Flight and Arrival

So today I finally made it to Japan! My flight left at 1:00 PM from Logan Airport on August 3rd. Mom, Dad, Mike, and Reid all came with me to see me off. After checking my bags, we all got some breakfast. I went through security around noon since the line was very small. We started boarding around 12:30 and I was surprised at how quickly they got everyone on the plane. We were in the air about an hour later.

I was lucky enough to fly on a non-stop Japan Airlines flight. I was flight 007 on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which was amazing. I sat in the middle of the second to last row and it was a little squished, but I was able to stand up and walk around whenever I needed to. There's a USB port in every seat so you can charge any electronics that charge via USB. Some seats also had outlets, but mine did not. There's a personal TV in the back of all the seats and you can watch anything from Finding Nemo to Game of Thrones. The food was also good as far as airplane food goes and they even have complimentary wine and beer. (I believe they have other alcohols free, too, but I do not know for sure.) All this made for a pretty enjoyable flight!

Once arriving in Narita airport we headed for immigration. We all had stickers on to show we were in the JET Program and when an attendant saw us, he opened up a previously empty immigration room for us to go through. This obviously made going through immigration much faster! Immigration is also where we got out Residency Cards. Japan up until very recently used Alien Registration Cards, similar to a Green Card in the United States. The only probably with the Alien Registration Card was that it took up to a few weeks to process and ship. You need this card to sign up for more permanent things in Japan such as internet or a cell phone. Now, however, when you go through immigration they just check your visa, take your index finger prints, and snap a photo of you. They print out your Residency Card right there on the spot and send you to baggage claim.

After we had all gotten our bags, it was time to go through customs. We had received and filled out our custom form on the plane and there was no line, so we got through rather quickly. Walking into the Narita main terminal we were greeted by many JETs all wearing bright green shirts. We were directed where to go and when we got there, they took our luggage that was getting shipped to our placement and we got on a bus that brought us to our hotel. Once at the hotel we all got name tags, tote bags with various JET material, and our room keys.

I went out for dinner, but am now extremely tired since I didn't sleep much on the plane. Breakfast is at 7:30 tomorrow and then we have orientation all day. We have orientation for most of Tuesday as well. Tuesday night we are free and then early on Wednesday I will be heading to Kitakyushu. I'll be very busy these next few days, but I'll do my best to keep you posted on orientation!