In the previous blog, I wrote about the reason why I was interested in English and studied abroad now. Today, I would like to talk about my journey from my home in Tokyo to my university in Stony brook.
From my home to Haneda Airport
My home is located in Tokyo, thus it does not take a lot of time to go to Haneda Airport.
When I use Haneda Airport for a domestic trip, I go there by subway and Keikyu-Line, but this time my family RENT A CAR because I had two BIG SUITCASES.
I have a driver license, but I have never driven a car in Tokyo, thus my father did.
One concern is that a parking lots adjacent to Haneda Airport is really CROWDED.
ONLINE BOOKING is available, but it was full when we checked. We managed to park a car on the top of the building.
The road was not very crowded, hence it took less time than using trains to go there.
The departure of my flight was 11 a.m., and we arrived at the airport at 8:30 a.m.
Haneda Airport
Haneda Airport has three terminals. The terminal 1 is mainly used for JAL, terminal 2 is mainly for ANA, and terminal 3 is for international flights.
International flights of ANA use both terminal 2 and 3, but the one I used departed from the TERMINAL 2.
I almost always use ANA for domestic flights, thus I have used terminal 2 many times, but the gate for international flights in terminal 2 is completely separated from that for domestic flights, and located in the RIGHT EDGE of the terminal.
For passengers who use a monorail or Keikyu-Line, the gate for international flights in terminal 2 is far from the station compared to that for domestic, and it takes a certain amount of time to check your luggages, thus you should arrive at the airport at least TWO HOURS prior to your flight.
This studying abroad program is very long, thus some of my friends and my family also came to the airport, which was very thankful for me.
Apart from domestic flights, departure procedures are necessary for international flights, thus I went to a security check at 10 a.m., which was one hour prior to the departure, but the security check and departure procedures took only about 5 minutes. That is because it was only my flight that used an international gate of terminal 2 at this time. Thanks to this smooth process, I had a lot of time, thus I drank a Starbucks Frappuccino.
However, this process probably TAKES A LOT OF TIME in terminal 3 because there are many flights from that terminal.
↑There was a Starbucks shop in front of the boarding gate, thus I drunk a Frappuccino.
Flight
Next, I would like to write about the flight.
My flight was a direct flight from Haneda(Tokyo) to JFK(New York) operated by ANA.
Using an indirect flight and transfer at any airport can save costs, but due to a BIG JET LAG, I chose a direct one.
The length of flight is 13 hours and 10 minutes, and Japan is 13 HOURS EARLIER than the East Coast of the U.S., thus the flight departed at Haneda at 11 a.m. and arrived at JFK at 11:10 a.m.
I booked an economy class, but luckily that was converted to PREMIUM ECONOMY on that day, thus it was a comfortable flight.
I had a lunch just after the take off, and a breakfast before the landing, and also light meals, snacks, and Häagen-Datz were offered between them.
Both the lunch and the breakfast had two types; Japanese-style and Western-style. I chose the latter one, and it was delicious.
The inflight WIFI NEEDED TO BE PAID, and I paid for it because it was a very long flight more than half a day. It was about 3000 yen, and I could use the Internet almost all the time during the flight.
The premium economy was a middle seat, but it was easy to go to lavatory without causing any nuisance for other passengers because there was a sufficient space in front of the seat. However, for those using economy, the AISLE SEAT is the appropriate from the perspective of easily going to the lavatory.
Both the departure and the arrival were delayed, but there was no issues except for this. The airplane arrived at JFK international airport at 11:30 a.m., which was a 20-minute delay from the original.
↑ This is a premium economy seat. The seat was wide, and an elbow rest was also for each passenger, thus it was very comfortable.
JFK International Airport
The plane landed at JFK International Airport at around 11:30, and procedures for entering the U.S. and picking up luggages were necessary afterwards.
I was waiting for that immigration inspect for approximately 20 minutes because of the insufficient number of lanes, which was different from the situation of Haneda Airport.
However, the procedure itself is just showing some documents such as PASSPORT AND VISA, thus it took only a few minutes.
After that, I needed to collect my luggages, but I had a RISK OF LOSING THEM.
I actually checked two luggages in Haneda Airport, and I could get the one immediately. However, I could not find the other, instead I noticed one suitcase which was the same as mine flowing on the lane.
I was there for about ten minutes, and no one picked that suitcase, thus I asked an airport staff that mine didn’t appear on the lane. She contacted with another staff, and she told me that one passenger got mine mistakenly and noticed it after she went out of the exit.
If she had not noticed it immediately, it would have been a complex issue, thus it was a ’Silver Lining‘.
Flights operated by ANA arrived at terminal 7, but I needed to go to terminal 4, thus I used a train called AIR TRAIN that connected each terminal in JFK International Airport and Jamaica Station, which was a suburb station of NYC.
↑ This is JFK International Airport. All the signs are written English, thus I really felt that I came to the U.S.
From JFK International Airport to Stony Brook University
As I mentioned above, I went to terminal 4 because a FREE SHUTTLE BUS to go to university was to depart from TERMINAL 4.
Students studying at Stony Brook University come from not only inside the U.S., but also from all over the world, thus they operate a free shuttle bus that requires reservation in August when they need to check-in their dorms.
We need to transfer a few times and pay fare if we use trains from JFK to Stony Brook, thus it was really helpful for me who had two big suitcases and was very sleepy.
That bus departed at 2 p.m., but I did not need to wait a lot of time because of the delay of my flight and a trouble related to my luggages as I wrote above.
The site of the university is much bigger than that of most of the university in Japan, thus the bus stopped at some places in university and finally arrived at the stop near my dorm.
It was such a long trip that it took about 21 HOURS to arrive at the dorm from my home in Japan. I was a little bit tired, but I did not suffer from jet lag because I slept only a little during my flight, and I could adapt to the East Coast time on the next day.
↑ The evening of the day that I arrived at the university. It rained a lot with thunder when I arrived. It was still during the summer vacation for local students, thus most of the students on campus were international in the first week.
This is about my journey from home to university.
Thanks for reading.
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