Return to the US

Some things did not go smoothly. 

First, we planned to leave on the final day of a long Japanese holiday period for New Year’s.  This is a time of year when people visit their families, and travel all over Japan (and possibly the world) to do so. 

Second, there was a very large fire adjacent to the bullet train (Shinkansen) tracks near Tokyo that stopped all trains on that corridor for several hours.  This meant that 240,000 people had their train plans and reservations interrupted.  We were unable to get to Narita (the Tokyo international airport) to fly home.

Dan and his family were able to rebook flights out of the Kansai International Airport in Osaka.  That worked well until they got delayed in Denver because of mechanical trouble.  They spent THREE nights in Denver before getting home without their luggage.

Nick and I fretted over what to do.  I was able to rebook him on the same flight for the following day (and later got the $300 rebooking charge refunded).  I could not get rebooked without the intervention of the Fulbright travel agent, who was on holiday.  Finally, that evening, Fulbright authorized me to go ahead and buy a new ticket at their expense. 

So Nick, Will and I got up at 4:00am, had the hotel next to the Japanese apartment order 2 cabs for 5:00 am, and were on the platform for the bullet train at 6:00am.  We let the first train go, and then went ahead onto the second train, even though we did not have seats.  Will helped with the luggage until Tokyo, then returned.  Nick and I got to LA, then San Diego, then San Luis Obispo just fine from there.