First Stop: Japan

So far so good! Things are going smoothly now that I'm here in Japan and I don't seem to be suffering from any jet-lag... huge relief. I was able to take power naps on my flights over here and then went to bed at 9 p.m. last night, sleeping for 10 hours and waking when the sun came up this morning. So by all appearances it seems I'm already adjusted to my new schedule.

I wish the trip over here was as simple. Turns out my scheduled noon flight from Toronto to Minneapolis was canceled so Northwest booked me on a midnight flight from Toronto to Hong Kong, stopping in Anchorage Alaska for a couple hours, with another flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo. All in all, I spent about 16 hours in flight and another 16 waiting for flights. Hope the next time I fly I'll be able to get more of a direct route and spend more time in the airplanes than in the airports.

I must admit it seems a little surreal to be sitting here in Japan writing this. Even though I've been gearing up for this visit to Japan and move to Korea for four months now, it's still a bit of a mind-bender now that I'm actually on Asian soil. While I'm in Japan I'm staying with friends I knew from Denver (Paul and Stacy Cassidy) who now run a hospitality home for those stationed over here in the US Armed Forces; a wonderful meeting place for Christians and interested non-Christians who want to enjoy a touch of home while overseas. Sure is great to meet up with these friends again after 10 years!

Paul met me at the Tokyo airport when I arrived yesterday and I must say it was really nice to see a friendly face and not have to use sign-language while talking. We ended up taking the bus, train AND cab from the airport to their place near Yokohama... what a picture it must have been with the two of us rolling 4 bags of luggage on and off public transit and through the narrow streets of Japan =) Apparently, with all the tolls and price of gas, it is way more economical to travel public transit than drive a car to/from the airport. Even though it made for a longer journey it was a good way to introduce me to public transit over here.

Interesting what a person notices when visiting a country for the first time. For instance, I found it so interesting that people waiting for a bus at a bus-stop would bow when the bus approaches... and when it leaves! Bowing shows a sign of respect to the driver as it does to most everyone you meet one-on-one. Amazingly even the Japanese customs agent smiled and bowed when I approached her at the airport! Never had that happen when entering Canada or the US =)