Journey to Japan: Arrival

Day 1

As usual, I should have started my packing a bit earlier and not finish it at 2am in the morning. Maybe then I would have gotten more than 4 hours of sleep and be starting my adventure more relaxed and less sleepy.

None the less, I still woke up before my alarm at 6am, rolled out of bed, showered and packed all devices that were charging overnight as well as some food and drinks. And since I didn’t feel like rushing with the bus, holding on to my luggage in a bus filled with commuters and students, I opted to take a taxi to Tübingen’s central station.

I arrived in Stuttgart on time, especially since I opted to take an earlier train just in case of delays. So I had quite some time to kill waiting on my plattform. And the trains around me were going places, too. First, the sleeper train from Zagreb, Croatia and Budapest, Hungary pulled in. Still older material with decades of kilometers under its belt. And behind me was the TGV waiting to depart for Paris Gare de l’Est via Strasbourg. And eventually my ICE 612 arrived as well, codeshared with Lufthansa.

The platform was filled with a lot of other passengers and luggage cases, but it seems that everyone still found a seat to sit. Luckily I am sitting near the door, for an easy exit later. And now it is time for my second breakfast, while someone else seems to enjoy some overripe mandarins.

I can finally feel a shifting sensation in me. After finishing work yesterday, I didn’t immediately feel a holiday mood, no feeling of being finally done with work. Probably mostly because I still had to pack and settle a few things in my apartment that I have been putting off before. But now the closer I get to the airport, there is some sort of excitement growing in me. Looking forward to board the plane, curious what seatmate I will have. Curious if I can check my luggage through to the final destination or if I have to pick it up myself in Beijing and bring it through the checkpoints.

Initially, I had been very keen on planning my Japan adventure, but that eventually gave way to being a bit overloaded with options, so I ended up not planning much as well. But the most important things are in place: All accomodations and flights are booked, tickets for the expo in Osaka, signed up for the half marathon is Sendai and I am in touch with my friends in Tokyo and Osaka. I haven’t seen them in 25 and 15 years respectivly. But most of all, I am looking forward to see my girlfriend again.

Finally my train arrived at Frankfurt airport. I think I could have set my feet to automatic and basically just went through the usual motions. Nothing special to report there, just that boarding and subsequently my departure was delayed. Still arrived in Beijing on time.

The airplane felt a bit dated and the economy seats were in a 3-3-3 configuration, but maybe that was to its advantage. At least I felt that I had more legroom than on Turkish Airlines and could actually nap for a few hours. And in Beijing airport, I was constantly wondering if I were in the right queue. After all, I was going to Japan and thought it would be an international transfer, but due to a “technical stopover” in Dalian, I actually had a domestic transfer with a flight within China first. So I had to queue for immigration, then I queued at the transfer desk for some reason only to figure out that I didn’t have to and then rushed to my gate where boarding had already started. I think there also one or two security scans along the way.

Arriving in Dalian, everyone had to leave the airplane, even though some of use were to continue on this airplane to Sendai, even in the same seat. For most passengers, Dalian seemed to be the final destination, only a few were diverted to get an exit stamp into their passports. So in the end, I have spent officially a few hours in Mainland China and got the stamps to prove it. I think this was my third visit and obviously the shortest one. Also it seems that I was the only western person on this flight.

Currently I am waiting to board the airplane again, and somehow I feel it was right decision to not arrive at one of the bigger airports in Tokio, but to arrive at one of the smaller ones, pretty sure it will be less crowded and an easier start into Japan.

The flight from Dalian to Sendai was rather relaxing, I had entire row to myself and this time the flight was long enough to have some food service as well. As we were flying across the Tohoku regions, I remember seeing first some mountains still with snow which then gave gradually way to rolling green hills that were so beautiful to watch and making one wonder if this had been inspiring Hayato Miazaki for one of his animations as well.

After having landed, it became apparent that my luggage didn’t make all the way to Sendai. Luckily I had my most important gear packed in my carry-on: My running gear, most of my eletronics and a change of underwear. So I was fairly relaxed while the staff tried to track down what happened to my luggage. I was also given some immediate monetary compensation in Yen. Not a big amount, but still it counts. There was also some hope that I would get my luggage the next day if the airline would route it through Shanghai.

Exiting the arrival hall, I still exchanged some leftover Taiwan Dollar from back in the days to Yen and was all set to buy my trainticket from the airport to Sendai Central station. Cards were not accepted and I do not know if the attendants in their booth would be able to facilitate a transaction with a credit card.

After checking into the hotel, I did a quick trip to the nearby Uniqlo to buy a few essentials for the next day since my luggage was missing and then tried to find some detergent and an easy dinner. I first had a look at Don Quijote, but basically I was too tired, too exhausted to handle all the impressions in a language that I cannot read, the colors and sounds, as well as the Friday evening crowd. I quickly retreated away from the shopping avenue to quieter main streets and scoured successfully some combinis for an easy dinner and detergent.