I’m writing this from the Incheon airport in South Korea (yay for free internet acces). In 2 hours I’ll board the flight that will take me to Japan, for my new job in Tsukuba University.

The flight was as pleasant as a 26 hour flight can possibly be. I chose to fly Korean Airlines because I had a history of good service from them, and their flights were quite cheap. I was not disappointed this time. From the land crew in Sao Paulo, everyone was corteous, and all the facilities were well maintained. I just wish the plane crew spoke better english – but anything that I couldnt understand was usually printed somewhere accessible.

The US transit – usually the worst part of any international trip – was relatively painless. It seems that they finally decided that passengers in transit who are not even going to change planes aren’t a threat to US security. We skipped all security procedures and went to a transit lounge. Unfortunately, all three shops in the transit lounge were closed.

So if all goes well, I should arrive in Japan around midday, and in Tsukuba mid afternoon. I will stay the first few weeks in the university dorm, until I can find my own place. Tomorrow I will have to get all my documentation – alien card, bank account, etc – ready, so that I can start working wed.

No time to rest!