The first day at my summer internship started with a crisis. Faced with Tokyo's morning rush hour, I had no idea which of the trains — all seemingly headed in the same direction — was the right one to take.
Luckily, I'd left a little early that morning and had written down the kanji of the station I was headed to. I sheepishly asked a local who responded with a thumbs up.
This was my first trip to Japan and despite the research I did ahead of time, I really had no idea what to expect during my few months interning at The Japan Times. My first lesson? Map out the route to the office ahead of time.