In Japan

We're here! We made it safely to Japan with just a few inconveniences along the way. Overall the travel here was relatively painless. Now, a few days into our time here we're trying to acclimate to the seemingly 1,000,000% humidity. Supposedly August is the hottest month. Quite honestly, I have never looked so forward to fall!

We are loving it here. The town we live in is small and relatively untouched by Americanism. We thought that there would be more people here that would speak English- there really are very few. We also thought that there would be more English writing on packages. Again, very little. It makes grocery shopping slightly intimidating, especially for me, the queen of reading labels. Oh well, guess that's just part of the adventure. We live in Kanonji. It is near the sea and very clean as far as little and human waste is concerned. There is never trash on the ground. And despite the warning I received that men are legally allowed to (and will) whip it out and pee anytime, anywhere, I have yet to see that happen.

The Japanese people are very sweet, considerate, and respectful. There is a lot of bowing going on and everyone is so patient. They try to communicate with us, repeating themselves multiple times. We only know a handful of words so far. Our family has been very fortunate to follow the path of the Shumways. Lindsey is a high school friend of mine that came over a month before us with her family. They showing us the ropes that they have picked up on so far but there is still so much to learn! Even pumping gas or doing laundry is totally new.

Jason worked last night for the first time, I start today. The kids will not start school for a few more weeks. I'm learning to drive on the other side of the road and the other side of the car! It's a little crazy trying to shift with your left hand!

That's all for now, I'll check back in more later with more specifics about our experiences and impressions. For now we are just fumbling through, which includes this blog. I am not schecking for errors....too stinking hot. I need to go take a shower!

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