Touchdown! [vlog #2]

So I've finally arrived! Tired, hungry, and slightly in need of a shower, but so keen. The vlog can speak for itself. Here I'll explain how in the world I ended up at my dad's place.

So I got off the plane at 5pm Japan time, as planned. The plane trip was excellent, and I read everyone's farewell cards in that time, as I hoped to. However, the line at customs was massive, so it took the better part of one hour before I got to my luggage. By that time, the remaining few unclaimed bags from my flight had all been relocated to the information desk - that's how late I was. Anyway, so I got my luggage and exited via the arrivals gate, hoping to nab a picture of the man holding a sign as I promised I would. I envisioned someone with a distinguishing mark from TUFS (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) or JLC (Japanese Language Centre) standing outside the arrivals gate. Unfortunately, that never happened because… there was no one there waiting for me. After having inconspicuously circled around all the other people holding up signs for a full twenty minutes, and one of those people proactively approaching me to ask if I was the person they were waiting for (surprise surprise, I wasn't), I concluded that whoever it was supposed to be, they weren't there. That meant that either something happened on their way to the airport, or that simply no one was coming to pick me up. So I asked at the airport help desk whether they saw anyone waiting for an Australian undergraduate Monbukagakusho scholarship student. My hopes were piqued when they said they recalled someone holding up a flag with TUFS on it earlier that day, but after a bit of inquiring, I found out they had already departed for TUFS - without me. I was very sad. When I rang the number for the TUFS office, what they told me was that they were expecting a Lee Gu from Australia… tomorrow (i.e. today, the day I published this post). Which means, there was definitely no one expecting me today. Which means I had to either figure out my own way of getting to the university (which I wasn't prepared to do with all my luggage) or to seek the help of another, which is where my dad comes in.

By the grace of God I have a dad working in Japan. By no means was it ever an option for me to stay at my dad's place whilst I completed my studies, because to my best knowledge, his house is not near any university campus by any measure. And specifically from TUFS, it takes one and a half hours by public transport, which I wasn't prepared to take every day, particularly since I was effectively given a free dormitory room on campus, since the fees are included in the scholarship money. Having said that, for those who didn't know it before, yes, my dad is living in Japan. He work in the field of IT, and his company assigned him to Japan because he can speak both Japanese and English (and Chinese, but less important for his job description), so it was kind of necessary for him to stay there while he worked. Aside from coming back to Australia for Golden Week (Japan's week-long series of public holidays, explained in a future post) and Christmas, we make do by keeping in touch via Skype.

Anyway, he certainly was expecting a call from me that day, but what we both intended to happen was a heads-up call telling him that I'd arrived at the university safely. Instead, he got a "can I stay at your place for one night?" request. And true to my dad's unceasing commitment to his family, upon my phone call he came directly from his work place for my sake, and arranged for a taxi to take us both back to his place, which was a good hour and a half again from the airport.

The next day, he assisted me with finding my way to the TUFS campus, but not all the way! - in the best interest of myself, he was determined that I do what I came to Japan to do, which was get by independently, after having made sure that I was able to make my way on my own (to a place I was never required to commute to by myself in the first place). He even called me while he was on the train home (it's social taboo to make phone calls on the train in Japan) to check I had arrived by the time I was supposed to.

At the end of the day, it is mutually accepted by us both that I am here independent of my dad's help, to study in university and to take care of myself. Having a family member in Japan is a mere circumstantial benefit, and it played no part in my ultimate decision to accept this scholarship. So as I had intended to do long before this incident, I still intend to have monthly catch ups with dad, to make use of this circumstantial opportunity. I hope this post explained it clearly! Let me know in the comments below if I missed something crucial in this recount.