We’re Off!
We leave tomorrow! After so many months and weeks of waiting, our departure day is finally here.
This is a momentous trip for many reasons, not least because it’s the first time we’ve left the country since leaving Spain. We’ve traveled a lot since then, but only in California and environs, with several trips back East; the new passport I got after changing my name has yet to be graced with a stamp. Japan: not a bad first entry.
Perhaps more interestingly, this is the first trip we’ll have taken with Obama as our new president. No longer will we face skeptical raised eyebrows and questions like “So what do you think of Bush?” (Not that we’d necessarily face those eyebrows and questions in Japan; but we certainly did in Europe.) No longer will we feel compelled to shield our passport covers in busy security lines or to lie about being Canadian. It’ll be a while before we fully deserve to holds our head high in other countries, but I feel like the very fact that we elected Obama is reason enough to say “I’m American” in a normal voice, with a smile rather than a wince from anticipated judgment, spoken or un-. (During the election, I sometimes wondered how it would feel to leave for Japan if Obama did not win—it might have felt more like a desperate flight than a vacation.)
We’re bringing Andrew’s computer with us, and I intend to keep blogging throughout the trip. Stay tuned for answers to these and other pressing questions:
--Will we have time to do any sight-seeing, or will I feel compelled to spend our entire trip shopping for ridiculously cute plastic toys?
--Will we at any time inadvertently order something that is still visibly alive when it arrives at our table? Will we inadvertently order horse sashimi?
--Will we spend our entire time in Tokyo hopelessly lost in a labyrinth of unnamed streets?
--Will we enjoy eating sushi for breakfast?
This is a momentous trip for many reasons, not least because it’s the first time we’ve left the country since leaving Spain. We’ve traveled a lot since then, but only in California and environs, with several trips back East; the new passport I got after changing my name has yet to be graced with a stamp. Japan: not a bad first entry.
Perhaps more interestingly, this is the first trip we’ll have taken with Obama as our new president. No longer will we face skeptical raised eyebrows and questions like “So what do you think of Bush?” (Not that we’d necessarily face those eyebrows and questions in Japan; but we certainly did in Europe.) No longer will we feel compelled to shield our passport covers in busy security lines or to lie about being Canadian. It’ll be a while before we fully deserve to holds our head high in other countries, but I feel like the very fact that we elected Obama is reason enough to say “I’m American” in a normal voice, with a smile rather than a wince from anticipated judgment, spoken or un-. (During the election, I sometimes wondered how it would feel to leave for Japan if Obama did not win—it might have felt more like a desperate flight than a vacation.)
We’re bringing Andrew’s computer with us, and I intend to keep blogging throughout the trip. Stay tuned for answers to these and other pressing questions:
--Will we have time to do any sight-seeing, or will I feel compelled to spend our entire trip shopping for ridiculously cute plastic toys?
--Will we at any time inadvertently order something that is still visibly alive when it arrives at our table? Will we inadvertently order horse sashimi?
--Will we spend our entire time in Tokyo hopelessly lost in a labyrinth of unnamed streets?
--Will we enjoy eating sushi for breakfast?
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