Finally in Tokyo!

After starting to plan this trip in September of 2009, 18 months of waiting, a major natural disaster, two week delay, and 15 hours on a plane, I am finally in Tokyo! Of course, my trip couldn't begin completely uneventfully - right as I got off the plane from Raleigh to DC my mom called to tell me that there had just been a 7.4 earthquake around where the first one hit, although this one didn't really cause any more damage. The plane ride from DC to Tokyo wasn't too terrible - I was in an exit row with no one beside me and an extra row of space in front of me, so I had lots of room to spread out (and my own TV screen!). I watched several movies I had been wanting to see for a while (Tron!) and got a few hours of sleep, and after eating one of the best turkey and cheese sandwiches I have ever had, we made a safe but rather bumpy landing in Tokyo!

Customs and immigration lines were pretty short, so I met the CIEE staff pretty quickly after landing. A few of the academic year students helped me exchange money and get on the bus to the hotel, so before I knew it I was in my room, freshly showered and curled up on my bed in a complimentary yukata. I almost didn't leave my room for dinner, but went down to the convenience store to get a snack and ran into a big bunch of the CIEE kids. About 15 of us ended up eating in one person's hotel room, and it was a good chance to get to know people and also interrogate the returning students about everything from circles and clubs to what classes will be like. Before too long however, I realized I was too sleepy to really absorb any information, so I came back to my hotel room to get some sleep. I actually have to register for my fall 2011 Wellesley classes tonight... senior year! It's been hard to think about those classes when I haven't been at Wellesley since December, but I'm actually really happy with my schedule. I get early registration since I'm abroad so I should get everything I want! Yay thanks Wellesley!

Tomorrow we have to be checked out of the hotel by 8:30am to begin our first day of orientation - I think we are doing some sort of bus tour and also moving into the dorm that we will be living in until August. Considering it's 8:00am in NC right now and I technically didn't sleep all night, I need to get some sleep so I can stay awake all day tomorrow! Oyasuminasai!