Day 1 - My First Attempt at Time Travel

For the last two days, I have had my watch set to Japanese time, and at the time of this writing it is 9pm in Japan. My plan to sleep on the flight out of Newark (and I found out yesterday that it was out of Newark is likewise on track.

You might be curious why I'm writing this at 8am New York time. Well, by the time I touch down in Japan it will be tomorrow--both here and there--and so it really would be a separate entry for tomorrow. So right now I'm sitting by a window looking out over the runway writing this post. I got through security without so much as a stern talking to, which was a relief, and just like that I am one step closer to Japan. I have a short flight on a tiny plane then a long flight on a big one.

Me sitting by a window looking out over the runway writing this post

It's harrowing, really. I'm excited but at the same time I feel this pressure in my throat whenever I think about the fact that I will be halfway across the world for the first time in my life. What a grand adventure it promises to be, but I am intimidated. A number of my loved ones are concerned about my traveling alone, and now that  my departure looms I'm facing all their arguments again with trepidation.

Concerning time travel, in 15 hours I will arrive more than 24 hours in the future. Assuming my anti-jet-lag plan works--and believe me I almost fell asleep a number of times trying to watch 12 hours of comedy television--I will unfortunately miss some of the most interesting sights on my trip. I almost regret my plan now, seeing as I will probably be exhausted as soon as this energy drinks wears off, and will miss flying over whatever foreign lands I will bypass to get to my destination.

Two more points before I finish: to the right of this post you will find a window where you can subscribe by email to my blog, as I will not always be able to send out a notice by individual email, so it may be beneficial to you to subscribe. Also, if I have been spamming your inbox and you find it obnoxious, just say so and I will remove you from my list.

Second, despite my repeated attempts to downsize my luggage at the expense of my Japanese-English dictionary, it seems to have repeatedly found its way into my bags. Thank you. I will probably be glad I have it.

When next you hear from me it will be from the future,

Cory

Day 0 - Preparations

I've been nervously unpacking and repacking my bags for three days now, and my upcoming trip to Japan is making me both excited and anxious.

Ok, background: I've never left the country except to go to Montreal. The department of my major, Asian Studies, awards a grant every year for a horizon-stretching foreign travel experience. This year, I won the award (and as a rising senior it was my last chance to, so thanks again to everyone who helped me from the start). So, tomorrow, the 1st of June, I'll leave from Albany International Airport and fifteen hours later I will arrive in Japan. While there, I plan to research Burakumin in addition to just exploring the country and culture.

As part of my agreement through which I received this grant, I am required to keep a daily journal of my adventures. Rather than write it for only the people back in my department, I decided what better way to share Japan with my friends back home than to blog it.

Here's the plan so far: in order to head off jet lag before it starts and maximize my functional time in Japan, I've been slowly depriving myself of sleep. Ok, that's an exaggeration. I've just been sleeping around 6-7 hours a night rather than the 10-12 that I'm sure some of my vacationing friends are enjoying. This time-training will culminate tonight in a tetsuya, what my English-speaking friends know as an all-nighter. My wristwatch is already set to Japan time, and so I will force myself to stay awake until about 11:30pm Japan time, at which point I should already be on the plane. By sleeping on my flight (in my experience flying, sleep has never been a problem) I will begin the annoying adjustment process and either reduce or eliminate my jet lag.

This is a guess, mostly. I don't really know if it will work. But I'll let you know when I find out. As for now, I need to pack my borrowed netbook (its pink, but its the size I need it to be) and put luggage tags on my bags. It's about 90 degrees here and I hope it's not this hot in Japan.