first impressions, take two

I arrived at Narita in late afternoon, and as i was going through customs, i started to realize "oh my goodness, i'm actually going to have to speak Japanese!"

Why this was a surprise, i'm not quite sure. I hadn't thought too much about that practicality and oddly, it caught me off guard.

The second shock was getting on the train. The first time i came to Japan, five years ago, i was a little surprised by all the litter near the Biwako shore. I guess i'd expected Japan to be immaculate. But this time, my first impression conformed perfectly to my previously debunked expectation. Remember i just spent a week in New York City, so the comparison may have had a lot to do with my noticing this... but this train was so clean, if i'd been forced to eat of the floor, i wouldn't have minded too much.

The third shock was the lighting. It was around 6:30 or so and it was getting dark outside. Could that be right? Then, in Michigan, it was still late at least till 7:30. It also (naturally) seemed to get light very early in the morning. Perhaps it's a daylight savings issue or something?

This was the first time i'd returned to a foreign country. I wasn't sure how this would contrast with my first visit, and if it would be a lot different from visiting a place for the first time. Anyway looking out the train window and seeing all the power lines and the sort of piled-up look of the houses felt the same as finding someone else's photos of Saratov on the internet.

I made it to Shinagawa Station as i was told to do, but Yukari was delayed at work so i waited for her at Starbucks. Somehow i managed to order an Americano and a Cafe Mocha. Thankfully i caught the error soon enough (when i saw the total near 1000 yen). While waiting, i got a call from Masashi, which surprised me. He used to provide us with all kinds of Lotte chocolate when we lived in Kalamazoo. (Yukari's mom calls him Koala March.) He said he wanted to meet us that night.

Starbucks closed rather early, but Yukari arrived soon after. She introduced me to some of her co-workers, and then we went off to a nearby izakaya to wait for Masashi. I ordered a drink with kahlua and Royal Milk Tea, and she ordered some strawberry yogurt creation, and we also got some little omlette bites with cheese and mendaiko, which is a spicy caviar everyone has been feeding me lately. Horse sashimi was also on the menu. Masashi came after a bit and we all caught up. He recently married a Russian girl and said "ochen priyatna" to me. He works for a different company now, but with a similar product, and his business card lists his job title as "chocolate specialist." This place also closed rather early for an izakaya, so we said good night and Yukari took me to her very tiny very Tokyo apartment for some mu