Finally the time has come. After 6 months of preparations, paperwork and stress, I made my way to Japan. Without sufficient language skills, everything should be in English. Over Hamburg and Dubai it went to Tokyo-Narita. Narita airport was selected because he belongs to the airports where the Immigration procedure could be done. I did not get much sleep the night before, because I was so nervous. And the thought “Why are you doing this?” The flights ran smoothly, only in Hamburg did I learn to hate my scales, I had suddenly a too heavy hand luggage and my luggage was now 1 Kg below the limit, so I could have take more …. (Previously I had desperatly to leave a lot, because I was clearly over the weight limit).
After 25 hours traveling and about 12000 km I was at the hotel in Narita. The next morning it was to go to Shizuoka. Otherwise I would have arrived very late. In Dubai, by the way, it was still 28 ° C at very high humidity around midnight local time.
Left: Dubai
Right: Narita Busstops at terminal 2 in one direction
The next morning, I had taken an earlier train to get on time my next train, the Shinkansen. Right decision, in contrast to the much acclaimed Japanese train punctuality, my Narita-Express had already a slight delay, which then increased enormously by long-term stoppages. There was probably an injured passenger through the railroad security locks, as indicated..
The Shinkansen seems not much faster than an ICE, but I believe it wasn’t the top speed.
The Narita Express also held that the doors were in the designated places and the Shinkansen had track sluices, which should prevent a fall.
Arriving in Shizuoka, I was kindly received by the secretary of my future research group. After we briefly registered in the dormitory, my things remained there and we went directly to the research group. There I was briefly presented and cordially welcomed.
No Comments