Nagoya

Todays were long.

I have a lot of pictures of clouds. And several nice pictures from the enormous airport at Detroit, where I gaped at the industrial scenery and tried not to look like someone suspicious enough to report. (I did manage to get an x-acto knife past security, completely without realizing that it was still in my pencil case). They have a tram, so I took that a few times, and then spent an unusually long time trying to decide where to eat. And played on the moving sidewalks a lot. Five hours is a long time to kill in a huge airport.

My hotel room has a miniature hotplate with a truly miniature kettle. Also one wrapped cup, one mug and one packet of instant green tea. Also one yukata with sash, and a sign urging you to refrain from smoking in bed.

When I got off the plane and through customs and immigration, the first thing I had to do was send my luggage. And the first thing the IES girl said when she saw what I was bringing was a gasp and "Sukunai desu nee!" Apparently I had an unusually small amount of luggage, "especially for a girl".

Walking around with the guys from the program trying to find a place to eat, I felt like we should be found out at any minute, running around speaking English and being ignorant. I felt a little like we were a group of eight-year-olds, trying to pretend that we knew what we were doing. I'm so glad we were able to go where we wanted, and I really hope it's not the last time.

I haven't slept for more than an hour and a half at a stretch since Tuesday night. Today started on a Thursday, but it's now a Friday, and I think I should probably sleep.