10 April 2016 - A Layover in Japan - My First Sakura!

If you know me, you know I love traveling to Japan. I took my first trip in 2008, went back in 2009 for a friend's wedding, and took my first travel companion in 2013. Japan holds a place near and dear to my heart as I have made many friends there as well as it was one of my first huge (or series of) culture shocks which kicked off my deep desire for travel.

As I tried to leave Guam on Saturday the 9th I experienced one of the negatives of travel: Flight Cancellations. I arrived at the airport at 9am for an 11 am flight home GUM-NRT-SEA-SNA. The flight kept getting delayed for "maintenance reasons".

This flight should have left 5 hours ago.,..ooooh free pizza.

At pm the flight was canceled because the flight crew hit their legal limit of working hours (wish I had that). It was an odd day for me. Board the plane, get back off the plane, have an unplanned meal at the airport, get back on the plane, ask to leave the plane, get hotel voucher from airline, take shuttle to free hotel, sleep a few hours, return to airport.

Airport Ramen and Milk Tea...soo good...sooo bad for me.

Working with the Delta Platinum Medallion line I managed to rebook my trip. As it turned out it gave me a 7 hour layover in Japan. It has been 3 years since I have been to Tokyo and I really miss my friends. I was hoping to attend a church service at one of my favorite locations (or at least stop by for lunch). So I filled out my customs forms, got my passport stamped and took to the trains that always get me lost.

The train ride from Narita to Tokyo takes about an hour. For the first time in my life (and completing an 8 year goal) I finally got to experience Sakura (桜 or 櫻; さくら). Every trip I have made thus far in my lifetime has been only during late summer and fall. Ever since I learned about the cherry trees blossoming, I have had a desire to see this event.

Also, the Dutch tulips are a huge hit in Japan too...

In the end, as I usually do, I missed my JR line train stop and went about 10 minutes too far. Backtracking on the Tokyo Metro, I finally found Fukagawa Church. Think about some place you visited 3 years ago, do you remember how you got there? Yea, me neither, so I took good notes last time. I managed to arrive right as the morning service was ending and lunch was starting. I had about 30 minutes to say hello to Pastor Naoyuki sensei, Noriko sensei (his wife), and my other friend Yugi Hosoya. 

I tried my best to work on communicating my visit to Noriko sensei but all my flight changes made for a confusing plan. None the less, she encouraged me to do my best (がんばってね。 or Ganbatte ne.)! I did apologize quite a few times as part of me still feels, in spite of my best intentions, what I did was rude in Japanese culture. The good thing here is that the Christian side of things supports the concepts of bringing family and friends together at church...and Fukagawa church sets a perfect example of being a welcoming place. Also, they really wanted me to have a nice lunch with real japanese food before my long flight home.

In September, I am going to return to Japan and I have purchased airline tickets for a few talented friends who will bring (and receive) great Joy from this church.