So, after ~2.5 hour flight, here I am in Whitehorse, YT. Toshie, our Japanese-Canadian tour guide was waiting for me (and others as well) at the Whitehorse airport. Apparently, a lot of Japanese tourists come to Whitehorse to see the Northern Lights. Hence, the Japanese-native tour guide. Half of my group (of about 20-25 people) where Japanese. Mind you Toshie spoke English, so no worries there.
TIL, that my last name is somewhat common in Japan, and it means Valley of the Wind (or Wind Valley). Once I exited the secure area in the airport, I approached Toshie as she was holding a sign with my last name on it. Toshie looked at me and exclaimed “But you don’t look Japanese!”. We all laughed, as at that point all the other members of the group were Japanese. I thought she was joking about me being perhaps the only non-Japanese person in the tour group. But, as the laughter died down, again Toshie wondered how come I’m not Japanese? Puzzled I was! Then, she proceeded to explain to me that my last name (or at least the phonetics) is common in Japan!
Anyways, we all got transported to our rooms at the Best Western Gold Rush Inn; for a rendez-vous @ 9:30PM to be transported to the Northern Lights viewing sight. I headed out to grab me some dinner, then back to the hotel for some rest; before the long night ahead.
