05 On the plane

I was 20 years old and embarking on a great new adventure, while entering the plane I was hoping to sit next to a Japanese person to help me prepare on what lies ahead. I sat down in my seat next to a nice elderly couple who didn't speak any English to my left was an empty seat. I could not help noticing every peroson who passed by me, and the sound of my heart beating fast whenever somone looked at the number of the empty seat. Finaly a skinny american guy in his early 20's sits next to me and we exchange a breif. " whats up". Belive it or not it was total silence untill the plance departed this great nation of the united states." a country where the pizza gets there faster then the police does." I always dreamed of sitting next to a window seat so i can see when i land. Instead i sat right in the middle of the plane. As the plane desended I mutterd to the american guy, "here we go".


As we were in the air and the it got a little boring,
then after a while i was approached by beautiful korean hostess. In the best way she could she said " would you like a drink"? At the top of my head i was ready to get my crazy Japanese trip underway. I was eager to get wasted and let loose. BUT ON A PLANE? i thought, why not. I asked for a cup of wine, it was cheap wine of course and i felt it was just enough to get me buzzed and relaxed. Me and the "white guy" began to talk and told me about his reasons for coming to japan. Perhaps its been his dream and hes worked very hard to get here just as i did. " my friend lives on the military base so iam coming to visit him." he said while taking a quick toke of his wine. "oh thats cool" i said. "yea man i saved up for a while and ive always wanted to come to japan so i did it despite all the odds. While on the plane I befriended a 13 year old companion across the row from me. Funny little boy who would ask me alot of questions. "where you from" Why you want to go to japan" How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood.".........LOL.......... a funny and awkward thing happed. He asked me " what you listening to"? As drunk as i already was I just handed him my cd-player he put the headphones on and laughed and his mom was like "who's is that where did you get that. After she said that // He dropped my cd player and the disc came flying out.... yeaaaaa awkward. Despite that weird situation i continued drinking my free wine,passed-out,woke up,ate my food,and passed out again, 12 hour flight it was great. One hour before landing i took 20 minutes to do my hair. I had a weird hair style. dont judge.

1st Journey of 2005

"Thats it, I am done", I thought to myself while clocking out. My last day working at the hospital was actually the next day, but I could not bring myself to even coming back and waking up at 5am to this godforsaken place. I hated the thought of dealing with old dying people's food and what they can eat or cannot eat, but on every break I would remind myself why I was working so hard. It was only 2 more days Until I take my 1st trip to japan.

Don't remember the date but I am sure it was in June. I bought my ticket for exactly 600 dollars round trip. That was a good deal but it was a good deal cause the economy was not crap and gas was 130 a gallon. (FYI at this point in writing this post I have officially moved to the toilet. apparently wring crap ,gas and gallon in the same sentence triggers your brain to release it waste. "thank you") A day before I am off to my wondrous journey I hit the bank and get all my money in my account converted into "TRAVELERS CHECKS."  Travelers checks are useless in japan. Nobody takes them. I was confidant and excited on embarking in the land of the purchasable used pantie machines. (this was not my reason for going to japan but still excited to see it). I felt invincible with my pocket travelers book, travelers checks, bags packed all ready and a mind filled with thoughts. Its the night before the flight and I could not sleep. I was too excited and I had thoughts of what I was gonna do while I got there. Was I gonna kiss the ground? Was I gonna cry and stand in the the crossing like I have always dreamed of? Time would tell. Since I could not sleep I got off of bead and turned off my Tv. ( watching TOM GREENS subway monkey hour every Gaijin should watch it.) I got my car keys and went to Wal-Mart.since I money in the bank I love going to Wal-mart and just walking around knowing I can buy anything. So I made my way into Wal-mart looking for things I forgot to buy. Don't buy a outlet converter if you live in the US you dont need it. I found out the hard way. I felt like i had everything by the time I got home my parent'a were already up and we were on our way to LA.
I got my flight info,my cd's,my ticket,my pocket of useless checks and I said my goodbyes to my mother and father. My father said I was crazy and I was brave for doing what I was doing. He said he was proud of me for chasing my dreams. "this is all I have" My mother said while taking one last search through her pocket for some extra change to give me. She handed me 13 dollars while sobbing. " be careful ok" she mumbled. In her mind  I am sure she remembered her little boy who would always wonder off while saying " I'am gonna go explore mom"  at parties and who cried when he realized he could not get into the foreign exchange program.  I was off.. they called the gate and I spent my 13 dollars on a salad. I was starving but for 15 dollars for a salad it better come with a steak, Bring snacks to flight. I got on the plane and I was off.

Rising Gaijin's 1st Blog

I am not much of a typer. But when I actually get the chance to sit on my toilet and type about stuff then I get things done. I worry enough about if people even look at my videos(youtube.com/risinggaijin) or listen to my podcast. (risingxgaijin.podomatic.com) In this blog i hope to improve not only my typing skills but to also  jump start a few functions of my brain, but to just to give you an insight of what i think about countries around the world.

If I really think about it I have always been an explorer. When I was I was a child, whenever our family would travel to a different persons home or a  family members house I would wonder off wondering into different room to see what I could find. At parties I would wonder off into the park to see what was beyond it. I found if i climb the hill behind the park there were  train tracks and after climbing the mountain found a river. I remember looking down from the top of the mountain standing  and looking down at the people who knew nothing of what is beyond the park. It felt good to be one of the people who go further than others. I then told myself i never want to be left behind or never wanted to stay in the same spot ever in my life, but to keep on moving and traveling. To me if there is something or some place i have never seen. It doesn't exist until i see it with my own eyes.