Reflections on conference travel to Tokyo

I just made a very short conference trip to Tokyo - well, technically speaking I still am in Tokyo as I am writing on 'Narita Express' train, but will be uploading this when I am back in the States. So before I forget, I just want to write down some of the things that happened during the trip.

First, about flying on the day before Thanksgiving Day. I flew to Detroit (short flight arriving around noon on Wednesday) and then to Narita (long flight arriving around 4pm on Thursday). The flight to Detroit was full of joy - most of the people on the plane were headed home for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a huuuge family day in the States, and flying the day before almost automatically means they're going home. I sensed even the pilot might be - he was soooo hyper, and he announced "Happy Turkey Day!" three times in the less-than-two-hours flight. It was really full of joy and anticipation. In comparison, the flight from Detroit to Narita was gloomy. The flight was then to continue to Beijing, China, so the passengers were bound to Japan, China, or somewhere else connecting in Tokyo. There was no mension of Thanksgiving on the announcement, and the flight attendants seem to be rather detached and routine-like - I thought it was the sacrifice they made that made that atmosphere - they were working on the plane right at the time their family were getting together for Thanksgiving Dinner.. poor thing. Thanksgiving really is a big family day - like New Year's Day in Japan.

Second, about the utility of the Internet. This time the location of the conference didn't seem to be very convenient from where I stayed - the nearest station is on a different line, and so it involved two transits. Then the day before I left I was surfing on the web and found there was a bus connecting the site and the station on the train line! Yes!! I don't need the two transits, it'd even cost less, and the bus stop is right in front of the conference site! There was another incident when I was coming back this morning. I was planning on connecting from Shinkansen (the bullet train) to Narita Express in Tokyo, and then my dad told me that he had heard that the transfer at Tokyo station was rather far - Shinkansen and Narita Express were the farthest ends of the Tokyo station requiring 'standard' person's 14 minutes walk. I asked my family what a standard person is like and my brother sarcastically said it'd be a person with standard age and standard sex and standardly able ;-] Well, I had a large suitcase, one medium-sized but heavy bag, and a backpack with a laptop and didn't feel I could walk as fast as a standard person, whatever that is. The internet is the place to go ... I keyword searched "Shinkansen to Narita Express transfer Tokyo Station" and the reputation was right. And then it was recommended that people change at Shinagawa Station as the station is smaller and the transfer is not too far. Immediately I searched for Shinagawa connections, made notes, and headed to the station with my dad's help with the luggage. Successfully changed tickets to Shinagawa transit, and the transit was not too bad (even though the security guards I asked the direction for guided me in an opposite direction! Darn it!). It had to be fine - I still had time to buy a lunchbox. Viva Internet :-D

Third, about the presentation. It was a co-presentation of a case study of implementing new approach of teaching. I was one of the three presenters, and although we had communicated via emails, we couldn't sit and talk until the day of the presentation. The 30 minutes before the presentation was worth many hours. We ran through and then rushed to the room we were to present. And to our happy surprise and excitement, there were a crowd (am I exaggerating? maybe? but at least 10 people) around the door waiting to get into the room. The room we were assigned to had a capacity of 20, and there were people standing at the back and even outside the door!! The presentation was too short to discuss theoretical or problematic issues, but I was glad that it reached the kind of crowd we wanted to reach.

Lastly, meeting friends and family. Especially a lot of classmates from my former institution where I did my master's. Some people had not been in contact for two years or more, and it was fantastic to get to talk to them again and learn what they were doing now. Some were pursuing doctorate degrees at various institutions, others were working at various places. New environments, new challenges, new discoveries, and new hopes. Listening to other people's life stories was inspiring. I was so proud of all my people I studied together - they're my asset. I really have to make extra efforts to keep in touch.

Well, so many things in less than a week. Also I still don't know what time zone my body thinks it lives in. I wake up at interesting time every day, but I am still totally functional during the day with help of coffee, so I guess I might be accumulating fatigue deeper inside my body. I was told that I am to sleep on the flight to the east and to keep awake on the flight to the west to avoid as much effect of jetlag as possible. So I had coffee and soda with caffaine to stay awake most of my flight to Japan (13 hours), and that wasn't too difficult as it was the middle of the semester and I had lots to do for school like listening to the tapes (recordings of classroom for course project data) and reading articles I'm writing a course paper on, as well as watching movies (latter half of 'Underdog' and a whole of 'Hairspray' - I liked both of them a lot). I don't know if the strategy worked. While in Japan I woke up at 1am and 4am nevertheless. The flight back is to the east, so I should sleep according to the teaching, but I'm not sure if I should really do that. Maybe I'll just stay up and do all the work, and when I'm home I'll just go to sleep. I guess once I'm home and sleep well I'll be fine... 5 minutes to the airport now. I'll start packing up then!