On the way to Tokyo

The sleep deprivation finally caught up with me so I ended up getting a hotel in San Bruno, about 8 minutes from the airport. Still with intentions of fining some kind of nightlife action I took a walk around the hotel. Found a humble Irish pub, with about 6 people in it. Had. Beer and was directed to a good late night Mediterranean place. Ate and got a good nights rest. Got to the airport early and ordered an overpriced omelette from a restaurant in the terminal. I te at the bar alongside some guys slamming back beers and mixed drinks. Talked with them a while, they go to college in SF and flying to Miami to celebrate one of their 21st birthdays. Doing it big time.
As I was walking over to to my gate they were announced for all stand by passengers to come up and get their seating assignment: 6A - First Class window!!! I was sooo pumped. I was greeted with champaign, hot towel, pillow, blanket and plenty of leg room. My seat mate was a girl my age: Kyoko, an Asian American from San Francisco. She was flying back to Tokyo after the holidays to continue working for the teach English abroad program. Great conversation. It was hard to sleep on the flight because it was still in the middle of the day for me. I watched a couple movies, listened to music and talked with Kyoto about the similarities and differences between USA and Japan. Approaching the coastline, japan appeared to be pretty flat. Looked to a California type beach, narrow dark sand beaches, hardly anything developed around it though. Lots of baseball fields. We landed at 5pm the next day - a 17 hour time change. Kyoto was a lot of help getting me on the right trains into the city. One of the first things I noticed about Japan is how clean everyhing is. And there are no janitors and hardly any trash cans. Everyone takes responsibility for their own waste... And it works, interesting concept huh? Kyoto says the schools don't have to janitors, the kids are responsible for cleaning the classrooms, floors, bathrooms etc.
The train (mostly like a city metro) from Narita airport into the city was about 1:30 total with 1 transfer, with little to see since it was dark. It was a little nerve racking not sure if I was on the right train or not. I asked- pointing to my destination written on my cell phone, pointing to the train and a thumbs up or down, it was funny. First thing I noticed stepping on the train: EVERYONE was on their cell phones, no conversation at all. Most everyone had headphones on, and starring right into the screens. I would assume some were texting and others playing games or music, but everyone that got onto the train, old and young, pulled out a cell. I felt obligated to follow suit. 

Walking out of the train I followed the mob the exit, merging onto the escalator everyone single file lined up all the way to the left, standing in the middle ("typical American") I remembered transportation is backward from us, so quickly followed suit. As I walked up out onto street level I did the 360 cinematic panoramic gaze at this foreign land. It was pretty much what I imagined: busy streets, bright lights, bustling crowds and Japanese. Quick look at my map and off to the hostel. Walking on the left side of the side walk I continued to gaze at the taxis, bikes, street lights, signals, billboards; taking in all the "flow."
The hostel is really nice. Not the best location for walking action buy the metro is really close. Jet lag finally caught up so I grabbed some food from a connivence store around the corner, and chilled at the hostel with some other people staying here.