The First 24 Hours

The First 24 Hours

We have been in Japan exactly 24 hours and we have already experienced so much.  I am always amazed at how time warps itself when you encounter, what I like to call, the third dimension- an experience very unlike the day-to-day experiences we all live.  Suddenly time seems to stand still as your senses take in so much.  A day feels like a week, especially when you get up at 3am due to jet lag.

I cannot but help compare our first 24 hours here to our first 24 hours in Kuwait.  The two worlds are drastically different.  If there were to be an instruction booklet on the “how to’s” of arriving as a teacher in a new country, here is what it might say:

Kuwait: Airport Arrival: Before the plane even comes to a stand still, take off your seatbelt, get up, find your luggage in the overhead compartment and begin pushing your way out of the plane.  Once off the plane, if you have not been swallowed by the cigarette smoke, navigate yourself to the visa station and push your way in line to receive a visa.  Continue to wait while 25 different people stamp your visa, and while another 10 people handle the visa, only AFTER they finish their cigarette or coffee.  Proceed to immigration where some customs attendant will ask you to turn to the correct page in your passport and proceed to complain about how hard his/her job is.  Once at baggage you will need to fight your way to the belt, or if you are a little smarter, higher one of the orange suited porters to fight his way to the belt, where you will wait, and wait, and wait for your luggage.  Once (and if) your luggage arrives, you will proceed to the security check, where your luggage will be scanned by one or two workers who are more interested in having a conversation about last night’s happenings, rather than watching the computer screen for illegal substances.  2 hours later (or more), you will exit arrivals and will be swallowed by mass crowds where you will try to find the American International School representative. 

Japan: Airport Arrival: Once the plane lands you will quietly wait for it to come to a complete stop.  You will then find your luggage in the overhead compartment and quietly wait until the exit line begins moving.  Once off the plane, you will follow the signs to immigration where you will wait in line with your already acquired visa and use the “time signs” in the line-up to determine how long you will have to wait for an agent.  Once at the immigration booth, you will be asked to place your fingers onto 2 probes, which scan your fingerprints and then be asked to look at the little red dot, which then takes your picture.  Once through customs you will collect your already arrived luggage from the well numbered luggage belts and then proceed to customs.  Customs will simply look at your customs card and neatly stamp it before you proceed out of the building where you will be greeted by a small crowd and an American School in Japan rep who is right outside the doors greeting you with a can of beer!

Kuwait: Driving to Your New Apartment: You will leave the airport on a bus with 20 other jet lagged people.  As you make your way out of the airport, the 50+ degree dry heat outside will have taken over the bus and you will be forced to crane your neck to the air conditioner vent above your head which only spits out warm air.  For the next 30-45 minutes you will battle BMWs, Porches, Hummers, and other luxury vehicles going at lightening speeds past you.  If you arrive at your new apartment without being scared to death by the drivers on the road, you are one step ahead of the other 90% of the people on your bus.

Japan: Driving to the Hotel: Exiting the airport you will be hit by 30 degree heat and 80% humidity.  You will leave Narita airport by a private school car with high quality air conditioning, drinking your ice-cold beer.  As you make your way towards Tokyo, and then Chofu, you will encounter traffic, traffic, and more TRAFFIC.  There is no such thing as “lightening speed” here!  If you do more than crawl you are doing well.  The trip from the airport to the hotel in Chofu should take 1.5-2hrs.  If you are unlucky, as were the Bennett’s, the trip will take you 4 hours!