時差ぼけ - Jisaboke. Jet-lag

Ok, so it has been just over two weeks since I arrived in Japan and given that my mum is constantly on my back about updated I figure it was now time for the very belated first-post-in-japan. I can not stress this enough, the time and way you fly is very important. So one year ago I booked my flights to Japan thinking I want to get there as fast as possible. I still think that it was a good idea however when the fastest way means you have to leave the house at 4:45am it can lead to one very tired and grumpy passenger.

I flew with Alitalia, whose prices are relatively cheap and the staff are quite pleasant, especially when compared to the incompetent Easyjet and Ryanair brigade. They aren't too strict on hand luggage, and I was delighted to find out I could carry up to 23kg in the hold, most airlines say only 20kg. You are allowed one piece of hand luggage which fits the requirements of 55x35x25cm and under 8kg in weight. In addition to this you can also carry a laptop and/or a briefcase. As far as I could see people were definitely stretching the boundaries, trying to pass off a suitcase as a laptop is not the most inconspicuous bending of the rules I have witness but even so the staff didn't seem to care. So I boarded the plane with my 9kg hand luggage and 10kg "briefcase" with no questions asked other than "Do you want Italian or Japanese for dinner?".

So transfer from Rome went smoothly, all I have to do now is board the plane for Japan and off we go!!

The start off has begun!

2½ hours have passed and we are only flying over Romania. This is going to be a long flight...

So if you are looking to fly Alitalia I would recommend them. Besides having a screen in front of you showing the plane moving painstakingly slowly across the globe, you also have a TV attached to the arm-rest where you can watch videos in various different languages. I give "The Avengers" an average and the "Hunger Games" an alright. If you can book a seat closest to 1st class then you get so much room for your legs, or lack thereof. I would also make sure you have someone with you unless you want to be the only white person on the plane besides the air hostesses. I was asked if this was the flight I wanted 10 times. 

Fast forward 13 hours, and we are here!

So first impressions: its hot
When passing through immigration there are quite a few procedures to go through being a 外人 gaijin (foreigner or alien). This also includes getting your fingerprints recorded and a retina scan. Looks like my plans to break into the Imperial Palace will be put on hold for a wee while.

 

So in the taxi on my way from Osaka to Kyoto and things are looking pretty Japanese: lots of Japanese people, lots of Japanese signs, lots of Japanese houses and plenty people speaking Japanese. It was safe to say I was definitely in Japan. People also take their positions very seriously here, my taxi driver was wearing what looked like a sailor hat as part of his uniform in 30ºc heat.

時差ぼけ jisaboke (jet-lag) is a word I learned very quickly being here. I had enough time to wolf down a bowl of katsu curry before K.O.-ing on my bed. 時差ぼけ is not fun, I was sleeping at weird times, I never felt like eating and was constantly feeling sick. Took me about 3 days until my body realised it was 8 hours behind. Tips: force yourself to stay awake and go to bed at a normal time, drink a lot of water, eat - even if you don't feel like it and of course the whole moral of the story: don't start flying at 6:50 in the morning.

Also, the spiders here are massive:

This is just perfect...