A NEW JOURNEY



I'm gonna start this post with a shout-out to the best family in the world. I was able to see them for the first time in a few months in between stages, and although it was only for a few hours, it was such a blessing to see and be with them. Airport departures and goodbyes are never easy, and because it was such a quick turnaround this time, that just amplified things. Mom, Ali, Peewee, I love you; you guys are the absolute best.

And something completely unrelated yet extremely lovable, here's a picture of Dude.

Mr. Dude Licking His Pan Clean

What a cutie.

Warmup

Right now I am sitting in the Portland International Airport, three bags checked, waiting for my flight to Vancouver, and eventually jumping on a plane from there to Tokyo. Woah. I know, I'm kinda blown away. How did I swing this, you ask? Well, let me fill you in.

I'll spare most of the info from prior to July 2014, that you can check out in my other blog from the CBYX program. After the program, though, here's what went down, in bullet form:

So right now I'm in the middle of the CAReer program. My home rotation/group is in Portland, where I work for Daimler Trucks North America (makers of Freightliner and Western Star semi-trucks), and working on Radar and Safety Systems. At the start of the program, I worked there for roughly 4 months to get a good entry and start into the company.

3 P3's

The past three months were spent down in Mountain View/Sunnyvale, CA, where I worked for Mercedes Benz Research and Development North America looking at and discovering long-term market research and trends. I had an absolute BLAST down in California.

F015

But, all good things come to an end, and that end happened yesterday. So at 3am I hit the road and headed back up to Portland. Once I arrived, I went to the office to talk with my boss, got a haircut, met up quickly with my friend KC, then went home and packed for this 10:30 departure to Tokyo. As I said, it was a really quick turnaround from leaving SF to departing PDX. But, that's where I'm at right now, and now you're all caught up to speed!

San Francisco, CA

I was originally born in California, but don't remember any of it. Granted, Ventura is Southern California and the Bay Area is Northern California, but now I can say that I've lived in my Birth State!

Three months was a really short time in an area with so much to do and see. But by golly I sure did my best to make the most of it! Filled with great times hanging out with my buddy Zack, hiking Mission Peak every week with Miriam and Marko, welcoming Jason and Candace back to the Best Coast, and making some new friends along the way and exploring wherever I could in between, it was an awesome summer that I could easily go into more detail. But here's the list-version of what I did.

My CA To-Do List

Not all that I planned on did I end up achieving, but not too bad, I'd say.

Journey to the Land of the Rising Sun

As I mentioned regarding a quick turnaround, I ended work in Sunnyvale on a Thursday, and at 2am that next morning hit the road up to Portland to see the family, unpack, repack, and then catch my flight the following day at 10:30am. I had a lovely drive, timed it perfectly with the sunrise coming right as I got to something other than flat farmlands, blasted through Season 1 of Startup's podcast, and made it to Portland for a quick stop off at the office, haircut, and home.

Me, Mom, Peewee, and Ali, had a relaxing evening together (after I took a nap), with some delicious Steak and Artichokes with Sauteed Mushrooms and Onions. Damn we know how to do it right. But also, as I said, it was way too short. Before we knew it, we were headed to the airport to say goodbyes. That was really rough... :-/ One ray of sunshine that came out of the departure was that the lovely desk agent waved my baggage fee. What a sweetheart.

Portland to Vancouver was quite quick and uneventful. It was quite alarming to see the sheer quantity of smoke enveloping my home state. I didn't see land until we got to Canada, and that was quite sad. But flying into Vancouver was gorgeous. No joke, that quick time in the airport and the views from takeoff and landing near there REALLY make me want to move there, at least for some portion of my life. It's absolutely gorgeous there. How dope would that be to have all of that Neature right outside your backdoor? (Not that Portland or Seattle don't have that, it's just a different variety...)

But yeah, I got to Vancouver. First stop? The Air Canada lounge. Oh yeah, forgot to tell you, but my flight to Tokyo was Business Class, in a 787. OH BABY. So yeah, quick beer at the Lounge and then I hopped over to my gate to board my 787.

HO. LEE. SHIITE. Business Class is DEFINITELY the way to go. I was blown away by the whole experience. The food was UNBELIEVABLE. The plane was sleek as hell. The lay-down bed blew my mind. Overall, I would LOVE to never have to fly in economy again. Just take a look at some of the pictures.

Holy Legroom Batman

LOOK AT ALL THAT LEGROOM. So much I can't even see it all...

The Appetizer
The Main Course
The View

It was a dream come true. Not gonna lie, I kinda didn't want the flight to end... The good news - I get the same thing on my flight back to the US in December. X-D Awwwwww yeah.

Struggle Bussin'

Yes, my overall journey to Japan was fabulous. But you know how one thing can go wrong and really put a damper on things? Cue the music...

After I got my bags and stuff and jumped on the train to town, I made it to Shinjuku with what I THOUGHT would be a quick 10-20 walk and arrive at my new apartment. Boy was that wrong.

That quick walk turned into an arduous and hellish journey.

  1. One of the wheels on my rolling suitcase broke.
    Result: carrying not only a backpack on my front and back, but now carrying/dragging my roller and carry-ons.
  2. Humidity out the kazoo.
    Result: my clothes had to be wrung out from being soaked to the bone in sweat once I finally arrived.
  3. Not having google maps.
    Result: a coupla wrong turns, turnarounds, and a total walk from the train station to home of 50 minutes.

Bwuh, not a good start.

I got there and crashed, but had to be up and at work at 9am the next morning. Good thing I woke up at midnight, 3am, 4am, and 6am!!! :-( I was dead tired the entire first day at work, which entailed nothing but reading powerpoints. And it was so bloddy hot in the office.... I was struggling hardcore. I finally got out of the office, but took the wrong train home and fell asleep, had to back-track, and ended up doubling my commute.

I planned on staying up for as long as I could that night to adjust to the jet lag, but nope, 9:30pm was as good as my body could do. Result: hello again 3am, my old friend.

Same kinda thing but a tad different flavor on my second day in paradise. Got to the train station and forgot my wi-fi device, but eventually made it to work and got back to reading power points while trying desperately to grasp consciousness amidst the monotony and humidity. At some point, another day was in the books.

Ultimate - My Lifeline

After work I was dead tired, but had plans to go play some pickup. I was falling asleep walking to the train station, on the train, and walking to frisbee, and was debating just going home and sleeping. But no, I stayed with it, and goddamn I'm glad I did!

As how it was in Germany, frisbee helped me get back on track. We played at a local middle school on a dirt field, but the spirit of the game and the fun of the sport was there, alive and well, and it was just what I needed. We played for a few hours, had some fun, met some really fun people, and even got invited to play with the local team during my time here!

My First Izakaya

After that, a few of us went out for Izakaya then Ice.

Toriaezu nama hitotsu!



Original Publish Date: August 26th, 2015