Well everyone, here I am! I arrived safely, on time, and all my stuff was in one piece (give or take a screw). We arrived in Detroit a little late, but we had a few hours to kill before we left. Right off the plane it hit me that I was "going far, far away". Even though I was still in Detroit. Our business class tickets got us access to the "World Perks" lounge at the terminal. It reminded me of a fancy hotel. We made it to the 747 on time (barely, thanks Eastern Time). The flight was pretty damn long, but very posh. We had hot towels, a substantial meal, the whole nine yards. The only problem was the plane was so damn cold. There was condensation pouring off of the vents. If you look closely at this picture, you can see the "steam" from the vents.




The meal was very good. We had marinated vegetables, smoked salmon, udon noodles, miso soup, and chicken teriyaki. The trip over was relatively uneventful. There was a crying kid, but she was quiet after awhile. We caught a tailwind over Russia, so we were a bit earlier than scheduled. However, our chaperone was late because of an accident with the trains, but he made it. Coming up next, our trip to Kyoto!

EDIT: I'm still trying to get a handle on this thing, so check back for updated formats!