Wednesday, October 13, 2010

And back again

Back in Japan again. This whole impromptu trip to the US has really been an interesting experience. I mentioned it before, but its really been weird to go back and forth between American and Japanese societies. Despite the fact that both are so completely different from each other, they're both normal to me. Americans would probably find life in Japan very different, almost backwards and weird, and of course vice versa for Japanese in American society. Indeed I also feel them to be completely opposite, yet they both feel normal to me. Such a strange concept.

Also for the first time I'm coming HOME to Japan - to a different country. Of the 3 other times I've come to Japan it was always the start of something - vacation, study abroad, a visit. But this time I'm coming home to a home that was already here waiting for me. I didn't have to somehow figure out my way to get there, no hotels either, just going home like business as usual. It's almost like when I would drive home over the weekend from Minneapolis to Milwaukee, except that I flew half way across the planet and it took 4 times as long to get there. That said, those planes sure make the world feel small. Sure a 13 hour flight is crazy long, but not impossible.

By the way, I'm definitely glad I took ANA over Delta again. As nice as it would be to have a direct flight from Tokyo to Minneapolis, the rickety old 747s Delta (aka Northwest) flies on that are old, cramped, and only have a projection screen in the front of each section. ANA's 777s that run between Chicago and Tokyo on the other hand are much much newer, have nicer seats, each with your own personal monitor. They even had over 30 movies to chose from! (No joke!) I watched 4 on the way to Chicago, and 6 (yes 6) on the way back. If I remember correctly...

Tokyo > Chicago
Prince of Persia
How to Train Your Dragon
Wall-E
Some Japanese Shows

Chicago > Tokyo
The Last Airbender
Cop Out
Wall-E
Rush Hour 3
Die Hard 4
Hancock

So if you imagine approx 2 hours per movie, that would be 12 hours of movie I watched on the way back... which is indeed possible on a 13 hour flight. I suppose there is one advantage with being completely out of touch with movies in the US. When I fly back and forth I can watch ALL of them to keep myself from going crazy (I am unable to sleep in a plane seat).

Anyways, nice to be home. Still feels a little weird, but at least I don't have terrible jet lag. Also hooray for American cereal and cheese I brought home with me!! :D

2 Comments:

Anonymous Erik said...

What you should go for is one of those super nice first class seats that recline all the way to a sleeping position. When Kate and I flew to England, we happened to get upgraded to those, and I would have slept the whole time if Kate hadn't kept waking me up.

10/15/2010 6:12 AM  
Blogger Kurisu said...

Oh man I wish. De-boarding the plane is always filled with a mixture of emotions. On one hand I'm thanking my stars the epic trek across the planet finally came to an end, but on the other hand I'm raging in envy at how luxurious business and first class are, haha.

10/15/2010 9:58 AM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home