Problem leaving Hawaii

"We're practically there!!"
That is what Travis said as we stepped onto the 747 of JAL. To be honest, I didn't have the same enthusiasm as he did. Actually, I was surprised I got on the plane. Last night, I could not sleep at all. I just found out that Panda Travel spelled my name wrong on my boarding pass. I don't understand how they could have done that. Every document I gave them had my name spelled out correctly. They spelled it Charles, its supposed to be Charlie. I called a friend of mine and she said I need to get it fixed or they won't let me board. Another friend said not to worry because I paid for it and they have to let me check in. I thought to myself, "I hope they let me on the plane."

As soon as I got to the airport, I met with the group and told Gavin, a former student of Jayson, what had happened. He told me to go to the check in counter and tell them my problem. I was still nervous about it. The counter person smiled at me and fixed it right away. "Wow, that was quick." I said.

As we were getting checked in, the final student of the class, Stacey, arrives. She came from Maui and had never met anyone in the class. I decide to introduce myself to her, Travis did the same. In her email to the class, she said a lot of people thinks she is a Japanese tourist. She does look like one in a way. She looked shy and a little intimidated. Maybe the people from Maui weren't as assertive as I was pretending to be. I think I might have scared her.

While we were waiting for our plane to arrive, I saw an old acquaintance from high school. David was on his way to Japan for a wedding. We talked and he told me about Tokyo and the wonderful places I should visit. I scrambled to write down every word he said so I don't forget when I arrived. He got me excited again. Anticipation is one of the best gifts you can give someone who is going on a trip. He gave that back to me. Thanks David.

It didn't really hit me, that I was in Japan, when the plane landed. It wasn't until we got to customs and I could not understand what the officer was saying that I started to think, "Oh that's right, I'm in Japan."

As the sliding doors to the main terminal opened, we finally saw Jayson and Yoko's smiling faces. "Hi everyone" said Jayson as he greeted us, "how was the flight?"
We all put on a smile and said, "It was great. The best part about the flight was that no one was on it. Oh and the food was soooo good."
It was true, we all had a row to ourselves. And the food were actual meals. It was probably one of the best airplane rides I had.

So, here I am in Japan and the search has officially begun. What is in store for us? I don't know. I'll have to find out.

Oh man, I'm sweating a lot! They weren't kidding when they said it was going to be muggy. Ugh!