Hello from Japantown, San Francisco!

Written August 2, 2008

Hola!

I skype called Pop to let him know I got here safely, but thought I'd share my travels so far. I got to San Fran alright, not too much of an adventure so far. Virgin America is one very cool airline. All of the seats have their own tvs, with a software called Red. With Red you can watch us and international tv, order movies, listen to music, play games, see the map and even -- the best part-- submit and order for food and drinks (free non-alcoholic drinks, food costs) after the cart comes through the first time. Didn't get enough water? No problem! Order as much as you want. It was a pretty neat experience. Once I arrived, it took me a little bit to find the luggage carousel. I decided to pay the $3 to buy myself a luggage cart (criminal!) because i had not idea how big the airport was, and it was a good thing i did. I took one of the airport shuttles to Japantown, which was pretty inexpensive and very convenient. My hotel, the Kabuki, is in the middle of Japantown, so all of the street signs are in Japanese and English and there are Japanese restaurants, banks, and stores everywhere. I think it was neat of JET to hold the event here, it's a cool way to begin to acclimate to the real thing. I'll probably give you all a quick skype call tomorrow night from Tokyo.