Heading out

I've been in Tokyo a few days now, hanging out with Panda chan, catching up with old friends and eating well. Tonight, Panda chan and I are leaving Tokyo for a few days, to head back to her parents' place for New Year's.

Unlike in the West, New Year's in Japan is a time for families to get together (conversely, Christmas is usually for younger people, mostly couples). So we're driving to Panda chan's hometown with her brother and her brother's wife. Panda chan's hometown is in Western Japan, north of Kobe and Kyoto. The drive will take 10 hours.

TEN. HOURS.

If you thought Japan was small, you were right. But if you thought small meant you couldn't do long drives, you were wrong. Although, I guess when looked at in comparison to what a "long drive" means in the States, where you can spend 25 hours just crossing a few states, it's not that long after all.

What makes it especially tough, though, is the fact that we're leaving at night, to avoid traffic (10 pm, actually). Because her hometown is a little off the beaten path, I guess much of the driving will be off the freeway, which makes it take longer than you would expect distance-wise. I just hope we can avoid a lot of the crowds of people driving home for the holiday (a lot of Japanese had to work until yesterday, so there will probably be a lot of cars on the road all day today).

Then, of course, there's the fact that we're driving ten hours for around two and a half days spent in her hometown, only to turn around and drive back to Tokyo on the 2nd. All in all, though, I'm looking forward to the trip. It will be good to meet her family and see where she's from. And it's always nice to get outside of Tokyo and explore other parts of Japan.

After the visit home, Panda chan and I are taking another little trip. On the third, we've booked rooms at a cool-looking onsen (hot spring) in Izu, 2 1/2 hours outside of Tokyo. Should be fun!