Here We Go!

I am right now in Seat 24B of American Airlines Flight 125 from DFW to Kansai-Osaka. All around me are a bevy of mostly Japanese passengers, obviously on their way home or, possibly, going to their homeland for the first time or a brief visit. Announcements on the PA system are being made in English and followed promptly by Japanese translations. Each seat is equipped with a high-tech remote control designed to operate the small individual viewing screen directly facing the passenger, which affords him TV, movies, games, travel info at a touch of the button. (And here I thought I had to upgrade to First Class in order to have such frivolities!). The sounds of Japanese nationals speaking their own language comfortably and freely all around me fills me with excitement and anticipation for this leg off the trip’s final destination. In less than 15 minutes, the plane will take off and start its 14+ hour journey across the Pacific Ocean. My next entry on this blog will be while I’m already on the other side of the world. Dewa mata ne!

St. Louis: Gateway to the East…the Far East!

It’s Tuesday morning, and I am awaiting boarding my plane in St. Louis en route to Osaka, by way of Dallas/Fort Worth. I had a great time hanging out with Dave and Sara last night at Max’s, a local a restaurant/pub near the hotel where I’d stayed for the night. I arrived at the airport extra early so that I can begin to relax. I had only 3 hours of sleep last night, brought on partly by restlessness and by anxiety. The good kind of anxiety. In less than 24 hours, I will be stepping foot on Kansai International, just a short distance from downtown Osaka as much as I’ve read ahead about traveling to Japan ahead of this trip, I really don’t have any idea what to expect as soon as I exit the breezeway onto the airport in the other side of the world. But, I can’t wait! Logging off for now, since I don’t believe my BB will be working in the land of the rising sun, but check back in a couple of days for further information about my trip. Ja mata!