We are really enjoying our time here in Japan, but first we had to get here. The plane ride reminded us about flying back and forth to India, very long. We went via Minneapolis and Detroit. We picked up Amber in Detroit and she took our picture on the plane.

There is about a one hour train ride to Tokyo where we got on another train to take us north. We were told to call from Tokyo, unfortunately we hadn't had time to exchange any money or buy a phone car. Lucinda was able to use someone's cell phone on the train to call ahead. The airport was deserted but the central Tokyo train station reminded us that were were in Asia again. Lots and lots of people. They were moving much faster and with better organization that we ever saw in India.

Saturday we went to the local market where they sell vegetables, fruits, flowers, and lots of dried fish in packages. Doug picked up a couple of new things to try -- a bag of candy coated peanuts and a bag of fish-flavored sesame seed cookies. Well, 50% isn't so bad!

For dinner we had take-out Yakisoba noodles, cheese sticks, and pot stickers. We ate them here at home with our chopsticks. I'm really out of practice with chopsticks.

Today we went to church. It is a really nice chapel, but it has 2 floors and the floor under the chapel is open to the outside, so it's really cold. The branch is very nice and we were very welcome there.

After lunch and a nap, we went to a Shinto Temple. It was close to the Pacific Ocean, so we saw some tsunami effects -- trees bent clear to the ground. It was snowing nicely and we got some fun pictures with the snow
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