Jetlag Aubade

And Tokyo is the cherry blossoms, the sunset at dusk, dawn sunlight through her windows, the cry of the crow, the cityscape of darkened rooms on a rainy evening, the depth of feeling in her eyes…

Qiu Miaojin, from Last Words from Montmartre

Before I left, someone gave me the advice to make a list of goals I want to accomplish during my year in Japan. Keep it short, keep it simple — keep it achievable, he said. While I was on the plane I looked through the Lonely Planet travel book Boss Mike gave me (Hi, Mike!). This is what I came up with:

Travel Goals Year 1

See the Kyoto Gion Festival

Visit Naoshima, the artist’s island

Hike part of Kumano Kodō, the ancient pilgrimage trails around Japan

Visit Kanazawa, a “Little Kyoto”

Visit the onsen in Gunma: Kusatsu Onsen and Takaragawa Onsen

The last few days of getting ready were so hectic and full of last-minute shopping and packing that all I really wanted was to have everything over with to get settled comfortably in Japan already. I think my secret soul is a little old woman who just wants to sit down all the time and hates loud places. Even as I was on the flight, I kept thinking of how much flying sucked: the cramped seats, the amount of people squished in one small cabin, how the guy sitting in front of me always lowers his seatback so I have less room, the long lines through customs, etc. But that was just my complaining side showing.

As I read more of the travel guide I got more and more excited. Not just to see all these places, but to learn more of the language and to just start a life somewhere completely new. I was also, predictably, nervous — because I would be teaching elementary school, and I’m intimidated by kids. They always seem to know something I don’t. I think that something is they know how to play, but for me, my idea of playing is sitting down.

After we deplaned, we were met by polite Japanese officials everywhere who helped all the JETs move our baggage and (finally!) get on a bunch of buses that were to take us to our hotel.

The last time I was in Japan was six years ago, on a highly insular week-long tour with my high school Japanese class. That time the bus ride from Narita to Tokyo took place at night-time, in the spring, the sky outside dark, the air warm, trees covered in pink blossoms (the fabled cherry trees), streaks of light curving past the window as we all sleepily dozed during the two hour ride. This time it was different. It was really hot outside, and exceedingly bright. The JET participants were very talkative and laughed a lot. Luckily, I had a quiet seatmate and didn’t exchange more than a few words before dozing off. (Sleepily, I tried to take pictures that were mostly blurry when I looked at them later.)

I love how clean and tidy Japan is. So green, too. To my organizer’s heart where all clutter is anathema, a little itch at the back of my head, the fastidiousness with which Japan packages and organizes everything was precious. The fields, the clean squares of grass, the trash cans marked “burnable” and “not-burnable.” For the three days of Tokyo Orientation we are staying at Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, a really beautiful hotel. After the long plane ride, going through customs, and the bus ride, I was really tired and wanted a shower. There was one short debriefing session where we were given our own JET tote bags and and our room keys.

The roommates sharing my hotel room and I planned to go out and buy some dinner, but after we found the hotel convenience store all bets were off. Did I mention again how tired we all were? So our first night was spent eating konbini-bought noodles, and I threw in some iced wheat tea and pudding to boot. The hotel also provided green tea and houji cha, and really cute little teacups.

When I woke up, it was 3:45 AM. Pitch black, and outside there were no sounds from the street at all.

“The Narrow Road” comes from the title of the 2014 Booker Prize winner novel by Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Flanagan himself lifted the title from Japanese poet Bashō, who wrote a long work titled おくのほそ道, which is translated more literally as “The Narrow Road to the Interior.” And I like that better.

So here’s to going in.

July 27, 2015