Tokyo... after 1.5 days

From Don:
Waking up at 2:15am to Kevin walking around the hotel room and then opening the door and walking out into the hallway was NOT what I expected... so I yelled "KEVIN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" His response was "Oh my god! I have no idea! I just realized where I was. I just realized that we're in Tokyo... in a hotel..." It was hilarious!

So our first full day was interesting. Met Scarlett and Francesca for breakfast and then went to the Meiji Shrine and took some good pictures. We just happened to take an hour detour while we were walking the wrong way! Tokyo, the largest city in the world, does not have as many english speakers as we though. We're finding it really difficult to communicate to even get a beer. And then we try to negotiate because prices are different everywhere we go. We've paid from $5.00 - $7.70 for the same damn beer! Where we're going tonight, beer is $10. Craziness!

After parting with our classmates around lunchtime, Kevin and I wondered towards the Shinjuku Station where there are shops and small food places everywhere you turn. So where did we eat? McDonalds. I know... I'm ashamed. BUT... it's interesting that not only do the Japanese make better cars than in the U.S. they also make better double-quarter-pounders. Yes. I said it. They do McDonalds better than back home. The rest of our day was spent sleeping. Drinking two beers each and sleeping from 3pm until about 9:30pm was great. We are just now feeling that our bodies are adjusted to the time change. It's 9am on Thursday now, so we're hitting the town for some tourist activities. Roppongi, the Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Fish Market and Asukasa are on the agenda for today.

Check back soon for a link with all of our pictures from Japan.

Hello from Tokyo, Japan

So after a short 14 hours in the air between Cincinnati to Chicago and Chicago to Tokyo, we have arrived safely in Japan. With the time change and the Earth's rotation, it was daylight THE ENTIRE TIME! No sleep on the plane for us, but we did get to watch three movies, play video games and read a little. So now that we've been up for 29 hours it is time to go to bed (current Tokyo time is 11pm). Though we did get a chance to eat at a Sushi Bar for dinner here in town. :-) So goodnight from Team Penske... we will be sure to post pictures ASAP.

Less than 48 hours...

In less than 48 hours we will be taking off for three days in Japan before heading to China for six weeks. Packing is a priority this weekend!!

GC Countdown

Kevin and I are getting prepared to leave for Japan and China on Monday, May 11, 2009. Stress is beginning to rise as we come closer to our departure and this swine flu mess is still an issue. It's Cinqo de Mayo and we have one final presentation and paper due today. Packing and preparing for our seven week trip will consume the remainder of this week. This is the first post of many as we will add pictures and share our experiences in both Japan (Tokyo and Kyoto) and China (Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong).