Janet's first event in NYC was at 3:15, but she needed to check into her hotel, which was near the airport, before then, so we planned what should have been plenty of time for making the trip from Old Saybrook. The first snag was when Porter had just one more, quick thing to do on the computer before we left. If you've ever worked on a computer, you know that I've just written is an oxymoron, as in "only a moron would expect anything involving a computer to be quick." So we were over an hour late starting. (More)
Good morning all! I don't have much to report since it's only 7:30am here, but since I was on I figured I'd post. Last night I went to the 45th floor to look at the view and I recognized a kid from UR. In fact, he's a math major that came in in 2000 like me! We'd had a few classes together a while back. How crazy is that? He knows 3 other kids from UR here on JET besides us. Wild.
I made it! The whole trip was not without adventure, the most of which happened on the way to NYC, but none the less, I made it and as far as I can tell all my stuff did too. The flight was not the greatest, though service was great and the food wasn't bad. The seats were about the smallest I'd ever seen and we didn't have personal TV screens or moving headrests. The first and the third conditions made it impossible for me to sleep so I spent the time crocheting (no problem with the crochet needle and security). Anyway, I can tell I am being random, which is understandable since I've been up 23 hours. I am in the hotel in Tokyo using their free dial up. :) It's 8pm (7am for those at home). We were chasing the sun and had light the whole flight!
I plan to post details, but we got a ton of information and materials upon check in and I need some time to sort it out before orientation starts tomorrow. They process worked like clock work. We got off the plane and did all the customs stuff then there were JETs in orange T-shirts the whole way to the bus, including a stop for sending luggage on to our prefectures. The buses ran continually so I only sat on it for 5min before we were off. The 2 hour ride seemed short compaired to the flight. When we arrived we were greated by hotel staff and our luggage was taking to the 4th floor for us. We then picked up name tags, JET bags, country specific information packets, then our room keys and were pointed to the elevators. All the while there were three or four people at one place greeting us and showing us the way. When I got to my hotel room I almost didn't know how I got there or what to do with myself. Then I found the free internet . . .
Randome ovservation #1: On first glance, Tokyo and the Narita airport look like any other city.
Random observation #2: I'm a giant! The bathroom has a low celling, counter, and toilet and I fell like I'm at the Maggie P.!
Random observation #3: Alaska isn't always covered in snow. I was able to get a few glances outside when we were over the northern part of Alaska and it was very brown. Maybe I should have known that . . .
Random observation #4: The great thing about a blog is that if you forget an important detail because you're out of it, someone can ask for it in a comment and then it's there for all to see!
I need to get back to organizing for tomorrow. I love you all, and thanks so much for your prayers! The trip here was almost as uneventful as it could possibly have been.
I plan to post details, but we got a ton of information and materials upon check in and I need some time to sort it out before orientation starts tomorrow. They process worked like clock work. We got off the plane and did all the customs stuff then there were JETs in orange T-shirts the whole way to the bus, including a stop for sending luggage on to our prefectures. The buses ran continually so I only sat on it for 5min before we were off. The 2 hour ride seemed short compaired to the flight. When we arrived we were greated by hotel staff and our luggage was taking to the 4th floor for us. We then picked up name tags, JET bags, country specific information packets, then our room keys and were pointed to the elevators. All the while there were three or four people at one place greeting us and showing us the way. When I got to my hotel room I almost didn't know how I got there or what to do with myself. Then I found the free internet . . .
Randome ovservation #1: On first glance, Tokyo and the Narita airport look like any other city.
Random observation #2: I'm a giant! The bathroom has a low celling, counter, and toilet and I fell like I'm at the Maggie P.!
Random observation #3: Alaska isn't always covered in snow. I was able to get a few glances outside when we were over the northern part of Alaska and it was very brown. Maybe I should have known that . . .
Random observation #4: The great thing about a blog is that if you forget an important detail because you're out of it, someone can ask for it in a comment and then it's there for all to see!
I need to get back to organizing for tomorrow. I love you all, and thanks so much for your prayers! The trip here was almost as uneventful as it could possibly have been.
The story of our trip to NYC deserves a longer post, but we just got home and it's late and we're a mite tired, so you get the quick version for now: Janet arrived safely in New York Friday, had her orientation and reception, and made it back to the hotel where she let us know that all was well. When you get the full story, you'll know why there was some question....
We returned home to a phone message saying she was at the airport, having passed the security checkpoint. Her flight took off just after 2 p.m. and right now she is presumably over the Aleutians. :)
We returned home to a phone message saying she was at the airport, having passed the security checkpoint. Her flight took off just after 2 p.m. and right now she is presumably over the Aleutians. :)
