Arrival in LA

We arrived in LA about three hours ago, and had a very smooth flight. God was so gracious. I sprained my ankle a few days before we left, and I was (and am) in pain. Our original plan was to take the shinkansen down to Tokyo, then in Tokyo Station catch the Narita Express to the airport. This would have involved a lot more walking on my aching ankle, but our options were few.

But then our friend Yuko happened to be taking someone to Narita at the exact same time. We were able to hitch a ride, going right from our door to Narita Airport. Wow, what a mini-miracle.

When we got on the plane, we found we had the middle row at the start of a section. That means we had the big screen right in front of us, but we had all that legroom. I was able to stretch out my legs, and even prop my leg up on my backpack. The only thing better would have been business class. But hey...it was great.

Immigration and customs were a little strange. At immigration, the guy asks, "Hey, you got a brother?" Now, I do, but we didn't grow up together, and he never leaves his part of South Alabama. So I was taken back. No.....er, I mean, yeah, sure, I have a brother." "Hmm..." the guy says. I'm dying to know what it says about me.

Then, when we go through customs, he asks, "Got any food?" Now, I take that to mean fruits, veggies...things you have that might have insects and such. We do have some commercially produced jellies and cookies, but in my flying experience that's not what they're looking for. "No." ...."Not even any food from the airplane?" What? I've never been asked that. We did have some little OJ cups we didn't drink, but maybe he means partially eaten stuff?

So then we end up getting the full inspection. Which is fine, we have nothing to hide. But then they take my passport and again sit looking at it and their computer screen for like 10 minutes. What IS on that screen? What weird info do they have about me? Or someone with the same name? Something I could clear up if they would just ask. But the mystery remains. No questions, no answers, just pass me through. Hmmm.

So now comes the least favorite part....jetlag. I hate hate hate the time change. Feeling wiped out and waking up at 3 AM. But it's good to be back in the States.