Trip to Japan: The Night Before

Hello!
Well this is the first post of my "Trip to Japan Blog." I thought it'd be fun to write a little about my expectations and plans and such.

Tomorrow, I'll be flying out of Cedar Rapids at around 7:50 a.m. I fly to Chicago, then STRAIGHT to Tokyo Japan. The flight will be 13 HOURS!!! Not looking forward to this, not a big fan of flying. I though about taking a handfull of sleeping pills and just being comatose for the flight over the Pacific, but mom shot that down :/.

After I arrive, I'll meet an IES contact (sounds like I'm a spy), and they'll take me to a secret underground base. I mean hotel. I'll stay there for one night and then next day I head to my somewhat permanent residence; the National Youth Center, also known as the place where the Olympians stayed for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.


During the second week I'll be staying with a family for a homestay out in the country in a town called Mobara.

I don't have any info about my host family at all, so I'm a little nervous to say the least. In Japan, it is customary to give gifts to people who have helped you, so it was recommended that you bring gifts for your homestay family. I bought a Iowa Hawkeyes football and some Zotz candy (my current favorite) and some Poprocks, I figured if the had kids they'd get a kick out of that :). This is probably the only part of my trip that I'm freaking out about, but I'm sure it'll go fine.

After my homestay, I'll return to my dorm at the NYC. Which looks like this--->

Yes the picture is small, sorry :/. It is a small one room dormitory that comes with a bed, desk and chair. It'll be no-frills livin' for a while, including no closet.

Anyways, I'll try to update as soon as I can. The first few days may get kind of hectic, but expect lots more posts and pics! I'll try to include cool/interesting facts about Japan.
Wish me luck!