Japan Day 1 and 2

Hi Everyone,

We are just getting ready for bed on day 2 of our Japan trip. Today we met Mindy at Tokyo Station, where 28 million people travel through every day. We were making elaborate plans to meet up with her when we turned around and she surprized us by coming in early.

We are staying at a Royokan, or Japanese guest house. We have the entire house to ourselves, so it's like having our own little home in Japan. We are sleeping on tatami mats and futons tonight. For those of you who don't know, the bedding is kept in the closet and you bring out your mattress and bedding only when it's time for bed. In the morning it all goes back into the closet so you can use your room for other things during the day. Several have commented on the heated toilet seat in our bathroom and the way you wash your hands after using the toilet with water that comes out of the top of the toilet.

Tonight we ate at a Japanese fast food place and Mindy introduced us to her favorite foods. We all had to use chopsticks for utensils and had very bad manners by leaving our chopsticks in the bowl. Mindy said it means death, death, death.

Today was a long day, we were on trains from 9am-5pm. We have been here 2 days and have seen mostly train stations. The scenery is fun from the train windows, but we are looking forward to getting out tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are going to Osaka to shop. It is a large metropolitan city so it should be a crazy day. We have brought tons of stuff, so have little room for souveniers, but will find some trinkets anyway.

Mindy is doing well and has been a big help in getting us around. She has lots of fun stories about people and experiences in Japan, which I'm sure she will share with you when she gets home. She seems to love it here. She and Colton are already giving each other crap. Some things even a year in Japan can't change.

We will write more tomorrow, but am tired. We went to bed at 7pm last night and most of us were up by 3:30 this morning, our bodies not knowing when to sleep or be awake. We hope to get an early start on seeing Osaka, and will tell you all about it tomorrow. Peggy