I first landed in Japan at the end of May in 2023. Instead of racing to find an internship before my last year in college, I decided to spend that final summer studying abroad in Kyoto. Japan post-COVID was a lot different from the U.S.; they didn’t fully reopen until about a year later than the rest of the world, and the economy actually took a pretty massive hit. It was to the point that the city of Kyoto literally filed for bankruptcy because of the lockdown rules and how hard it was to get into Japan for visitors (almost unbelievable now as the situation has completely turned on its head and now they face over tourism problems; careful what you wish for I guess).
So, the summer I went to Kyoto was actually the first year that this study abroad program fully reopened to an in person schedule. Super exciting. I genuinely enjoyed my time at a Japanese university so much. But, this isn’t a story about my first time living in Japan, it’s a story about my first time getting to Japan. And boy was that one of the most stressful experiences of my life.
For some context, the study abroad program in which I was participating was a language based one. One thing I’ve learned in my study of languages is that my brain is very much not built for them, but with two years of college classes under my belt, I thought I would be okay.
At the beginning, I was most definitely not (insert a crying face emoji here). I sucked so bad. I don’t even want to talk about my first convenience store experience (don’t worry I’m an expert now), and I felt utterly lost when I got stranded at Haneda airport after the first leg of my journey.
The story starts with a goodbye to my mom at about four o’clock in the morning in late May at the airport, and of course my suitcase was too heavy. I regretfully took out a textbook or two (like I was even going to use them), handed them to my mom, and made my way to the gate.
Looking back on my packing habits from my (short) stay in the summer of 2023, and comparing them to how I packed this past summer (for a much, much longer stay), I’ve realized something. I took almost the same amount of stuff for two-and-a-half months as I brought recently for potentially years. I may be in need of some packing introspection.
Airports. How I love airports. And flying. Honestly any kind of travel that does not involve me in the driver’s seat. Trains (especially bullet trains) make that list as well. Romanticizing my time in the airport and/or train station by buying a coffee, listening to music, pulling out something to work on, getting a meal… truly one of my favorite things to do. I can’t be alone on this. So, I naturally did all of that. And upon having successfully romanticized my time, I made my way to the gate to board the plane.
It was about fourteen hours nonstop to Haneda airport, and from there I would change flights in order to touch down nearer to Kyoto in Kansai airport. I settled into my seat, economy but with a window, put in my earbuds, and navigated to the music app on my phone. What do you normally do on a flight? Half the time I stare straight ahead with music playing, close my eyes with music playing, or do either of those things without music playing. I’m not an in-flight movie person either. What do I use this time for you may be wondering? Well, the answer is mostly daydreaming. Mixed with periodic texting (praise be to the innovation of free text messaging on flights), and if I get really bored, I’ll peruse the sparse collection of games on my phone. Geometry Dash often makes an appearance.
The flight was relatively uneventful (save for the few times I needed to work up the courage to ask the people next to me to get up to use the bathroom). That’s my least favorite part of flying. I actually hate it with a passion. In fact, I dislike it even more than I appreciate having a window to look out of. So in my preparations to return to the United States for Christmas, I decided to pay the equivalent of 15 USD to have an aisle seat.
Even for a couple-weeks-long trip, leaving Japan means a deep clean, making sure all your mailed bills will be picked up, and triple checking to make sure every single outlet, gas line, water heater, and air conditioning unit is off (a lot of places in Japan do not have central air) ((most houses in the countryside live off wall-attached air conditioning units)) (((people literally turn off those units when they sleep and it’s less than 32 degrees fahrenheit out))) ((((I was also informed that gas lines often burst in the winter)))).
[Spoiler alert, upon my return after two weeks, everything went well and no pipes burst]
Anyways, back to the summer of 2023, after a rather uneventful plane ride, I touched down in Japan for the first time in my life.
I remember looking out the window as we flew over Tokyo, first-time-in-Japan-tinted glasses very much present on my face. I was completely mesmerized. Extremely excited. But above all, right when I got off the plane, I had to use the bathroom (I didn’t want to ask the people next to me to get up again).
I remember that bathroom so clearly in my head. I was completely taken aback when I walked in and realized every single stall had floor to ceiling doors (no gaps), and every single toilet was equipped with a bidet. And a seat heater. The cleanliness was also unreal. I found myself almost falling for the propaganda that you often see in short, online videos about Japan; the ones that proudly proclaim `Tokyo is living in 2050’ and show clips of robots bringing you your food. One day I’ll expand on the reason why anyone who’s lived here for more than a couple months might start laughing (if not externally, internally), whenever they see online content like that.
Either way, my excitement very quickly turned into worry, then stress, then an almost traumatic experience (for my directionally challenged self) until I was saved by an airline employee, (my hero to this day) who went out of his way to make sure I made it to my destination.
Upon touching down in Haneda, I was unaware of two realities I would soon face in the next hour and a half. One, that going through immigration and collecting my bags would take almost as long as the time I had between flights; and two, that rechecking my bags and navigating to the domestic terminal would prove to be an almost impossible task for my exhausted mind to handle in the minutes that remained before my gate closed.
After reveling in the bathroom for a bit longer than I should have, I realized I only had about seventy-five minutes left before my connecting flight’s gate closed.
I made my way to immigration.
65 minutes.
I stood waiting for what felt like ages.
45 minutes.
I made it through immigration, but now I was stuck waiting for my bags.
25 minutes.
My bags made it out, but now I’m told to go to a different terminal to recheck my bags and security because the line is so long.
10 minutes.
At this point I have pretty much given up all hope. I find myself sitting on a bus that transports people between terminals, and can only watch as the boarding deadline disappears from the clock on my phone screen.
Welp, now I had no clue what to do. It was at that exact moment that I realized I had also managed to get on the wrong bus. I sat, defeated, heaped over my fifty pound bag (that had yet to be checked) in the back seat. Was another flight going to cost a lot? I had orientation for the study abroad program the next day; would I even make it to the hotel on time?
With all those thoughts racing through my head, I definitely did not look so much the happy camper sitting in that bus. There was no reason to fear, however, as my first hero of the day was about to make an appearance.
“Do you need help?” a voice cut through.
I looked up. Standing in front of me was a younger man wearing a badge around his neck that displayed the name of one of Japan’s major airline companies. I showed him my ticket with the boarding time, and explained that I had missed it.
“Follow me,” and “I can help,” were his next words. I could almost see a halo of light surrounding the guy. In that instant, I knew I was saved.
He didn’t speak a lot of English, but he made sure to communicate what we were doing the best he could. And me with my mere college study of Japanese was definitely not at a level where I could understand even twenty percent of what he was saying. I didn’t care, though, as he motioned for me to get off the bus with him at the next terminal, took one of my bags, and navigated through the airport to a smaller, out-of-the-way desk in the domestic terminal.
He and another woman took down my passport and information, and wasted no time rebooking me on a different flight within the next hour to Kansai’s neighboring airport, Itami. They checked my bag straight from that desk, and the man walked me to a smaller security area that was located pretty much directly in front of the gate to my newly booked domestic flight. Just as I was about to go through security, he asked me one more question.
“Wait, how old are you?” he needed to make sure I wasn’t under eighteen for ticket specification purposes.
“Twenty-one”, I responded,「二十一歳」, my exhausted neurons finally fired and connected, resulting in my first Japanese words to him of the day.
My answer prompted a smile and a wave, combined with a “good luck!” in Japanese as I crossed through to the gate. The boarding procedures for this flight were done in all Japanese, and although I was a little worried, I managed to pick out a “number four”,「四番」from the announcements of group numbers. I was so proud of myself. It truly is the small victories in life and language learning. There was probably a numbered sign they changed for each boarding group but I was too tired to even think about that possibility.
The only thing I remember from the flight was the attendants asking me if I wanted green tea or water. Every action taken from deplaning to Itami airport itself is a major blur, as well as the train I took from the airport Kyoto station.
Kyoto Station.
On hour thirty-six of time-spent-traveling, my brain was too fried to even make sense of where I was coming from or going. I simply drifted with the crowd until I somehow managed to make it to the main entrance of the building that is populated by a McDonald’s and at least two hundred people (of whom were there for one of the Japan Rail entrances/ticket kiosks) (also the McDonald’s line) (that McDonald’s line takes at least twenty minutes every time).
I stood there, eyes glazed over, for a couple seconds before I realized I was in the way of foot traffic. I moved over to the wall, managing to still be in the way with my 50 pound suitcase and two carry-ons. There was a hotel I needed to get to, and it was within walking distance according to my phone navigation. It directed me back, deeper into the throngs of Kyoto Station (one of the longest, continuous buildings in the world), and so I walked, dragging my fifty pound checked bag behind me and balancing one of my carry-ons on top of it. The other I kept under my other arm, and if anyone were to even brush against me slightly in that moment I would have simply fallen over. Luckily, that did not happen. Unluckily, I was about to face my final challenge that evening.
I had been walking back through the station for about ten minutes at that point to get to a specific exit, and as I arrived, I very quickly realized it was going to be a problem. The problem physically loomed before me in the form of several staircases, and the lack of an elevator.
I looked at my bags.
I sighed internally.
I dragged everything up the first staircase.
I sighed again.
Very audibly apparently.
“Excuse me…” I heard a voice behind me, and turned around. A middle-aged salaryman greeted me, a couple steps from the top of the first flight of stairs. He gestured to my fifty pound checked bag, then himself, and then the remaining three flights of stairs. Before I could protest outside of the ‘are you sure?’ look that was certainly on my face, the man promptly took my bag in hand and started up the staircase. It may have been a little more than he bargained for, though. I don’t think he was expecting the weight (oops).
By the time we reached the top, we were both slightly out of breath, and he was slightly red in the face. I offered the most sincere “thank you!” I could muster, and paired it with the deepest bow I could manage. The salaryman, my second hero of the day, bowed in return and assured me that it was absolutely no problem.
From there, I was able to make my way to the hotel and check in fairly quickly. It was around nine o’clock in the evening. I completely passed out (but not before going to my first 7-11). Honestly, for all that I struggled with, my first journey over from the United States was a great introduction to the people who live in Japan. You often hear that people from the Kansai area, especially Kyoto, are not as friendly as other places in Japan (think New York type attitudes). But, it’s also important to remember that there’s a difference between simply being nice and actually being kind. And the people that helped me on that day didn’t have to go out of their way like that. They were certainly very kind.