Japan Day One: I Hit the Jackpot

After arriving home from Toronto, Canada about 9pm on Friday night, Jane dropped me off at the airport Saturday morning for my flight to Japan. I first had to fly to Seattle, then change planes for the 9 1/2 hour flight to Narita airport near Tokyo. I had a good Isaac Azimov book along with the Book of Mormon, so the flight was tolerable. I arrived in Narita about 3pm on Sunday (I crossed the International Date Line). This is my third time in Japan and each time they give us a little less coddling, so this time I had to make it to our hotel in Ohfuna (about two hours by train from Narita) myself, including a train change in Yokohama. The first hurdle was that in order to use a credit card to buy my train ticket, I needed "Pin" number. Heck, I don't HAVE a pin number for most of my cards (or at least one I knew), so I ended up having to use an ATM to get cash. Fortunately they had an English-speaking assistant in the ticket office who was able to tell me how much my ticket was going to cost. When I got to the ATM I couldn't remember whether she said 5000 or 50,000, so I got 50,000 yen, which at the current exchange rate is about $50 dollars. It sure seems like a lot of money when you see all those zeros. Turned out I only needed 5,000...


The trip to Yokohama on the train was uneventful and took about about 90 minutes. Then it got hairy. I couldn't find a sign at the Yokohama station that said "Ohfuna" which is where my hotel was. Even though I already had the ticket, I couldn't tell what platform to go to. I finally found a ticket office, but the girl spoke only a little English, so I wasn't sure she understood me. When the train came I confirmed with a guy in line that the train when to Ohfuna, then still sweated whether I'd gotten on the right train until they called my stop (in English thank-you very much!). Checking in at the hotel went well, and then I went to the supermarket to get something to eat. I am more tired than hungry, but I plan on sleeping about twelve hours since I only got four hours of sleep Friday night and didn't sleep on the plane. I ended up getting a Japanese hot dog (cold) a twisty glazed donut, and a carton of milk. The entire meal cost 450 yen (about $4.50). Pricey, but much cheaper and faster than eating out. When I bought the milk I was really worried that it might be soy milk or something nasty like that, but it ended up being cows milk (I think). It had a funny taste but not too much, and it was cold.


Well I'm off to bed. I post again tomorrow!