The first photo is of us and all our stuff at Seatac. The long flight over to Osaka was uneventful. It was only 12 hours and the food was disappointing. Bre says that it was her first time flying across the pacific on an American airline (Delta), and it made her wish for Korean Air, or some other costumer service oriented airline. I took a brief nap on the flight in. Because we were flying West starting in the middle of the day the sun stayed with us all the way into Osaka. Having the sunshine helped me stay alert.
The airport was very clean and neat. We brought a package of dried salmon from the US as a gift. On the Customs forms it stated that you may not bring in pre-packaged meat. The explanation was something about preventing the spread of hoof and mouth disease. I was worried about this and afraid that I would have to throw out the salmon. We found the customs declaration area as we were coming in and I asked the customs officer if the dried salmon would be OK. She looked at the box and read the ingredients carefully before saying that fish is fine. The customs lady then asked hopefully if we had any other meat products. I got the impression that I could have made her day if I had brought in a package of sausage or beef that she could confiscate. Bre explained to me that in most countries fish is not considered a meat, and that is why it was OK.
Our plans for the rest of the day are to go out to look for apartments with Tanioka-san, our host, and work on adjusting from the jet-lag.
That's all for now.
-Kyle (and Bre)
I like that the, "sun helped you stay alert" on the plane. Somebody has to keep an eye on things :) Glad you made it
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that you two are having such a great time. Love the pictures and Bre, I love that coat! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteKyle, thanks for writing! Nice intro to Japan.
ReplyDeleteAnd MONKEYS? Why monkeys? Is it monkeys just in that part of town, or is that a city-wide thing? And are monkeys native to Hokkaido, or are these some kind of Hello-Kitty Monkeys? Are there other monkey-themed construction appliances?
Eureka, you're there! I loved the Applause store and the monkeys, as well as the smiling Kyle and Bre pics, happy house (apt.) hunting, looking forward to more. Are those trash cans with all the round holes?
ReplyDeletecurious,
Mom
Why Monkeys? I am not sure. Later the same day we saw frogs doing the same thing. Around our hotel there are regular traffic cones that have the same metal bars on them blocking people off from the construction area. I don't know about monkey's in Hokkaido. I have been told that they are not native to Hokkaido.
ReplyDeleteAs for the question about the trash cans I have to say that they are very remarkable trashcans. Today we spent over an hour looking for another public trashcan and didn't find one. As far as I know those are the only public trashcans in Sapporo. The one with the hols is for bottles and cans (based on what was in it.) The other two were supposed to be sorted by some system that I don't understand.
Thanks for the comments. I am glad t see that you are following our adventures.
-Kyle
There definitely needs to be more animal-themed construction barricades in the world.
ReplyDelete