Out of time and place…
We left Heathrow early on the morning of the 29th Feb and arrived in Tokyo on the morning of the 1st – but if it was in the UK it would have been the middle of the night on the 29th. I don’t even know if that makes sense. The time difference between here and the UK is 9 hours and boy does it turn you inside out. None of us managed to really sleep on the plane (as it was only UK afternoon time) but I tried to trick myself by putting my watch into Tokyo time straight away. This had limited effectiveness! Most of the flight I was practising silent concentratedness on not giving in to motion sickness and did really well until the descent. Made it to landing, and even off the plane, and then was promptly sick in the Narita airport toilets. Konicaiwh Japan!
We arrived at Tokyo Wonder Site full of the desire of hot baths and sound sleeps, and instead ended up in a succession of meetings, which stretched all the way into the evening. Desperate not to offend our hosts and concious of the famous japanese culture of politeness we all struggled through. By the end of day I worked out I had only slept 7 hours in the last 48. Extreme tiredness is like drunkness, but a lot cheaper. We were all stumbling around, slurring our words and having slightly hysterical outbursts…
We are staying at Tokyo Wonder Site Aoyama – which is their Creator in Residence space. It’s 3 floors of a converted office block in the centre of one of the most expensive districts in Tokyo. It’s a bit like landing in London for the first time in Sloane Square. A slightly distorted first impression perhaps!
