The San Diego Chronicles - Day 1: I Have Arrived

Up early, out of bed, and on the road to Boise. Gotta get to San Diego. Time for me to start working for my money.

Of course, before I left, I had to get a picture with my good buddy...

Pierre.

We rolled into Boise and picked up Andrea before heading to the airport.

At the airport, we had the usual emotional goodbyes, although I didn't get too teared up because Mom and Dad were planning on coming down to visit me.

A couple of pics at the airport...

Dad and I sporting our new chrome domes, courtesy of a clipper cut the previous night.

Mom and Andrea.

So after a couple of hugs and goodbyes, I went through security, which included a metal detector scan, a partial disassembly of my sandals, a breathalyser test, two vials of blood, signing over my firstborn child, and a complete cavity search. I don't know about you, but I think the blood vials were a little over the top.

Flew Southwest again. Three flights total, one being a changeover in San Jose. When I got in to San Diego, I called my principal, who was already there with our twelve students participating in the language study course. He told me that someone from the school, International House San Diego, would be coming to pick me up.

Ohhhhhkayyyyyyyyy. The only problem is that the airport's a tad crowded, what with the San Diego Comic Con ending today.

Fortunately, Jessica (the staff member) found me pretty easily. I guess since I was the only one in the airport NOT dressed like a Stormtrooper, I was the one that stood out.

Jessica drove me up to the Hillcrest area of San Diego, over to Studio 819, where I would be staying while in the lovely metropolis.

After unpacking my stuff and making a phone call to The Boss (not Springsteen, unfortunately), I caught a bus down to the Old Town Transit Center and met up with him. We decided to catch the trolley downtown to go get some dinner.

After a bit of searching, and asking at a hotel lobby (where the receptionist kindly hooked us up with a coupon for some free stuff at the restaurant she recommended), we headed over to Ra, a sushi restaurant. (Ra. Get it? Ra sushi? HAHAHAHAHA...uh) The Boss wanted to have some Japanese food, so that's what we had. Over some beers and some decent sushi (Decent for San Diego, anyway. I've freaking lived in two of the best places to get sushi in Japan, Shimane and Hokkaido! I found some serious humor in going to a crowded trendy sushi restaurant when the conveyer belt sushi places I go to in Japan taste so much better.), we talked about the work that my chaperoning was going to entail, and he gave me a medicine bag, student info, the chaperone cell phone, a bunch of money (for "group leader expenses", and the return (to Japan) plane tickets.

Dinner was good, and after catching the trolley back to Old Town, I bid The Boss a good night and caught the bus back to Hillcrest.

About the very second I walked into my room, I got a concerned phone call from a host mother. One of my students was really sick (bleaughhh sick) and she wanted to know what to do. Tipsy, tired, and already on the job.

I took care of the situation as best as I could, and called it a night.

Welcome to San Diego, indeed.