Days 1 and 2

 Well, we had to get up at 2:30 am in order to get to the airport for our flight to Detroit, which left at 6:10 am. Our check in was okay, but security was not. TSA Pre was not open, so I had to take my shoes off, get patted down because I left a tissue in my pocket, and remove my CPAP from my carry on. Not fun. I really dislike TSA--it seems to me that TSA agents are just on a huge power trip.

Our flight to Detroit was fine, though. Pretty uneventful and fast. We had breakfast in the Detroit airport with Crystalyn and two students, Kaye and Demojanee. That was pretty fun accept the waitress got a bit bitchy once she realized that one of us took off with her pen--we never did figure out who. We were just in a hurry to board the plane; in fact, Kerry and I were two of the last people on.

The flight to Japan was insanely long. 13 hours. Kerry and I watched the movie Lost in Translation at one point; that was enjoyable. The food was not particularly amazing: two meals and a snack of a cheese pocket pizza. First meal was this chewy beef, a quinoa salad, and a strawberry mousse with jelly on top. Second meal was breakfast: blueberry Chobani yogurt, a fried-egg breakfast sandwich, and some fruit (including cantaloupe, which I hate). They gave us lots of water and soda on the flight, and I also did some reading and listening to music. Plus I went to the bathroom a few times and kept standing up: no sitting for 10 hours this time, like I did on my flight from Shanghai to Minneapolis!

We arrived in Japan, and customs was kind of a confusing process. Apparently, we had to obtain two QR codes that we didn't do accurately, so when we arrived at the window, they made us fill out a yellow card anyway. And there is another place after that where you have to present a separate QR code. What do people do if they don't have smart phones? 

After customs, we met the Tour Director, Hiro-San. He's very nice. All the students arrived okay except for two, Sophie and Dani, who we had to spend about 30 minutes waiting for because Sophie was having customs issues and Dani arrived on a separate flight. We took a bus to the hotel, rested a bit, and then Hiro took us on a walk into town so we could investigate some eating options. Kerry and I--as well as Kaye and Demojanee--and I settled on a place in a mall. I had hamburger steak, and Kerry had a pork and rice bowl. Good stuff. I notice food here is much, much cheaper than in the USA, which surprises me greatly. My iced tea was only about $1.50, and I got a good salad for like $3. Even my entree was only about $7.50. I would have paid twice as much for all these things in the USA, plus here there is NO TIPPING. Quite a savings. 

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and got ready for Day 3.  

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