Monday, March 27: It’s 3:30 a.m. on Monday morning. My bags are packed and I’ll leave in about an hour for BWI airport. My journey to Japan is about to begin. 🙂
This is the fourth time I will have lived and worked abroad. I taught Omani and Chinese university students on my two most recent gigs; the first time, I taught Korean elementary students. I always leave home with excitement and some trepidation, mainly because I never know what the work environment will be like. Each of my experiences has been completely different from the others. I never worry about the travel, because each place offers limitless exploration potential. I’ve rarely been disappointed in my travels. I’ve enjoyed each country in which I’ve lived while at the same time struggling to deal with cultural differences. I think every person should live in another country at least once in his or her life; it’s an eye-opening experience to be a foreigner, a minority, in another land. It gives one an understanding of what immigrants to our country must go through when they embark to the strange world that is America.
I don’t know why, but for this flight they recommend we get to the airport 2 1/2 hours ahead of flight time, which is 7:59 a.m. That seems awfully early to me, but who am I to question these crazy rules?
I made a day trip to Richmond on Monday, March 20, to visit my two kids. Before meeting them, I went for a walk around one of my favorite gardens, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. I got a glimpse of spring here in Virginia, but now I’ll have to leave it behind. I’ll be immersed in Japan for full-on spring and through the heat of the summer. Tokyo’s weather is much like ours – cool and rainy in the spring, hot and humid in summer. It will be similar to Korea’s weather as well.
Inside the conservatory, I found orchids and tropical plants.
Outside, I found a Japanese tea house and garden, a children’s garden and tree house, and a pond.
I hope to see you all in Japan! You can follow my adventures here: catbird in japan.
nomad, interrupted 
Here’s wishing you a safe journey.
Thanks Ron! I made it here safely. 🙂 I saw Spencer just had a birthday.
Wow, aren’t those orchids wonderful. What a variety of colours. For international flights leaving Australia, it’s standard practice to be at the airport at least 2 hours early, and 3 hours is recommended. It’s always been that way.
Thanks Carol. I did arrive 2 1/2 hours early, although it doesn’t seem it was necessary in retrospect. Oh well, I’m here in Japan now and slowly settling in. 🙂
I hope your journey to Japan went smoothly. I hear they have new search procedures in place now for all flights. Perhaps that’s why they wanted you there so early. The new, more extensive pat-downs take more time.
The gardens look so beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed the orchids. A feast for the eyes. I’m going to put the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens on my list of things to do while we’re living here. It’s less than 4 hours drive time which isn’t too bad. I don’t think I’ve ever been to Richmond. Through it, maybe, but never visited the city.
Thanks Robin. My journey was a smooth one, thank goodness. I was leaving the country, so didn’t have any extensive search procedures, but I fear what I’ll encounter on my way home in August. I do highly recommend Lewis Ginter. You’ll be happy if you do visit. I enjoy Richmond; it has a lot of character. Maybe because my kids live there and know what to do; also, I lived there for over a year in 1988. 🙂
Good luck! Looking forward to your adventures!
Thanks so much! I’m sorry I missed this comment earlier; now I’ve already been on several adventures and returned home! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I’m just a bit late getting here, aren’t I, Cathy? 🙂 🙂 There wasn’t anything new on the Japanese blog so I wondered if you’d had time yet to do a cocktail hour or home again post. And here you are, with another adventure over, and no doubt enjoying being a partner to Mike again. Love to the pair of you.
Just a bit late, Jo, but I know you’re a busy person; I have been too, but hopefully life will slow down a bit for me now. I haven’t had time to do a cocktail hour yet; I’ll have to get to one soon. Thanks for your love and hugs. It is good to be home and actually it’s good to have Adam home again. 🙂