The store! I couldn't fit all 11 stories in one pic!

We will survive!!

Not your average Denny's breakfast menu.. seafood soup?

First stop- Denny's!

Coke can

the mini bar- Japanese beer, liquor, and a Sake cup!

My headboard- I love it!

My bathroom- and very complicated toilet!

My room!

Things are different half way across the world..

So, I thought it would be fun to tell you guys all the things that are different in Japan that I've been getting use to for the past week (just in case you never make it to Tokyo!).

The toilets are the more complicated than you could ever imagine. They are like a seat on the star ship trooper or something. They have buttons all over them for different purposes (they are all written in Japanese, so we had to get someone to tell us what they were for!). They have 2 bidets built in- one for the front and one for the back! One button is for a "flushing sound" because here they don't like to hear each other use the bathroom. They have a few that change the water pressure in case you need a little extra power in your flush.. and the way you turn the flush knob depends on how much power you want your flush to have as well. We went to one restaurant and I seriously stood in the stall for 5 minutes trying to figure out how to flush the toilet! I almost asked the girl that was washing her hands how to work it, but figured that was a little embarassing, so I just started pushing buttons.. I had water squirting everywhere and music playing.. but finally hit the right one to flush! Wierd!

They drive on the left side of the road here and in the crowded streets you always walk to the left. That has been really hard to get use to. I always have to remind myself when I am about to cross the road to check both ways so I dont get hit by a car!

On weekends they close down the streets in the middle of the day from 12-5 to accommodate all the people walking around town. There isn't enough room on the sidewalks for the amount of people that come out shopping, so they have to close the streets down! Yesterday we saw them setting up benches in the middle of the road and one of the associates told us what was going on. There was even a Bride and Groom walking down the middle of the road! I asked the associate if it was a tradition to walk the streets on your wedding day and he said no.. I guess the Bride just wanted to be seen!

Sushi here is not like sushi in the states. They don't do rolls like we have they are all balls of rice with the raw fish laying on top. I only like rolls and apparently the California roll is unheard of here.. sooo no sushi for me :)

Here it is culturaly acceptable to sleep in public. On the train everyone sleeps and when you go to restaurants there are people sitting by themselves with their finished plates in front of them just snoozing away! It's wierd though because they don't bob their heads or anything, they just sleep sitting straight up! I'm starting to wonder if they are really sleeping or just resting their eyes... but everyone does it! We went to McDonald's for lunch yesterday and we walked into the dining area and it was dead quiet! Everyone was there by themselves and they were either sleeping, reading, or playing on their laptops.. then us loud Americans came in and interupted their quiet lunch.. oops :)

Hello Kitty is so popular here! The managers told us that in Japan Hello Kitty is equal to wearing a designer fashion label... even the Hard Rock Cafe in Tokyo has a line of Hello Kitty merchandise!

Those are a few of the things I could think of off the top of my head! I'll tell you more throughout the trip I'm sure!

Today is my (one and only) day off! We are going to a few places around Tokyo that we heard are good for souveniers and site seeing! I'll take lots of pictures!

Work is going well- the store is unbelievable!! I am amazed by it every day! Like Milan, there is a mural that spans the entire height of the building, so in this store it is 11 stories high!! We are ahead with our schedule, so as long as everything goes smoothly the next couple of weeks we will be on time to open! The managers are great here! A few of them don't speak English very well, so it's been a struggle with them, but they are getting better. One of their names is Ella and she has become my personal side kick! She is Korean and has only been speaking English for a year. It leads to some very interesting conversations over the walkie talkie! We learned never to say "fourth floor" because that is way to complicated for them! She told my manager that she had the most fun with me and I have pretty good patience with her, so she's my buddy now! She told me yesterday that she really needs to pay more attention when I tell her what to do in English because she messed something up earlier in the day and she had to spend time to go back and fix it. I told her to just make sure she asks a lot of questions when she doesn't understand and she said "well, I didn't know I didn't understand!" haha!

Well, I am off to explore! Hope you are all having a good weekend!! Oh yea, GO COCKS!!

Love you!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It's already Thanksgiving day here! and I'm headed to work!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy & Blessed Thanksgiving! Wish I was there to celebrate & give thanks with family & friends! I am very thankful for this opportunity, but even more thankful for the support from my amazing family and friends! Love you guys! Eat some mashed potatoes, turkey, and green bean casserole for me :)

Ok, I wasn't lying about the pictures! My internet is being very slow! I will try again in the morning :)

Welcome to Tokyo!

I made it to Japan!! But not without a few bumps in the road.. my flight from Charlotte to Atlanta was delayed by 15 minutes and then we sat on the runway in Atlanta for 15 more minutes when we landed. I only had 40 minutes between my flights, and of course, my plane arrived in A3 and my next flight left out of E11.. so after running through the airport, I made it with minutes to spare! I was the last one on the plane, but I made it!! I was one of about 10 non-Japanese people on the flight. There were lots and lots of unhappy Japanese children surrounding me in every direction.. 14 hours of fun! The plane ride itself wasn't too bad, just rediculously long. When we got to Tokyo I had a very nice American professor help me make it through customs. He taught English as a second language at the University in Tokyo so he knew the ropes and could tell I was completely out of my elements! We all made it through customs and took the hour ride to Ginza. Ginza is the main shopping district in Tokyo where the store is located. When we got to the hotel the receptionist had our reservations starting the next day, so we had to wait around until they got us rooms for that night! We finally got our rooms and they are so sweet! I love mine!! They are very modern looking & are my favorite colors- black, white, and red!!
After we put our stuff away we went down the hotel buffett to eat. It wasn't too bad, except I would never eat 3/4ths of the stuff on it! I had steak (the very very small portion the grill man gave), rice, mashed potatoes, and a roll. No squid for me, thanks! :) We were all exhausted, so I unpacked and went to sleep, until I woke up WIDE awake at 4am!!
This morning we decided to meet for breakfast before going to the store for a meeting. First meal- Denny's!! Buuuut not like the Denny's in the states.. no Moons Over my Hamey :( They had a lot of normal breakfast foods, but then they had things like tuna salad, rice, and seafood soup on the breakfast menu. I had french toast and bacon. The french toast was good, but the bacon was still raw, so that was a no go! After breakfast we stopped at Starbucks to get some energy & it was delicious!
After our store meeting we decided to go to Shibuya. Shibuya is the young "hip" area of Tokyo where the "Time Square" of Tokyo you see in movies and tv is located. It was NUTS!! I've never seen so many people in one spot in my entire life! We ate at a restaurant called Jonathan's because we figured with an American name they may speak English or have an English menu. Wrong. The menus are all pictures with Japanese characters, no letters we understand. So we did a lot of guessing and pointing. The Japanese characters have definately been the hardest part of getting around (my Japanese-English dictionary=worthless). After dinner we headed to the Hachiko crossing, which is the intersection with the "Time Square" feel. I think we all just stood there with our mouths hanging wide open. We went to the Starbucks at the intersection and sat on the 2nd level and just watched the crowds of people, it was insane!
On the train back to Ginza we met some American college students that were doing a semester at sea. They were ported in Tokyo for 2 days and on their way to Hawaii for their last week of class. It was nice to be able to speak to someone that understood!!
We decided to stop by the grocery store on the way back to the hotel to get drinks. It was strange.. the grocery store employees all sounded like they were chattering "swing batter batter swing" at a baseball game! They were all yelling different things constantly. I have no clue what they were saying, but it was very intense! I was ready to leave after 5 minutes, haha!
I am about to go to bed now, it's about 8pm here. I am still feeling under the weather from my sinus infection and its freezing outside! It was sprinkling off and on, so I don't think it would be the best idea to go exploring outside while I'm sick!
Enjoy the pictures! I have been taking a lot just for yall :)
Oyasuminasai! (Goodnight!)

Tokyo or Bust

Well, it's time for another trip! I leave at 9:30am tomorrow for Tokyo, Japan! We'll be staying in Japan for 4 weeks opening our first store in Asia. This one is 11 stories tall and the stockroom is across the street (in the Prada building!). So the legs are in for a good workout!
I just started doing laundry and haven't packed a thing... I have a sinus infection so I'm miserable! Not the best timing to get sick.. but at least I got antibiotics here and wasn't trying to find health care in Japan!
I will keep you guys posted on the trip & pray for safe travels (14 hour flight..ah!!). Love you all!