Translator: Sarah McNally
From Canada, Sarah has been in Japan for almost 5 years. If you are interested in a Japanese to English translation, please feel free to contact her at sa.honyaku@gmail.com

Sarah. 来日五年目のカナダ人。日本の高校では英語の教師して教壇に立つ一 方、日本語検定一級の資格も活かし翻訳も行う。問い合わせは上記アドレスへ。


After Word: Day 1
Somehow, on this trip I didn't experience jet lag even once. When I thought about why this might have been, an unexpectedly simple answer came to me.
An ordinary fellow such as myself has no choice but to fly economy class. Flying economy is exhausting! Then, the trip from the airport to the hotel tires one out even more. With good timing, I arrived at the hotel at night and being very tired I could fall asleep with ease.

Here is where rich folks differ. They ride comfortably in first class fully enjoying the flight, and then breeze through customs without so much as showing their passports (it's unbelievable!). As a result, when they arrive in the evening they aren't so tired and they can't sleep, leading to jet lag.

Or something along those lines anyway.

Here you'll find some personal notes I took during my trip.
I didn't really write this to be read by others, but you can take a look if you like. This is about what happened in London during the week or so I was there.
*Diary written between September and October of 2000

    London Diary: Day 1 - Arrival at Heathrow Airport!

    When I got to Tokyo's Narita Airport, I thought at last, I'm off to London, but why? Even now I'm not sure what I'm doing here in London. Of course the main justification of my trip is a visit to Marc Bolan's final resting place. Besides that, I'd like to relax a bit I guess, and be on my own for a while. Something like The Beatles' "Nowhere Man". Anyway, the air in London is very clean. Tokyo can't be compared. L.A. was also nice but Okinawa is definitely better. That makes me want to go to Okinawa again. I wonder if I'll ever have enough free time to do so.

    The flight to London seemed to take forever. I had a window seat but soon after take-off we were told to close the windows, so I had no choice but to watch TV. Kitano Takeshi's Kikujiro no Natsu was playing, so I watched that. Although it wasn't so good as to make me think wow, Kitano's amazing! , it certainly helped to kill time.

    I arrived at Heathrow Airport, and looked for the Underground. This turned out to be a bit of a nuisance. For a fellow from Japan who can't tell left from right, it's hard to figure out what is where, although that goes for any airport. I finally asked an elderly porter for directions, and managed to find my way.

    Oh, and about tips! It's a little off topic, but it seems that most people here don't give tips.

    I got on the tube and arrived at Russell Square. It would've been quite a bother to get out my map, so I decided to just go with the flow of the crowd and luckily somehow came upon my hotel. At the reception desk, the first clerk I approached simply threw up his hands and exclaimed "I can't deal with Japanese people!" In his place, a very considerate and friendly clerk helped me out. Next, I went to my room, unpacked my bags, washed my face, finished with the basics, and went in search of dinner. Guessing that there would likely be nothing but sandwiches at best, I went to the super market, and that turned out to indeed be the case.

    I finished dinner, and sitting in bed made an attempt to connect to the internet, but it was hopeless. Getting sullen, I decided to lay down for a bit, and fell asleep before my head hit the pillow. I woke up again at 3am, still sleepy. Fighting my drowsiness I got up and took a bath, and then went back to sleep.

    It seems that I don't have jet lag. I had been off schedule from the time I was in Japan and was quite tired out from the plane ride, so there really wasn't any reason for me to.

    And now, a new day dawns.


Can you see the old man holding a broom by that building over there (joke)? This picture is like a scene from the animated film Majo no Takkyubin (Kiki's Delivery Service).
(Note: That building over there is Scotland Yard.)


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