Post-trip Thoughts...
Jun. 17th, 2010 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eyesthatslayI've been home for two weeks now, and I'm still playing catch up at home and work. Both my Mom and I got sick with colds as soon as we arrived home, so that set me back. So very glad we didn't get sick during the trip!
Japan was wonderful, fabulous, and awesome. Mom and I had a great time together.
So, I pulled up my pre-trip bullet point list to let everyone know how my expectations/concerns matched up with my actual experiences.
My pre-trip thoughts are italicized. My post-trip thoughts follow.
Japan trip. Excited because:
- Japan! Duh!
Not wrong on this count. Was more awesome than awesome-ness.
- Will see relatives not seen in 30+ years, & some I've never met. Sadly, one uncle has throat cancer. :( He's why Mom wants to go.)
OMGosh. Was so fun/touching/amazing to see my uncles, aunt, and cousins. Love, love, LOVE them! Especially grateful to have spent time with my sick uncle, though it was difficult to see him so frail and weak.
- The. Food. 'nuff said.
Loved having sushi and sashimi anytime the mood struck, and getting to taste some of my old faves, and some of my Mom's favorites.
- Cool experience of being in foreign country.
Was a fabulous experience.
- Will take tons of fabulous pictures, which will lead to fabulous Pic!Spam.
Definitely did this. Ended up taking almost 2,000 in all. Promise to post some photos from my trip as soon as I get caught up with life and work, and get the time to re-size some and upload them.
- 3 weeks of Mom/Daughter time.
Was really, really, fun. Found out cool, sweet, and funny things about my Mom that I never knew.
Japan trip. Nerved out because:
- American N00b in foreign country! Duh!
This was totally not a problem. Almost all important signs have English on them, and many of the personnel in Japanese airports/airlines were bilingual. Between that and my Mom's ability to read/speak/write Japanese, we were all good.
- Looooong flight. 13 hours for 1 leg. *flails* a) concerned about being uncomfortable. b) concerned about plane staying in air. :P
The flight over there was tough, I can't lie. We flew on a Boeing 777, with Continental, and the standard seating was pretty cramped. If at all possible fly first class. Believe me if you can afford it, it's worth it.
Three mistakes I made on the flight over:
1. I dressed too warmly, long yoga pants, t-shirt, a hoodie, & tennis shoes. Even when I took the hoodie off, I was uncomfortably hot. On the flight back, I learned my lesson, I wore capri length yoga pants, t-shirt, and flip flops, much cooler, and much better...besides if I would have gotten cold, they provide blankets on the plane.
2. I didn't take any pain reliever for the leg aches that came with the lack of sufficient leg room. On the flight back home, I took Aleve before boarding, and kept some in my purse. Ended up taking one more dose, and giving some to Mom who also began having aches from the cramped seating.
3. I put my laptop bag on the floor, with my purse, instead of stowing it in the overhead compartment. The on-plane entertainment system kept me busy with movies, games, and music. I never even used my laptop, and it took up precious leg room. On the flight back, Mom and I stowed our carry ons in the overhead, and kept only our purses on the floor, which gave us more space.
- Japanese customs agents freaking out about my Zyrtec D. Which I REFUSE to go without. (have prescription)
Not a problem at all. Breezed through customs, they didn't even glance at my stuff. Very polite, and friendly.
- Will I have enough $ while there.
Thankfully, this ended up not being a problem.
- Will I have enough $ when I come back after missing 3 weeks of work when I only have 2 weeks paid vacation.
This too managed to work out just fine. Yay!
- Will I die without Canada Dry ginger ale.
Managed to find Canada Dry ginger ale in most of the grocery stores, and when I couldn't find it, I could always find Coca-Cola.
- Will Japanese people stare/point and/or ridicule me because I'm a) American. b) tall. c) not a size 0. d) all. e) I'm cute? *hopes for e)*
I was treated with complete politeness, and graciousness by everyone I interacted with. People were a true pleasure to talk with, and many were very interested in the fact that I was American. I did notice some double takes from adults, and some stares from children, especially if I began speaking English within their earshot, but all I sensed was genuine curiosity. I also had group of Junior High/High School girls notice me, and call out "Hello! Hello!". They were delighted when I stopped and responded to them, in English and Japanese, in fact any time I spoke any Japanese it seemed to please people immensely. One hostess at a hotel told my Mother that I was so polite, and spoke Japanese very well. Which made me feel ridiculously good, since I only know a handful words and phrases.
- I don't want to get sick, and I ALWAYS seem to get sick when I travel.
I really thought I would miss the bullet on this one, but as soon as we arrived home, both Mom and I caught colds. I'm so grateful that we didn't get sick during the trip, though!
- Will miss my Baby Dogs, and Hubby lots!
I did miss them bunches! No way around that one. It was a happy reunion when I came back. :)
- 3 weeks of Mom/Daughter time.
I had nothing to worry about here. We had a wonderful time together. Would go back with her in a second!
One other thing I learned. I should have packed more clothes. You're allowed to check two bags on international flights, but I decided to go with one. If I ever go overseas again, I'll likely bring another bag. Having more clothing to choose from would have been really nice.
It truly was the trip of a lifetime, and I'm so very grateful to have been fortunate enough to experience it as an adult. As a 10 year old, I didn't grasp the wonder of it all. I'm so blessed I had another chance to fully appreciate it.
I've printed about 300 photos from my trip, plus, I found all my photos from our 1978 trip to Japan. I'm going to combine them together in a gianormous scrapbook (aka scrapbook from h3ll). Have worked and slaved for hours on it, and have only finished the 1st week of our trip. *facepalm* Srsly, people I may be 80 before I get this thing done! :P I used to scrapbook back in the day, before all the cute pre-made stuff was around. I was a crazy person that made all my own decorations, and stickers. Insane. I forgot how much work scrapbooking is!! I'm hoping to be finished with it in a couple of weeks, then I plan to visit Mom and share the finished product with her, and trade off trip photos with her. Hopefully, we'll both be fortunate enough to visit Japan again!
Japan was wonderful, fabulous, and awesome. Mom and I had a great time together.
So, I pulled up my pre-trip bullet point list to let everyone know how my expectations/concerns matched up with my actual experiences.
My pre-trip thoughts are italicized. My post-trip thoughts follow.
Japan trip. Excited because:
- Japan! Duh!
Not wrong on this count. Was more awesome than awesome-ness.
- Will see relatives not seen in 30+ years, & some I've never met. Sadly, one uncle has throat cancer. :( He's why Mom wants to go.)
OMGosh. Was so fun/touching/amazing to see my uncles, aunt, and cousins. Love, love, LOVE them! Especially grateful to have spent time with my sick uncle, though it was difficult to see him so frail and weak.
- The. Food. 'nuff said.
Loved having sushi and sashimi anytime the mood struck, and getting to taste some of my old faves, and some of my Mom's favorites.
- Cool experience of being in foreign country.
Was a fabulous experience.
- Will take tons of fabulous pictures, which will lead to fabulous Pic!Spam.
Definitely did this. Ended up taking almost 2,000 in all. Promise to post some photos from my trip as soon as I get caught up with life and work, and get the time to re-size some and upload them.
- 3 weeks of Mom/Daughter time.
Was really, really, fun. Found out cool, sweet, and funny things about my Mom that I never knew.
Japan trip. Nerved out because:
- American N00b in foreign country! Duh!
This was totally not a problem. Almost all important signs have English on them, and many of the personnel in Japanese airports/airlines were bilingual. Between that and my Mom's ability to read/speak/write Japanese, we were all good.
- Looooong flight. 13 hours for 1 leg. *flails* a) concerned about being uncomfortable. b) concerned about plane staying in air. :P
The flight over there was tough, I can't lie. We flew on a Boeing 777, with Continental, and the standard seating was pretty cramped. If at all possible fly first class. Believe me if you can afford it, it's worth it.
Three mistakes I made on the flight over:
1. I dressed too warmly, long yoga pants, t-shirt, a hoodie, & tennis shoes. Even when I took the hoodie off, I was uncomfortably hot. On the flight back, I learned my lesson, I wore capri length yoga pants, t-shirt, and flip flops, much cooler, and much better...besides if I would have gotten cold, they provide blankets on the plane.
2. I didn't take any pain reliever for the leg aches that came with the lack of sufficient leg room. On the flight back home, I took Aleve before boarding, and kept some in my purse. Ended up taking one more dose, and giving some to Mom who also began having aches from the cramped seating.
3. I put my laptop bag on the floor, with my purse, instead of stowing it in the overhead compartment. The on-plane entertainment system kept me busy with movies, games, and music. I never even used my laptop, and it took up precious leg room. On the flight back, Mom and I stowed our carry ons in the overhead, and kept only our purses on the floor, which gave us more space.
- Japanese customs agents freaking out about my Zyrtec D. Which I REFUSE to go without. (have prescription)
Not a problem at all. Breezed through customs, they didn't even glance at my stuff. Very polite, and friendly.
- Will I have enough $ while there.
Thankfully, this ended up not being a problem.
- Will I have enough $ when I come back after missing 3 weeks of work when I only have 2 weeks paid vacation.
This too managed to work out just fine. Yay!
- Will I die without Canada Dry ginger ale.
Managed to find Canada Dry ginger ale in most of the grocery stores, and when I couldn't find it, I could always find Coca-Cola.
- Will Japanese people stare/point and/or ridicule me because I'm a) American. b) tall. c) not a size 0. d) all. e) I'm cute? *hopes for e)*
I was treated with complete politeness, and graciousness by everyone I interacted with. People were a true pleasure to talk with, and many were very interested in the fact that I was American. I did notice some double takes from adults, and some stares from children, especially if I began speaking English within their earshot, but all I sensed was genuine curiosity. I also had group of Junior High/High School girls notice me, and call out "Hello! Hello!". They were delighted when I stopped and responded to them, in English and Japanese, in fact any time I spoke any Japanese it seemed to please people immensely. One hostess at a hotel told my Mother that I was so polite, and spoke Japanese very well. Which made me feel ridiculously good, since I only know a handful words and phrases.
- I don't want to get sick, and I ALWAYS seem to get sick when I travel.
I really thought I would miss the bullet on this one, but as soon as we arrived home, both Mom and I caught colds. I'm so grateful that we didn't get sick during the trip, though!
- Will miss my Baby Dogs, and Hubby lots!
I did miss them bunches! No way around that one. It was a happy reunion when I came back. :)
- 3 weeks of Mom/Daughter time.
I had nothing to worry about here. We had a wonderful time together. Would go back with her in a second!
One other thing I learned. I should have packed more clothes. You're allowed to check two bags on international flights, but I decided to go with one. If I ever go overseas again, I'll likely bring another bag. Having more clothing to choose from would have been really nice.
It truly was the trip of a lifetime, and I'm so very grateful to have been fortunate enough to experience it as an adult. As a 10 year old, I didn't grasp the wonder of it all. I'm so blessed I had another chance to fully appreciate it.
I've printed about 300 photos from my trip, plus, I found all my photos from our 1978 trip to Japan. I'm going to combine them together in a gianormous scrapbook (aka scrapbook from h3ll). Have worked and slaved for hours on it, and have only finished the 1st week of our trip. *facepalm* Srsly, people I may be 80 before I get this thing done! :P I used to scrapbook back in the day, before all the cute pre-made stuff was around. I was a crazy person that made all my own decorations, and stickers. Insane. I forgot how much work scrapbooking is!! I'm hoping to be finished with it in a couple of weeks, then I plan to visit Mom and share the finished product with her, and trade off trip photos with her. Hopefully, we'll both be fortunate enough to visit Japan again!
