Hello folks,

I recently went to Japan to do an installation at Misawa AB. The trip went as planned, with a few hiccups here and there, but it went smoothly. As for the sightseeings aspect, it was more than I had expected. From trying to read which subway to get on. Wait, back up. We had trouble trying to purchase the correct ticket. Me being out of America for the first time since my Mexico trip more than a decade ago, I was completely overwhelmed. As a domestic traveler of the US, this was just completely different. I'm used to reading location and subway maps with such ease, but I was baffled and I literally had a question mark over my head. It is a learning curve that was strictly straight for the whole duration of the trip. We didn't rent a car on this trip, which was lucky for us. The steering wheel was on the passenger side and the streets were opposite. So, I say lucky because I would've crashed into many cars. I sat in the "passenger" seat which made my perception of on-coming cars seem more closer than what they truly were. And grabbing the steering wheel wouldn't be a good idea. What else? The cars are squished. Not all the cars, but the cars, as well as the food, are smaller portions. With cars being narrow, the streets compensated for the smaller streets. No stop signs!!!! Well, the stop signs were all yield signs...I think.

I did get homesick and wanted to be home when I was first in Tokyo. As you get used to being a foreigner, you just need to ask around for someone who speaks even a bit of English. Even ordering food was difficult. So, to help, just point. Most likely, the server speaks English. There was an incident where we pointed at the picture and the server started speaking English...I'm a dumb foreigner. I was homesick because I missed Cami. I admit, she makes me stronger when it comes to strange and unusual things. Back to my trip, I swear, they show like game shows around the clock. We actually ran into an area of Akasaka where a game show was happening. All was cool. The trip had many experiences, which I hope I will be able to explain more in the second half.