Let the adventure begin!

(Written December 11, 2011)

All four of us survived the 12 ½ hour flight yesterday! Actually, the flight was nothing special to speak of – a HUGE answer to prayers. The highlight of the very long day was listening to Kai giggle out loud as he watched Winnie the Pooh. And we even enjoyed a few hours of Niko napping in the bassinet (a luxury we never got in the 5 trips over the ocean with Kai as a baby!) We were picked up at the airport by Tanaka-san from Tsuchiura’s church Nozomi (Hope) Lutheran Church and stopped by a restaurant for some quick katsu curry rice.

Driving from Narita felt like we never left. Same mixture of “newer” buildings and traditional buildings, little shops run by older women and farm plots lined up side by side for kilometers. The only indication that we’d be away seemed to be my brain’s aversion to driving on the left side of the road… each left turn we made sent a shock of panic through my gut!

However, among the familiarity that bombarded us came reminders of things that had slipped to the backs of our memories… little Japanisms that reminded me how long we’d been away. First were the warning signs in the elevator with a very “cute” illustration of a guy getting his hand stuck in the door, the first of many such illustrations we are bound to encounter on this trip.

There were still more this morning as I got ready for the day. The church’s house that we slept in had a number of Japanese products in the bathroom including the tissue brand called “Life Yell”, but my favorite by far was the can of “Shaving Foam.” Some copywriter felt this would sell the product, despite the fact that the Japanese people purchasing the foam would never really read it: “A close bubble makes the sliding of the blade better smoothly and is finished refreshingly without any regret.” (I can’t make this stuff up.) It has been an interesting reintroduction to Japan!