japan200614


Two hundred teachers and administrators descended on the San Francisco airport ready for final instructions and eager to arrive in Tokyo.		Phrase books came out as we waited to board the plane. A women's soccer team from Osaka, Japan patiently allowed us to try out our fractured Japanese.


After an 11 hour flight, we landed at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture. Crossing into and out of an unusually southerly polar jet stream made for a few bumpy moments in an otherwise uneventful flight. We crossed the International Dateline so November 13 was a very short day.		JFMF arranged for local English-speaking college students to act as our guides the first night in Tokyo. Natsano is a liberal arts major hoping to go into broadcasting. As a high school student she had lived with a host family in Athens, Alabama.


Natsano took us to a sushi train restaurant. The sushi moves by customers on a conveyor belt. The plates are color coded by type of sushi. At the end of the meal, the waiter counts each type of plate and totals the check. The sushi was incredibly fresh. The rice while sticky was fluffy and tender compared to the dry texture of most sushi that is prepared in New Jersey. There were no California rolls or Philadelphia rolls! The uni had a unique texture (sea urchin).		Refreshed by the sushi, miso soup, and green tea, we were ready to take a leisurely walk back to the hotel. At this point, I was approaching 24 hours without sleep and starting to think I could understand Japanese.


I highly recommend the sushi and noodle shops for food while in Tokyo. If you must have western food, McDonalds and KFC are easy to find. Tokyo is a bustling, modern metropolis. Stepping off the curb to cross the street took some adjustment as they drive on the left side in Japan.		New York may claim to be "the city that never sleeps," but Tokyo must be the city that never stops working. This is the subway station near the Keio Plaza hotel at 9:00 P.M. local time. Those are office workers and businessmen just heading home.

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