Konichiwa

I've made it to Japan--though not without drama! Flying on stand-by tickets is always fun, but flying standby in a foreign country is insane. If not for a friendly Japanese guy also going to Fukuoka, I would not have made it at all! Thank you kind stranger!

Things No One Will Believe I Did in Japan #1: ate penne noodles with salmon on the plane ride over.



Things No One Will Believe I Did in Japan #2: took off my shoes and put on slightly-too-small sandles every time I came into the hotel. No exceptions! It's the standard rules.

Below is a picture of my room on night #2. Ulf and Sarah are monkeying around. Ulf is sporting the hotel-provided sandles. The bed behind them is a bunkbed built for 6! We'll see how that works out... But it is a large room with a table (foreground) on a raised platform. You can sit on the mats and put your feet down the hole under the table! It's like being at summer camp--but none of us understands what anyone is saying or any of the writing. Still, we are helping each other and learning a lot. It is great to finally get to work together in person after spending so much time talking online! The final pieces of the conference are pulling together. Tomorrow should just be getting ready for moderator training on Wednesday.


PS--Being in a timezone 13 hours different from home after 26 hours of traveling takes a bit out of you. Trust me on this one...