Day One

Flying took about twenty hours, after the layover. My flight changed at Seoul, Korea, and I got to see the sun rise over the mountains beyond the airport. Touching down in Japan, passing through immigration was easy. I had all my paperwork prepared. I was picked up by Lawren. He drove me, and co-worker Izi, to our temporary apartments. Lawren gave us the nickle tour, pointing out where head quarters is in Nagoya, popular spots to eat or cut loose. But it was all too much for me at the time. I was in Japan. Everything was written in Japanese. They drove on the other side of the street. It felt like a physical pressure. Like I was under water. It was a thrill.

I decided I wanted to hit the ground running for the first day and start by exploring. Luckily my roommate, who had arrived the day before, had it in his mind to make a shopping trip to a popular part of town. I was happy to tag along and learn about my new surroundings. Jordan leading the way, we took the subway to the down town area and we found a nice mall. We enjoyed some sushi and sake. Then we hiked over to a more dense shopping area. Multi-level stores lined the street. Jordan was looking for a figurine of his favorite show, HunterXHunter, while I was happy to see the new sights. Jordan was ecstatic to find what he was looking for, I even found a small something that I liked.

Getting back to the apartment, we picked up some groceries. I made dinner and Jordan made cocktails. Before turning in I stood on the balcony looking out. I was on the ground floor and the balcony over looked a canal with the elevated train over it, some restaurants and small businesses on the other side. Small bats were swooping about picking off mosquitoes. People offering polite greetings as they passed by. I slept very soundly that night. It took three days before the sense of pressure wore off.