Today was the day Zoe was making her giant leap across the ocean on her own, as 'an unaccompanied minor'. I had to get up at 4am to get to the bus at 5.15am at Kichijoji station, so left Grant sound asleep, though he asked me to wake him when I left, and then made the journey to the station in the dark. I was amazed at how many people were out at that time of the day. Not sure if they were still out from the night before or early risers. When I got to the station I was 10mins early and realised I needed the bathroom (nerves kicking in). They have toilets at the stations, but only after you've gone through the gates. I raced up to the guy manning the ticket gates and made like I was desperate (which I was) and he gave me a ticket to go through. I rushed in and by the time I got back, the bus was there and people were checking in luggage and getting on the bus. Zoe's flight was arriving at 6am, but it's surprising how difficult it is to get to the airport at that time. The earliest bus arrived at 7.50am (depending on traffic conditions) and the train was 7.15am though always arrived on time. I'd been tossing up whether to get the bus the night before and stay overnight at Narita near the airport, or to take a bit of a risk and take the bus, this morning. After talking to a few people I decided that after taxiing, immigration and customs it would be about 45 mins before she was out. So I decided on taking a bit of a risk and taking the bus. Thankfully the traffic is pretty good at that time in the morning, though there was a lot of roadwork going on, but even then it was fairly quick. A few days ago, I got a call from Qantas checking that I was definitely picking Zoe up, and I was assured that they would wait with her as long as it took which was reassuring. We'd read in the documentation that if no-one collected her, they had the right to put on the next plane back home! We knew the next one was late in the evening, so thought we'd be safe.
Anyway, the bus got me there by 7.50am just in time. She had already text me to let me know she was in the country, after circling in the air for a few mins, so I was feeling more relaxed. She texted a little later to say she was at bay ''A'', but on the way there I got a little lost in the airport and was at the departures lounge and when I finally asked someone, the Arrivals was 3 floors down! So I rushed for the escalators but even then was only about 5 mins late. If you're interested in reading Zoe's point of view, her blog is: http://zoenonihontoki.blogspot.com/
She travelled with another teenager who was also meeting his parents here, and he was picked up 5 mins earlier. I can't tell you how overjoyed I was to see her! Her solo trip had always been in the back of my mind on the tour, and now I could relax knowing that it was over. I'm sure the Nans breathed a sigh of relief too!
We both chatted excitedly the whole way back on the bus and I enjoyed hearing every minute of her journey. After we arrived at Kichijoji, we went past Mari's house to say a quick "Hi" and Mari gave Zoe a beautiful Japanese doll, though it stands about 35 cm high, so have no clue how we're meant to take it home! Mari suggested carrying it in her arms onto the plane! That might work if she was a 4 year old, but don't think they'll be thrilled with that at customs. When we got home, Grant was awake by this time and he too was feeling relieved that we were back, not really enjoying his solo stay in the house much at all, though it was shorter than both of us believed it would be. We then went home to have a shower to refresh and recover before taking Zoe for a walk to re-familiarise her with the Kichjoji area.
After only a couple of hours we both started to flag and then Zoe ended up with a headache (most likely a combination of lack of sleep and dehydration), so we both went home and slept for a few hours. Grant it seems played his DS while we slept and once we woke up, Zoe had her second wind and decided to cook Mabo Dofu for dinner for us. She was just so glad to be back in her second home and it showed on her face and in her body language.
We enjoyed a quiet dinner together and then had fun playing 21 (which Spike explained to me over skype over the phone). After such a huge day for us all, we ended up in bed early, looking forward to another day, exploring and enjoying life in Japan.
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