Final Moments in Japan

We were sad, but the time had come.  We were leaving Japan for a 2:30PM flight.  We knew there wasn't much we could do, so we got up, had breakfast, and decided to head out to the Sumo Wrestler Museum as we felt we needed to give some homage to something so important to the culture.  We had wanted to watch a match, but there weren't any as the biggest match of the year was right before we came and this was the off month.

Sumo Wrestler Museum

The night before, while leaving the subway, we had come face to face with a sumo wrestler, but we didn't want to blind him with camera flashes and decided to leave his alone as he could kick both our asses.  We now looked back with regret as we would probably never see one again.  For some strange reason, we thought you could watch morning practices, but what we didn't realize was that they are held in their stalls where they live and we were not getting in. 

When we got to the museum, we were surprised to see that it was only one room, thus making it the tiniest museum in the world.  On the wall, they had photos of the winners over the years and a TV showing you some Sumo moves.  Okay, I won't lie, I was disappointed.  We had thought maybe we had made a poor choice by not going to the fish market instead.

We headed out and came upon an Australian couple that was there with their students for a scavenger hunt.  She told us we could possibly see a sumo wrestler if we were to wander around the district as they would sometimes train by the water or come out of their stalls.  Yes, it was weird to hear that they lived in stalls as they are human beings!

We Both Look Confused

As we were walking and taking in the sites, we came upon a group of their students and they were knocking on one of the stalls.  Out came a sumo wrestler looking dazed!  We couldn't believe it!  We tried to act like we were with the group, though there was no way we were passing for 10^th graders!  Still, it worked and he let us take a photo with him though he really appeared to be confused.  That is what happens when your stall is next to McDonald's I guess!

In the end, we were stoked and happy that we had skipped the fish market as fish aren't nearly as good for a photo op as a sumo wrestler.  We were told later that it was hard to get a photo with a sumo wrestler and that we had been very fortunate.  Though, I look like an idiot in the photo.  Heck yeah!

Goodbye Japan

Now it was time to head back to Narita, so we grabbed our suitcases from the hotel and we were out.  To others reading this; please take the Narita Express as we made a huge mistake.  We thought it would be better to take the subway as it is cheaper than the express by $17.00 Yen.  Not in the long run.  What we didn't realize was that on the way in many of the subways went straight to Tokyo.  On the way to Narita, they split off and you have to transfer which could take a couple hours.  The person at the JR Office didn't explain this to us, because her English was limited as was our Japanese and she thought we knew what we were doing.  Yeah, so did we, but in the end we sucked!  Long story short, we ended up taking a taxi for 140.00 with me in the back seat slapping my face into my palms every five minutes as we almost missed our flight.  It was stressful and could have been avoided by not being cheap.  Take the Narita Express!

And Always Remember...

In the end, we made it home with five minutes left to check in.  The flight was long, 14 hours in total, but I watched a few movies to pass the time.  Interesting note, the Japanese like doing exercises mid flight which kept waking me up.  I have heard it is good for the circulation but hard to sleep through if you are a light sleeper like myself.

Even though I wish I had had more time in Japan, part of me was still glad to be home. Though customs was crazy and JFK, was well JFK.  After being in Japan for so long, it was strange to see how disorganized NYC really was.  Example, on the subways in Japan, people stand in two lines, move to the sides when the doors open, let everyone off and THEN  proceed to get on.  In NYC, you shove people to get to the front, shove people on the train when the doors open instead of letting them off first and finally shove to get a seat.  People are animals here.  I can't even imagine what it must be like for Japanese people visiting NYC for the first time as I was seeing it in a whole new light.

After being interrogated for several minutes and then being hit on by two of the  custom's guy, we grabbed our suitcases and headed to the taxi stand to wait for the car I had ordered.  The trip had been amazing and one I would definitely repeat again, though at times it was challenging due to the cultural differences.  But that is the reason I travel, I love the differences of the cultures and the similarities that bring us closer together as human beings.  My first trip to Asia had been a success!