When I got off the plane, I always seem to have trouble at customers. It’s like the last gate you have to pass through before you are really free to run out into the country.
In the past, usually I forget to fill out the form and I have to go all the way back to their counters and fill it out. This time though, I remembered it so I wouldn’t run into that problem.
I went up and saw that there was a completely open line so I went over and gave my form to the woman and the passport. She asked me if I could open my bags, I said, “sure” (although I wonder what would have happened if I had told her “no”).
Since I left most of my stuff in Tokyo, I didn’t have a lot of normal things coming back… like clothes and such. Instead half my large suitcase was taken up with a pull up bar still in the box with the flash images of a guy and phrases like “Get Strong… Get Ripped… Quick!”
This girl actually opened this box, took a look inside, saw a bunch of metal pieces for 2 seconds and just decided it wasn’t worth her time and closed it. Then she asked me if it was okay if she could see my other bag (the smaller one and I also wonder what would have happened if I had told her “no” here, too).
She opened the bag and in this bag, I had entirely vitamins and health supplements. I had like 10-15 bottles of various shapes and colors. She immediately closed the bag. I don’t know what she must have thought about me seeing me coming all the way from America to Japan with just an “Iron Gym” pull up bar and 10-15 bottles of supplements but I am sure it was more amusing than some of the other travelers.