Arrival in Tokyo

September 29 - 30, 2017r

I'm writing this  in Tokyo at bedtime Saturday and it is not yet dawn Saturday morning back home!  Our flights to San Francisco and then to Tokyo went smoothly, but somewhere in the process, we've leapt over a whole day; I assume we'll reclaim it on our return journey...

Not much to report, other than our safe arrival in Japan.  Our modern hotel is in Tokyo's Ginza -- a central district of skyscrapers and bright lights. Cultural differences became evident as soon as we reached our room -- pajamas for our use were laid out on the bed, and the toilet has functions most Americans have never heard of.                               

 We had a chance to meet the others in our Road Scholar group  on the bus from the airport and at dinner tonight.  There are 20 of us, and they seem to be a varied, interested, and interesting group, many of whom have traveled with Road Scholar before, while we're just freshmen!

We begin "doing" Japan in the morning, so tomorrow's post should contain more interesting observations.  Time now, for me to get some sleep; my fingers are falling off the keyboard!

Japan

We’re packing our suitcases and will soon be off on another adventure in the Far East, this time to Japan.  While we realize that this will put us right in the line of fire between two adolescents with itchy trigger fingers, we’re hoping that some responsible adults will send them to Time Out before things get out of hand.

We’ll be traveling on a small group tour with Road Scholar from Tokyo to Kyoto, zig zagging for stops at several points between the two cities.  We’ve been learning how to bow, hoping we can stand back up after eating and sleeping close to the floor, vowing NOT to put soy sauce on our rice or blow our noses in public, and generally trying to know enough to avoid doing anything culturally offensive while traveling.

As always, you and your friends are welcome to tag along as we hit the road; feel free to check in whenever you want a taste of the Orient!