I remember the excitement I was feeling as we were in the Student Center of the dorms at Northwestern getting ready to depart for the airport. Saying goodbye to family and other loved ones, I wasn't really thinking about what exactly I was getting myself into. In the van heading to the airport I was too excited to think about the fact that I would soon be in Asia - in Japan.
But then we get to the airport. BOOM! Stress. Now, for those who don't know, I am not a fan of airports. I love to travel, but I do not like being in the airport. From the moment I arrive until I get to the gate, I am stressed. First, you stand in line to check in. You worry about saying the right thing and your luggage weighing below the maximum requirements. Then you must go through security. Waiting in line to take off shoes, belts, anything metal, pulling out liquids and electronics. All to watch them go through a machine and worry about whether or not they'll have to manually inspect your bags or worse - you. Then you must find the correct area in which your gate is located, and walk down a long hall to finally reach your gate. At this point I am able to relax. That is, until about thirty minutes before boarding time. Then I stress and worry again until I can make it safely to my seat with my bags properly stowed. I can enjoy the flight until the captain informs the passengers we are preparing to land.
Upon landing, I am making sure I don't leave anything behind, especially my passport. I don't know why, but I also don't like the process of exiting the airplane. And the fear that my luggage has been lost in transport doesn't disappear until my checked bag is accounted for. It is at thins point that I am able to almost fully able to enjoy the "travel" aspect of the airport experience. To give you an idea of the amount of stress I put myself through over the course of the nine weeks I was traveling, we had nine different flights, therefore I went through this whole ordeal on eleven different occasions.
All of this to say that we successfully made it to our hotel in Los Angeles that evening. We had a little time to "settle" into our room for the night. I shared my room with four other girls. We were split into three groups for dinner, each with one guy to accompany us gals - John, Tim, and Dr. Easterling (also known as Dr. E). My group went with Dr. E a few blocks from the hotel to a Taco Bell/KFC combo fast food restaurant. My favorite part about this place was the bullet proof glass and their way of getting money and food between the glass. There was a passageway with a door on each side. The employee would put the food through the door and then close his end. I would then open my side and grab the food. I was fascinated by this.
On our way back to the hotel, Dr. E pointed out to us five girls that most people on the street probably thought we were a couple of prostitutes and he was our "John." We actually got a kick out of this simply because Dr. E's first name is John. Despite being on the streets of LA just a few blocks from the Red Light District at ten o'clock at night, I wasn't fearful. I was aware of my surroundings and was cautious, but I was never afraid. Dr. E said that we had successfully made it through our first "culture shock."
I don't remember much after that about our short stay in Los Angeles. But I do remember the great excitement and anticipation we all felt as we were finally on our way west towards Japan and the official first leg of our trip.
I hope to post occasional blogs about my memories from my ICS Internship trip. It is crazy to think all of this happened a year ago. Yet I still don't feel fully debriefed. There is so much that has gone unsaid this past year about what I experienced, saw, and felt in each of the five countries I visited. I hope these blog posts I will be writing will help bring back memories from my travels. I don't want to forget and I want to be able to share as much as I can with others. I hope you enjoy what I will share!
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