Days 1 and 2: I'm here!

I'm here! I'm in Japan! This is real life! It's been a jam-packed couple of days, full of travel, paperwork, tons of information, and a bunch of awesome new friends.

On Wednesday, I woke up at 4am in Chicago to get onto my first flight, a four-hour trip to San Francisco. Fortunately for me the flight was right on time and my layover was only 45 minutes, so by the time I found the gate for my second flight it was time to board. The flight to Osaka was...ten hours? eleven? I don't even know. Although I was pretty exhausted and tried several times to get some sleep (and even took a couple melatonin tablets), I was too amped up and stayed awake the whole time. Fortunately the seats all had personal entertainment screens, so I watched some movies/TV, played games, and sometimes just stared for minutes on end at the Map feature as the plane slowly made it's way farther across the Pacific Ocean.

I had a pretty incredible view out the window as we began our descent into Kansai airport

We crossed the international date line so by the time I landed in Osaka it was Thursday at 3pm. I got off the plane, made my way through to get my luggage, went through immigration to get my residence ID, and found a driver with my name on a sign, as well as four other Americans going to USJ that were on my flight. A quick drive to my new home Kaigandori House followed, and there we were introduced to John from Talent Support to immediately dive right into orientation. We were given a lot of info about living in the house and Japan and had some forms to fill out, and eventually we made our way to our apartments and came right back down to go on a quick tour of the area on our new bikes. It was all pretty overwhelming, especially considering how little I had slept and how long I'd been awake. We ended the tour by going to eat some oknomiyaki, an Osaka specialty that is basically a thick savory pancake filled with noodles, cabbage, and meat and covered in a delicious brown sauce. I'll definitely be back there soon. 

Outside the restaurant with some new friends

On the way home we stopped at a cheap little grocery store for any essentials we needed and then headed back to our rooms. I fell asleep not too long after, probably about 10pm Osaka time, a good 28 hours after I had woken up in Chicago.

Even though I was out like a baby, jet lag was kicking in, so I woke up around 4:30am (2:30pm Chicago time). I tried to fall back asleep for another hour, knowing that just over six wasn't enough after such a long and tiring day, but my body wasn't having it. I spent the early morning unpacking and organizing and then around 7:30am decided to bike around the area myself for about an hour, but not before taking a few photos of the view from my balcony.

 Good morning, Japan! (Ohayo gozaimasu!)

There are stray cats errwhere, y'all

Our apartment building is on a rather small island called Minato-ku, connected by bridges to the mainland. It makes for a great neighborhood to live in, as it's small enough to bike around the whole thing but still has plenty of shops, restaurants, and things to do.

 I just think a lot of the buildings here look super cool

A few shops

 Karaoke Box

Apparently this is one of the best aquariums in the world, I'll have to check that out soon

Kids on their way to school

"It is strong in time, and it is gently to time tough at time." Your guess is as good as mine, y'all.

Guys, there are vending machines everywhere. EVERYWHERE.

Ferris wheel on the island that I'm sure I'll ride eventually

Super "Dry"

Grocery store. I definitely bought a few things that I have no idea what they are.

7-Eleven is a big thing here, apparently

I love how many little cartoon animals and characters are used in signs and logos here. Also, more vending machines.

Another cartoon animal logo

Well SHIT

Don'y worry you guys, I found some cereal

After my own little journey around town and grocery trip, all the newbies met in the lobby of Kaigandori House to go out on our bikes for more orientation. There are about thirty of us that arrived within the same day, including a bunch of Aussies and Brits, about six of us Americans, and six from Russia (not to mention fifteen or so that arrived a couple weeks before we did and dozens more that have been here since February and some that have been here for several years). It's very cool to make so many new friends from all over the world. We rode around the island some more, where we were shown the local gym (to which we all get free memberships awwww yeah!) and then took the ferry across the river to the USJ rehearsal sites. We were introduced to the stage management team we'll be working with on our shows, got our rehearsal schedule, had lunch in the cafeteria, and learned a lot more about USJ and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Unfortunately I can't get too specific about that, as I signed a confidentiality agreement and can't release any details that wouldn't be already known to the general public. I don't know crazy secrets or anything, but we were warned to err on the side of caution, especially before the WWOHP opens in July. For now I'll just say that I can't wait to get started with this incredible job and I'm so grateful to be here, both for the work and for the cultural experience.

We made our way back to the ferry in the rain and then were free for the evening once we were back to Minato-ku. I was pretty tired from being up at 4:30am and not really loving biking around in the rain so I opted to head home with a few others. It wasn't long before I was up in my room and, after a bowl of cereal and a much-needed shower, I headed to bed.

I woke up today around 6:45 am (a big improvement, but my body still hasn't quite adjusted from the jet lag) and have just spent the morning relaxing and writing this blog post. Today's plan is to wrap up our orientation, including our first trip on the local train. And then tomorrow, I jump right into rehearsals, which I'm totally stoked about. Alright, time to get ready for the day. Until next time, sayonara!