The person who gave me this guitar/said Tokyo's scary.

Well, everyone, I made it to Tokyo safely. And, oh boy, what a trip! I woke up at 4:15 am Wednesday Portland time and have not yet gone to sleep at 8:15 pm Thursday night Tokyo time. No matter how you count it, I've been up for twenty-4 hours. Such a terrible caricature of adventure. But, I got through the flight from Portland to LAX without much trouble. The people next to me were content with talking to themselves, but not with me reading her journal over her shoulder. I was really interested in her sister-in-law's drinking problem, but I never figured out whether it turned out a happy story or a sad one. Thanks a lot, lady, for making me sad and worried.

Then I waited in LAX for the flight to leave. Talked to some people on the phone (you know who you are) and kept looking over my shoulder for the other intern, the one from the U of U. They paged him twice. He didn't show. I was concerned. Would I have to arrive in Tokyo and tell Ryan, the internship coordinator, that I'd come without the other guy? That I'd just left him crying in LA? I really didn't want to, but then they started boarding and I forgot all about it cause I got an aisle seat. Perfect for le toilette trips. And luckily the guy next to me didn't even get up once to go to the bathroom. Also, the other intern finally showed up mumbling something about a delayed flight and taking his seat next to me. He slept like a child. I couldn't. I never seem to be able to sleep well in Airplanes. That's okay, though. I've just been really tired ever since. On the plane I watched The Green Hornet, Apollo 13, and I Am Number Four. And I listened to Seven Swans over and over again. I was really tired, but the closest I got to sleep was a light doze for ten minutes two hours before we landed. Finally, though, we did land.

Turns out Dwight's (the other intern) bags were torn apart. One from another, not one from itself. One made it on the flight, the other didn't. I guess he wasn't lying about the flight being delayed. So, he's having the other bag delivered to the hotel, so it should come anytime in the next 3 and heff hours. As I was getting in line to go through customs, someone said something to me behind me. I was about to get real mad. I mean, I had been soooo good not getting talked to and plagued with idle chit-chat during this transportation-a-thon and now I was soooo close to my goal and it was being ripped callously from my trembling* hands. When I turned it looked just like any other asian person on the flight. But then she said something, like, "Hey, Scott, fancy meeting you here." I, on the other hand, could not say the same; she was asian and it was Japan. I mean, she was cute, but not enough to be independently fancy. Then I looked at her eyes and I remembered where I'd met her before. She was in my internship class this last semester. And here we were: at the beginnings of our internships. It felt like a class reunion. So, I said hey. Then continued through customs.

When I got out, I looked around for Ryan, he was supposed to be standing just outside customs. He wasn't. So, I went crazy and exchanged my money. Then, he showed up while I was getting the cash. He asked about Dwight. I said Dwight was getting his luggage worked out. Then we sat around and waited for Dwight. Then Emi (the girl from my class) came out and we talked. Then she left. Then she came back again and we talked some more. I was glad for the attention from an attractive asian girl. It will give the rest an example of how to act around me. Interested.

Then Dwight finally came out, but Ryan had gone on a smoke-break and we couldn't find him. Then we found him. Then we left and boarded a train. Ahhhhh. I am do love trains sooo much. Japan is such a nice place. We were on the train for about an hour and then we got to our station and got off and Ryan walked us to our hotel. We said goodbye to him and he said, see you tomorrow at eleven. And we were happy because eleven is later than 9. Sleep in time to the max. Then we went upstairs to view our rooms and put our stuff away. This is what it looks like:

Then I got on the internet and checked my fbook and gmail. I was so enthralled by these things that when Dwight and I went out on the town, I was utterly surprised and dumbfounded to find two Japanese business men in the elevator when it opened. I froze up. I didn't know what to say. All I had to say was "Going down?" but that seemed like too much for me. It took me the whole elevator ride to remember the word for "down."

But, so then we went out on the town. Walked up to Akihabara to the HUGE electronics store there. I got a memory card because I forgot to bring one with me and I want to take pictures. And put them up on here. Hopefully they work. Then we came home after eating at Yoshinoya (Gyudon sooo good). Now I lounge here in my complimentary yukata, writing this post. I'm really tired. I'll prolly sleep past our 11 o'clock meeting time. He said the Irish girls will be in tomorrow. that'll be fun. Ireland and all. Well, I'ma sleep and write more later.

*(With Disbelief)