Leaving home is always difficult, especially when others are always in need of your support and return. Leaving home this time around was not easy, and it never will be, however it helped me prepare for the journey that lay ahead. I left my apartment very early and arrived to the airport with extra time on my hands, I eventually got past TSA and looked out over the runway where my plane was docked. I figured my journey would be long, Tiring and taxing to eventually get to Asia and still get to where I needed to go.
Arriving in Hawaii, which was my first stop and layover, brought excitement and more wonder because it was also a place I had never visited before. It truly is a beautiful Island, with a great people who have a great culture, and more importantly a place where people from all over the world come to relax and be happy. The air was very hot, The majority of the people in the airport were mainly Japanese and I quickly began to feel more and more closer to Japan. Before boarding my second flight, I was more nervous; Their were mainly Japanese on this flight, and almost no Americans, However it was really just the feeling of going to a place where you’ve never been, which is something we’ve all felt before. When the plane left Hawaii, I realized I was already in Japan, all I had to do was show up.
Many people from all over the whole world come to Japan for different reasons, but all of them experience the place with a similar excitement that will always be felt when arriving to a new place. While waiting in Customs, I saw people from all over the world waiting in that line, and they all had the desire to enter the country. After getting through customs I was greeted by a crowded airport that was still thriving late into the night. By this time I had a headache and was exhausted, but I continued forward and eventually got to the metro stop and got on the train. I had a martian moment, where I was the only foreigner on the train, and realized that we are all one people, just different in are habits and being. After finally getting to my stop I was ready to get off the train, and was greeted by the sea of eyes that would continue to greet me throughout the trip, one look and all they need is to see that you’re a visitor entering their home.
I was astonished to see firstly, how safe Japan was and is, especially at 2 in the morning, no one was around, but the place was very clean and quite. I walked towards my hostel in awe at the types of buildings and old temples that I saw, I could literally feel the weight of them, and how every building had a purpose that fit into the complex network that is Tokyo. After reaching my hostel room I looked out onto a sleeping Tokyo, and realized how big and small the world was a the same time. I went to bed with a smile on my face and a flutter in my heart, knowing that my journey was about to begin, and that Tokyo was the perfect place for it start!