Japan Day 0: The Airplane Adventure & OMG THERE’S SO MUCH ENGLISH!

By the time this posts I will be back on the ground and in Japan.  I am counting on finding some Wi-fi at the airport when I land, but who knows?  Regardless, it should be noted that I am writing this on my Samsung tablet at 30,000 feet.  Hence thumbs can sometimes lead to typos.  You have been warned.

That is a screen shot featuring the map of our flight from the little entertainment screen in front of my seat (very similar to the Virgin America touch screens.)  When you start using the screen at takeoff it asks you what language you want.  Since neither Klingon or Swahili were offered, I chose English.  Good thing, too, because check out the hand held control that pops out from the side of the screen:

That’s right. The flight to Japan is lacking Japanese characters.

We interrupt this train of thought in order for me to get in a photo of one of the flight attendents who just brought me a snack.

Where was I?  Oh, yes.  English.  Everywhere.  Here’s my snack:

It’s a rice cracker… But you already knew that because it is in Japanese AND English, right?  After opening the bag, though, it turns out that it is actually a variety pack of crunchy snacks and nuts and stuff.  Think Japanese Chex Mix.  Sort of.  The back of the bag says “May contain traces of crab,buckwheat, peanuts and milk.”

Note that the comma spacing mistake in that sentence is on purpose. I wrote it exactly as it is written on the label – complete with errors.  That’s right, folks. “Engrish.”

I’m pretty sure that is what I can expect in Tokyo.  Japanese signs with English words nearby that are “close enough.”

Back to the awesomeness of the airplane: There are plugs on the seat in front of me by the entertainment screen.  The most notable thing about this is the USB plug.  You can use it to plug in electronics like iPods and even use it to charge any carry on pieces of technology.  See?

(PLEASE NOTE that I am writing this post sporadically during the flight.  As of this point I have been in the air for almost two hours.  I offer this bit of information so that you don’t think I was served a snack and dinner back to back.)

Later on, meal service was offered.  Lunch options were to be chosen between these lovely photos:

The J-Menu offered chicken.  The Western choice was fish.  I learned the lesson from Airplane! years ago that you never EVER get the fish.  Thus here is my dinner (complete with chopsticks.)

I ate a good portion of the food.  It wasn’t bad for an airplane meal and the noodles were really interesting.  They were served cold and came with a bitter sauce.  Uniquely NOT American.

In order to try and “fit in” as much as possible, I made sure to use the chopsticks.  Irony reared its ugly head, though, in the form of the two Japanese kids sitting next to me using forks.  It should be noted here that the silverware they used (and I was also provided with) was made of metal.  I found this interesting compared to post 9/11 American flights.

We interrupt this train of thought for a photo of the entertainment screen in front of me.  Presented without comment.

Which brings me to another interesting piece of tech offered on this plane – a live flight camera.

That’s right.  It’s all white since it is freezing cold outside and we are in the clouds.  (I said it was “interesting,” not “exciting.”)

Another random thing: the Japanese kid next to me got a flight attendent’s attention by saying “excuse me” in Japanese… and I totally understood him.  That’s right!  I heard one of maybe twenty words I understand in Japanese and got pretty excited about it.  Don’t judge.

That’s all I’ve got for now.  I’m going to kill some time watching movies and writing emails or something.  I will end the blog post with this one last photo for my Wasabi Anime friends: