Greetings from Japan! February 4-5

February 4-5

Late start today.   Our plane was delayed for about 3 hours bet we finally got going.  Other than that the flight went smoothly.  Nobody slept much on the plane but when we landed 13 hours later everyone found a new burst of energy at the excitement of landing in Japan.  We were warmly greeted by two Japanese scout leaders who gifted us with origami cranes.  I find the Japanese people to be very friendly with big smiles.  When I went to get my money exchanged, a man behind the counter gave me a huge smile and pointed to a sign that said in large letters “WELCOME TO JAPAN.”  I said “thank you” in Japanese and he seemed to be very pleased by me speaking in his native tongue and bowed to me.  I think that was the first of what will be many other warm welcomes.

The Japanese scout leaders than directed us to a bus -equip with chandeliers- where the female leader gave us a giggling welcome in broken English.  Recognizing our exhaustion of a long day traveling, they immediately lead us to a dining hall for dinner.  They courteously kept their welcome speech to under 5 minutes so we could eat and go to bed.  The food was excellent.  I could tell I was in Japan just by the freshness of the salmon.  At dinner the Japanese scout leaders sitting at our table taught us how to use chopsticks and answered all of our questions about etiquette that came up throughout the dinner.

We were happy to get up to our rooms and change out of our uniforms after dinner. Other than our delayed flight, the trip has gone very smoothly and promises to remain so.  The most confusing thing so far has been figuring out how to use the toilets.