day and a half in Tokyo!

I've made it to Japan! The trip over was long but pretty uneventful. I flew out of Madison on United to Chicago O'hare at 8 in the morning, and then caught a 10:50 flight direct to Japan on ANA. We flew on a Boeing 777, and I got an upgrade to Premium Economy. It certainly wasn't first class flying, but there was a little more leg room and a few other perks. I was really impressed with ANA as an airline, and the food and services were both some of the best that I have had on an airline. Stacey and Mike from our group were both on the same flight as me, although I did not see them until after we got on the ground.

Once we got into the Narita airport, we found that the express train to Tokyo was down for maintenance, and we had to take the local train into town. It was awkward traveling on the crowded train with our suitcases, but we managed allright. After switching trains in the Nippori station, we made it down to Shinagawa, the main train station of Tokyo. We met Masataka Ikeda in the terminal and took another train down to our apartments. We are one stop away from the main station where we will be working every day.

The apartments are right in the main business district of Tokyo, which was evident by the sea of men in suits passing through the train station and down the streets. Although very compact, the apartments are fully furnished and very nice. I will post some pictures and a description later on.

I took a short nap after we got settled in, and then went for a walk around the neighborhood with Edson when he arrived. We are right next door to two convenience stores, and a block away from some restaurants. We stopped in one of them for a late dinner and randomly ordered off of the menu since we did not know what it said. The cool thing about the small restaurants is that they have a vending machine outside that you make your selection on rather than paying inside. Once you have made a choice and paid you get a ticket with your order written on that you can give to the chef. This was nice for us because it meant we did not have to fumble through a conversation and only had to say arigato when we got the food.

This morning the whole group explored the area on foot, ate breakfast at another small restaurant, and went up to the Tokyo Tower. At some point during this adventure I either lost my camera or it got stolen. Thus, you do not get to see any pictures from today, and the detailed post about my apartment is delayed. I was also able to finally find a wireless network without a password, and call Nicole to say hello before she left on her trip to Costa Rica.

In the afternoon, Edson and I traveled on the train up to Electric City and Ginza. I was astonished by the vast number of stores dedicated to anime, action figures, and cheap electronics. What was even more mind boggling was the huge crowds that were in all of these stores. In Ginza we checked out the humongous Bic Camera store, and I bought a headset for making Skype calls on my computer. Search for me under my real name and give me a call sometime! Just keep in mind that it is 14 hours ahead of central time here.

Ginza was as ridiculous as Electric City, but for a different reason. The amount of money in this area was absurd. We walked by two Ferrari's, a few GTR's, Range Rovers, Porches, and other expensive cars. Every major fashion label and big name in jewelry or electronics was in this part of town. If I had the money I would be wearing a tailored suit and a Rolex watch right now.

We are probably going to head out to a local bar tonight, and do some more exploring tomorrow. First day of work is coming up on Monday!