My Journey to Japan

 

Traveling to a foreign country is always an adventure and a half. I am definitely no stranger to international travel, but each time I go, there is always something that makes me anxious. This trip, it was the transition from my international flight to the domestic one in Tokyo. The layover was only supposed to be an hour and a half, and I was very nervous that I wouldn't have enough time to do everything I needed to do and make it to my gate in time. 

I was fortunate enough for this flight to have a hotel room the night before the flight and a shuttle service that would take me to the airport. During the last few days in the States, I was staying with my parents, as my apartment had been packed up and shipped away. They live over an hour's drive away from our closest airport, and in order to get me to the airport in time, we would have had to leave at like 3 in the morning. Instead, I got to sleep in a little more and not have to bother my mom for a ride so early in the morning.

I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. I have TSA Precheck, so getting through security is a breeze. 

 My first flight to Dallas was pretty uneventful. I made it to Texas and trekked from one side of the airport to the other. Along the way, I found some lunch and a space for me to work on grad school work for a little bit. Getting onto the flight was a different matter. This is where the anxiety begins. Despite the fact that I had my roller bag on the plane with me getting to Dallas, they made me check it at the gate. So I get to pull off to the side, pull the electronics and medication out of the bag that cannot be in a checked back. I walked on to the flight with my now stuffed backpack, angered because the overhead bins were not even close to filled, with bags up there that were definitely bigger than mine. I ended up next to two teenage boys who seemed to know each other, so I am very grateful that I knew I would not have to get up for the boy in the middle seat. I am sad I wasn't lucky enough to get a seat without a middle person, like the row behind me. The flight itself was mostly uneventful. I ate not-so-great food, watched a lot of movies, and played a few games. The landing was rough, though. I think they came in a little hot, and you could hear all the stuff that moved and banged around in both the overhead and in the flight attendant's area in the back. 

When we took off in Texas, the pilot told us we would be arriving about an hour earlier than was listed on the ticket. I was beginning to breathe a little easier, knowing I would have a bit more time. But when we get to Japan, we are circling the airport because there are apparently too many planes. It then takes us forever to taxi to the gate after landing. Well, at least I thought we were going to the gate. We ended up getting off on the tarmac and taking a bus back to the airport. I feel like every step of the way, at this point, I am asking for help. There is a worker just inside the building who gives me directions to my next step, collecting my bags. Then something that has never happened to me before, all my bags arrive back to back. Another worker then guides me to customs I have to go through. It actually went pretty quickly. Especially when I have to get my visa, as I could skip the long line and go into the SOFA line. After I get through there, I am sent down the hall to the desk for the local airline, where a worker actually has me skip the line since my flight is so soon in order to get me through earlier. I check my bags, get my ticket, and get guided two floors down to find a shuttle to a different terminal. At this point, I am sweating and still worried that I might not make it in time. 

When I arrive at the domestic flight terminal, I am absolutely lost. US airports have a lot more signage to give people directions. There were fewer signs, and the ones that were there were in Japanese, with no translations. I am so lost. I find a nice elderly security guard and show him my ticket. He was so kind. He immediately takes me up some stairs and over to a security gate. He passes me over to the worker there, and she helps me get through to the other side. I have to say, I am really grateful for Japanese hospitality. Once I was through security, I was able to read signs in order to find my gate. Only to find out when I got there that it was delayed. Then a gate change. I guess I could have taken my time a little more. Stressed a little less. 

My final flight was nice and short, and I was so happy to make it to Misawa and fall into Charles's arms. It had been so long since we had seen each other; I was so happy to finally be there. 

I'm Back!!

Ever since I left Korea in March 2020, I've wondered if I will ever get the opportunity to return to the life I had, teaching abroad. Living abroad. Having those experiences that I loved. 

Well, I'm getting that opportunity again. 

My fiancé is a civilian who works for the US Air Force. He has gotten a job at a base in Japan. And I'm going with him!

My hope is that I will get a special education position on base at one of the DODEA schools on base. I'm so excited to spend the next three years exploring and living my life in a place completely different from my own. 

The last days of work at my school were bittersweet. I was so excited about the prospect of moving to my next adventure, but at the same time, I was leaving all of the relationships I had made over the last three years, especially the last year. COVID was an extremely isolating time, so I didn't make a lot of relationships within my school. This past year, I feel like I have become closer to significantly more people than before. 

I am really excited to start this new adventure. I'm packed; I got my ticket and am ready to go!

Things I'm excited for:

1. All the natural beauty
2. Temples and Shrines
3. Stationary!!
4. Learning to drive on the left
5. Adventure

What's Next?

I learned a lot while I was in Korea. I learned about myself, about teaching, about cultural differences, and a lot about being not just independent but also self-sufficient. I feel like I have grown up so much. But as with everything, there is a beginning and an end. As my time in Korea has now ended, my next journey starts. 

I recently accepted a teaching position as a middle school special education teacher. I am so excited. I am back where I started. I am going to be teaching at the middle school that I went to. I'm a wildcat again. It's weird to think about the fact that the whole adventure in Korea is done, but I think I am ready to be a special education teacher again. It's strange. I still feel like I'm a kid. Even when I was teaching abroad, I never felt like a real teacher. I have no choice now. I am an adult. I bought my first car all on my own. I'm paying my own phone bill. And in a few months, I am going to be in charge of my very own classroom. 

Thank you for everyone who read my posts for the last two years. 

I've had so much fun writing about my time during the last two years, I wanted to find a way to continue. 

안녕!

My Trip Home

On the first of April, I started my journey home. It was a long one, that consisted of a lot of emotion, exhaustion, and nervousness. 

Two days before I was set to leave, I had to say goodbye. I had gone to school the previous week and packed up all of my belongings, so the only people I still had to say goodbye to were the other foreign teachers in town. I met with them at a cafe in the afternoon and we talked and said goodbye. That evening, I had my farewell dinner with my host family, and my host siblings made a cute banner on the window that said "Bye, Kristy. We Love You." It was so sweet. We had pizza and cake and watched a movie. It was a wonderful final night. 

The next morning, I finished packing, and my host mom took me to Chuncheon to catch the bus to Incheon. That's right about when I started having more issues than necessary. The bus had been suspended, starting that day. No signs, not notice, just done. Great. Now I have to drag all my suitcases through the train system. I love trains in Korea but when I have a lot of luggage, I much prefer to take the bus. I started with the ITX to Seoul and switched to the Airport line. Then I found out I was on the limited train, which didn't go to Incheon, so I had to get off and get on the next train. The place I was staying at that night was right by the airport, so I got off at the airport station and carted my suitcases all through the airport to get to the shuttle buses. I then got on and had to pull my suitcases up this huge step because there was no storage underneath. One of the men on the bus was nice enough to help me when he saw my struggle. I got off at my hotel and it was really nice. I got checked in, had dinner, and got ready to go home the next morning. 

Because of the virus, I had to go through screening before I could even check into my flight, so I had to get to the airport even earlier. When I finally got to check-in, I found out that my flights had changed. I originally was going to fly to JFK and go to BWI from there. But I guess the flight from New York to Baltimore was canceled, so now I was flying to JFK to ATL to BWI. This made my trip even longer. 

Getting through security was relatively easy. I did accidentally pack a pair of scissors in my carry-on that got thrown away, but oh well. I was packing a lot. The last time I flew home, there were so many shops and restaurants that I could go to and waste time until my flight, but half the place was shut down. 

The long flight to New York wasn't too bad. The middle seat was empty, so I wasn't squished, and the food was decent. Once I got to New York, I just got more frustrated. I was a bit cranky because I didn't sleep on the flight. At the spot where I was supposed to transfer my bags, they told me that I had to drag them through the airport to recheck them at the check-in counter, just in case of flight cancellations. That instilled in me so much confidence that I was getting home. Then I had practically every one of my bags get flagged going through security again. They didn't like my camera, my bag of necklaces, or the food products I bought at the airport in Korea. Every one of them was opened, tested, and then rescanned. Then I got to repack them. Yay! If I thought Incheon had a lot closed, even more, were closed at JFK. I only found one place that sold food that was even open, and I found only one store that had snacks. 

When I got on my flight to Atlanta, I was surprised by how empty the plane was, I was put next to two people and squished into one row. That wasn't going to happen with so many open seats. I moved to another seat and was on the way of my second flight of the day. Atlanta was a lot nicer place for my final layover. There were several places to get food and far fewer people. My final flight had maybe 30 people on it. I got a whole row to myself! Though I did have a slight scare because I missed the announcement about my gate being changed and I thought that it might have gotten canceled. It didn't but I wasn't happy because I had been up for too long by now. I had my final flight home and even arrived early. I got through baggage claim really fast and before I knew it, I was in my mom's car, on my way home. Sleep.