After 6 weeks staying comfortably at my cousin`s on Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, beginning an 8 day trip on mainland Japan felt a little like a bad decision to run away from home--as an idea it sounded like an exciting adventure but the reality makes you feel weary before you even begin. But I think it may have been starting the day on only 5 hours of sleep, which I supplemented with two hours of that really deep, intense nap sleep where I feel entirely paralyzed and believe my dream is actual reality but am somehow aware that my head is cocked at a weird angle and my mouth is hanging open. I woke up at one point to find my seat neighbor gone and for about 5 seconds had convinced my self that I had slept through my stop and was on my way to Tokyo.... then I turned and found that she had moved to have her own row...but I still faintly felt like i must have done something uncomfortable in my sleep like flailing dramatically or drooling or talking (although I guess she most likely would not have understood). I also have to mention that usually in these dreams I am paralyzed or I cannot stay awake, while simultaneously something really scary or pressing is happening like I am about to be abducted (i almost wrote kidnapped there...oops). However, this dream was much less dramatic. I was watching an animated film about Iron Man (thank you Vince Mackey) and I kept falling alseep. and I never fall alseep in movies, I remember thinking this and feeling really bad because the movie was actually good.
It took a few more hours but once on the train and headed through the beautiful coastal countryside of Japan, I began to find my rhythm again. I enjoyed having all day to reflect, listen to music, and transition from saying goodbye to my family to getting psyched up for my trip. It ended up being a much longer day of travel than I had planned (accidentally boarded a Local train from the airport instead of the the Limited Express) and I did not arrive in Kurashiki until after dark. Other than that it felt like the typcial initiation back into travel complete with a ride on a giant plane, meeting strangers on the train (some welcome and others not), suffering extreme bladder pain from drinking too many convienience store coffees, getting lost trying to find my hostel and graciously being taken there by locals, and then arriving to my destination in the dark, painfully hungry, and sweating even though its about 30 degrees out.
Thats pretty much it for now. I still have a few stories I need to find time to post about from my trip to the Yaeyama Islands and if you`re on facebook, I have recently posted all of my photos from Tokyo & the Kansai region (Kyoto, Nara, Uji, Osaka).
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