Arrival

I've currently been up 31 hours (and counting), so bear with me if this sounds a little odd and rambling.

I left Minneapolis Friday morning to fly to Chicago for Pre-Departure Orientation- a little shaky, but ready to go. During said Pre-Departure Orientation, I learned the following:
If you are given a handout, don't bother reading it. They will read it to you. And then repeat themselves. And then someone will ask a question that was explicitly answered on it. This will get old.
Wearing a bike helmet makes you safer.
Eating cheap peanut butter crackers and cookies on an empty stomach is not a good idea.
It's hard to maneuver 3 suitcases at once.
JETs are incredibly friendly and easy to get to know.
Of the group of new JETs in my prefecture, all those coming from Chicago are girls.
There are giant hairy spiders. They are not poisonous.
There are giant multi-legged insects. These are poisonous.
The spiders eat the multi-legged insects.

I learned several good things at the airport and on the airplane as well:
If the mac & cheese has orangey-red specks in it, it might taste spicy. Which is odd.
It works better to get out of the middle of the row to climb over your neighbor's chairs, rather than squeeze through the narrow isle.
13 hours is a REALLY LONG time. Seriously. Really long. Especially if you are dead-center in your row.

Japan is really hot, and humid. There are lots of tall concrete buildings. I ate a really good meal at a noodle shop. It's time for bed.