Todo, we're not in Kansas anymore...

No indeed.

This has been an interesting last 48 hours. Tuesday morning, at 4:30am, the alarm went off and up I got after having slept about 4 hours. I showered, I did my hair, finished packing and sat down to coffee and the weather forecast... not that it mattered.

At the airport, we sat down to our tradition: coffee at Starbucks. After joking around a little, and hushing my brothers whenever they said anything scandalous that you don't usually like to hear at airports (i.e. bomb), we did the part that I most dreaded: the death march.

That's right. The little stretch of hallway between Starbucks and the security checkpoint. That's where all the teary hugs and the I'll miss you's and take care's and I love you's take place, and it's the one part of the whole process that I dread. If I could leave and not have to do goodbyes in general, this would be an easy thing.

But alas, it is a necessary part of life.

Anyhow, I made it to Dallas with little trip up. I've had times where it's taken me forever to get out of St. Louis and I was concerned about that. But all went smoothly and I was able to grab lunch in the airport before doing a final call to my fam before I boarded my next 13 hour flight.

I counted my good fortune too soon. I was SO close to having an empty seat next to me, but then a lady wanted an aisle seat. So, I got a lady from Bolivia who, by the time the flight had ended, had proposed a trip for me to Bolivia (to work there, of course) and mentioned that her son was very handsome, etc. She was a very nice lady though, and I helped her fill out her customs and immigration forms.

It wasn't my favorite flight. I don't want to sound negative, but for the first 7 hours, the kid behind me kicked and pushed the back of my seat. He was about 7 years old, and you can't really ask a kid to be quiet and still for that many hours. The last few hours I didn't feel too good...had a stopped up nose and was nauseated.

Beware of the chicken served on the airplane, that's all I have to say about it.

So, before I went through immigration, I stopped off at the bathroom where I threw up my last meal. I felt better after that!

Anyhow, no problems going through immigration or customs. I left, exchanged money, with all my luggage. And let me mention, that you have a limit of 2 pieces of 50 lbs. of luggage. I managed to make it to 99.5 lbs. Yes, we did cheer in the airport.

So, exchanged money, bought a bus ticket to Shinyurigaoka, made a phone call letting the people here know what time I'd be here, bought some water and then stacked my 99.5lbs of checked luggage and two carry-ons on either side of me, and I collapsed in a chair, exhausted.

Five minutes later, I grabbed everything and went to go get on the 2.5 hour bus ride.

A number of team members were there to meet me. In fact, when I stood up on the bus to get off, I looked out and saw them out on the sidewalk on the other side of the bus and they started cheering. It made me smile.

I got stopped before stepping off and they took a picture, and we took many pictures and then took the train station to Mukogakoyuen (not that that really matters to you! ;), a few stops later, and someone else met us to take my luggage to my apartment.

At my apartment, four of us stayed: Amy, Hannah and So-chan, my Korean roommate, who is super-sweet. Hannah and So-chan made dinner of Japanese curry rice. It was soooo good.

They stayed and chatted for a while and left after 9pm and I didn't bother unpacking but went to bed around 10.

At 5:30am (Japan time: 3:30pm here), I started waking up and did a quiet time, and went back to bed and eventually got up at 8:30. After somewhat unpacking and getting showered, cleaned up and ready for the day, Amy came and picked me up, and we went to lunch with more members of the group. It was great, and I got to know many of them, and they I better.

Family members were also in town, and they were going to go to various places like the Shinjuku towers and Shibuya (which has the busiest Starbucks in the world), so Amy and I went there, and then by 3:30pm, I was getting a bit tired, so I decided to head back. Amy took me by the 100 yen store (roughly, the dollar store), and I got a few things that I knew I needed and came and unpacked more.

At the risk of telling you all the details, I'll leave you with a few things:

-Today, So-chan boiled a sweet potato (not like the ones in the States, but they taste really similar) and I got a piece for breakfast. I opened the fridge to look for the butter. I paused, looked around and said to myself: I don't know which one's the butter. I closed the door, headed the other way and said, "I don't need butter with this." :)

-After visiting Hannah and Amy's apartment, I came back by myself! It's a 5 minute walk, and really easy, but I was proud of myself for finding my apartment by myself.

-Tomorrow is fasting day until 5pm... So, I don't really have to worry about groceries!

-Other than that, I'm still kind in exploration mode: figuring out what's where, how to accomplish things like getting to the grocery store, where and how to pay bills, how hot water, the stove and the heaters and other things like that work. Oh! And turning things on and off, becuase you know, they don't say on and off like regular appliances that we have (had) in the States do.

Anyhow, I'm going to get going. I hope to blog again tomorrow. Feel free to comment!!