Today was a VERY long day but I made it safely to my friends house in Japan.  It started with a 3 hour drive Thursday to Indianapolis in the pouring rain.  I slept in the car for 4-5 hours before going to the airport (yes, I was safe 🙂 )  After departing Indy at 7am I arrived in Toronto, Canada for a 5 hour delay.  The highlight there was finding a Tim Hortons! My flight from Toronto to Tokyo was 12 hours and I somehow lucked out and had 3 seats to myself.  I was able to stretch out and sleep a lot.  They served 3 meals and I think I slept for a few hours after eating each time.  Traveling is so hard lol  I doubt I will be so lucky to have that much space on the return trip so I savored every bit of it!

After arriving at Narita airport…going through customs and grabbing my bag…I found my friends waiting for me.  They are like family to me and it was GREAT to see them.  When we walked out of the airport it was like a sauna…very hot and humid.  I have never been here when it was this hot so I wish I had brought more shorts!  We stopped at a sushi restaurant on the way home…I will try to upload a picture tomorrow.  The sushi travels on little plates on a conveyor past your table and you pick which kind you want.  It is like a traveling buffet of sushi!  When finished there is a slot where your plate goes where it disappears.  Somehow they keep track of the used plates to calculate your bill and when you are finished you win a prize depending on how many plates you discarded.  There were four of us and my friends husband and son eat A LOT so her son (Kazu) won a toy which made him happy 🙂 The first of many cool things I am sure I will see while here over the next couple of weeks.

After a shower and a soak in the hot tub…I am ready for bed.  We are waking up early to go meet Noriko’s brother and family.

Today I am thankful for extra room on airplanes!  And for friendship.  I wouldn’t be in Japan right now if not for my very good friend…she is more like a sister/mom actually which I need.