We are in Japan!

Charles and I got to Japan without incident at 4:00 pm Japan time. That is 2:00 am Tulsa time. Since we left Tulsa at 10:00 am, that puts the total travel time at 16 hours. Not bad considering we are on the other side of the planet. We met Hiromi at the airport, and I'm really glad she was there, because it would have been nerve-racking to try to get the correct train pass, and then the correct train, and know when to get off the train and where to go from there. She handled everything while we read signs and looked at stuff. So far, Japan has met my expectations in two ways:
1) It is full of people
2) They are japanese.

Other than that, everything is different from how I expected it to be.

1) I aven't seen one heavy person. Somehow I figured that the obesity problem was the same everywhere. Not here. I feel rather portly myself.
2)No doubt related to comment one, there are many many bicycles, and people ride them as their primary transportation to and from the train stations. At one of the train stations I saw a multilevel parking garage, but the structure appeared to be full of bicycles, not cars. Having said that, there are lots of cars, too, but not many trucks.
3)So far english is everywhere, underneath the Kanji signs. Just looking at the instructions on the walls in the bathroom is a fun language exercise. Which brings me to..
4)They have an interesting toilet in our bathroom Here are the instructions for how to use the toilet


The japanese are so ingenious, and I had heard that they have a thing about toilets. Perhaps that was correct. This toilet has instructions that allow it to spray water up, and also to direct the spray. Hey, at least while I was sitting there I had something to read.

Also, the handle for the toilet has two directions for flushing, small and large. Here is the picture of the handle:


The kanji on the left means small, and the one on the right means large. So efficient!

Probably this will be the only post about toilets, but who knows what the day will bring?