Picture – Janice and Courtney sitting in the Tokyo airport.  Janice is updating her journal and Courtney is going to watch TV until its time for the flight to San Francisco.

Thursday, October 11

We woke up at 3:00 this morning and were ready to head down to the bus at 4:00.  We got to the airport around 7:00 and had no trouble checking in our baggage.  Courtney said they didn’t even weigh it.  We used our mileage plus cards and upgraded to economy plus seating like we had on the way over.  They then directed us to take the bow case to the oversized luggage area and had Courtney open it and show them what was in it.  That all went just fine and we went next to Customs.  After Customs we went through security where Courtney was randomly selected to take his shoes off.  This was no problem and we moved on to our gate.  We had a hard time finding anything to eat, so settled for a glass of ice tea.  On the plane we were given a snack of two finger sandwiches, some rice rolls (Yuk), juice, pretzels and a cookie.  We were very surprised to eat a snack on an hour and a half flight. 

We arrived in Tokyo at around 12:30 and had to go through security again, which was no problem.  Everyone is so friendly and calm; nothing like airports in the States.  The whole ordeal is so easy and non-stressful.  We found a McDonalds and Courtney ordered two hamburgers, I had one, we shared fries and each had a ginger ail.  Courtney said he wanted to order three hamburgers, but didn’t want to overdo it. 

We are now sitting at gate 37, waiting to begin the 9 hour flight to San Francisco.  It is almost 3:00 PM and our flight leaves at 4:05.  We can’t wait to get home and pick up our Liza girl. 

 This has been an incredible experience.  I never would have thought, four years ago when I began shooting archery, that I would have been participating in a world championship event.  I am so happy that I was able to participate in the entire event, from FITA competition through the medal rounds.  It’s much more than I would have imagined.  I am grateful to everyone who supported me and hope you have enjoyed reading my journal.   

THE END