Kirk Liefer, left, samples several Japanese cuisine options during our first dinner in Tokyo, at the hotel buffet.
Editor’s note: this post was written at 8:00am on Monday, February 22 – which would have been 5:00pm Sunday, February 21 in Illinois.
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Matt Kellogg & Joe Zumwalt, Presiding Fellows
Welcome to the IALP 2016 International Study Seminar. As many of you know, we are traveling to Japan and Panama – or as our 2016 class has dubbed it – “JaPanama.” As I write this we are enjoying a well rested Monday morning in Tokyo, Japan. Yes, Monday morning.
Our trip began yesterday, February 20th. While many had a very early start, the entire class came together in Chicago’s O’Hare airport for a 12pm flight to Japan’s Narita airport, which is located about an hour out of Tokyo. Our flight arrived at 4:30pm Sunday afternoon. It was a 13 hour flight taking us over Canada, Alaska, the eastern shore of Russia, and then onto Japan. The flight was really quite comfortable and arrived without delays.
It gets dark earlier and we all were quite tired when we arrived. It was an hour long bus ride to Tokyo and to our hotel, the Hotel Metropolitan. Once we arrived, we were able to eat a wonderful buffet at the hotel. As you can imagine, we are slowly growing used to the cuisine. The menu is diverse, and from what we can tell, seafood and seaweed will be with us everywhere! It was, however, a great first meal and I am sure none of us will go hungry this week. Dessert seemed to be the big hit, especially the strawberryd chocolate fondue!
We were also introduced to the English-speaking guide who will be with us for the week: Katsumi Niwa. This definitely looks to be a trip of a lifetime. Please continue to follow along with us as we explore JaPanama 2016…
