Here In Tokyo - To the Rising Sun With the Risen Son (Part 6)

We have arrived in Tokyo. We arrived at about 4:20 on Sunday afternoon. The flight was pretty good overall but quite long. It is hard to conceive of just how long a 13 hour flight is going to take. I don't think that there is any way to prepare for that.

I did see some really interesting things though. I saw Siberia for the first time and arctic ice flows. That was pretty amazing. I tried to take some pictures from the window of the plane, but from what I can tell it really didn't do what I saw justice.

It was amazing how good the kids were that were on our flight. They got fussy a couple times, but I was right there with them thinking, "I feel your pain, kid."

Upon arrival to Japan I have been amazed at how organized they are. So many of the things that they do make such sense. Of course, in America I tend to think that we are probably too rebellious and self-centered to follow the rules to make these systems work here as well. I have also been amazed at how industrious everyone is. These people seem to just love their jobs and they take real pride in them. It is really something to see. I think my dad would really relate to them.

Anyway, when we got here we had been up nearly 24 hours, but we knew we had to stay up a little longer so that we could beat the jetlag and get on a normal schedule. We managed to stay up until about 10:00 their time and then crashed. I was so tired I felt drunk.

Today we did some exploring and found some interesting things. We saw some statues and have begun researching them. No real earthshaking stuff yet, but we are just getting going. Secretary Clinton is supposed to arrive in our area tonight, so that might be interesting too.

I have been surprised by how familiar so many things have felt here. I can read a lot of the signs (many are in English) and there are English translations all over the place. I do wish I had had the time to learn some Japanese though. I'll work on that some while I am here. I'm going to try to learn the Katakana alphabet before I leave.

Thank you all for the prayers and support that you have offered. I will keep you up to date on what we get into while we are here. Don't forget to check my friend David's blog too for updates.

More to come from the Rising Sun!