I'm here!

It's taken me a while to update because I can't access the internet here with my own laptop. So I write from the church's laptop.

Anyhow, I arrived in Japan at about 3 PM on Thursday, which was 11 PM Wednesday by California time. I took a bus to Tochigi, and Yoko-san and Ruriko-san picked me up. I collapsed into bed at 9 PM, having spent 23 hours straight awake, since I wasn't able to sleep on the plane.

Things are going well. The English summer school has yet to kick in. We had our first lesson today for toddlers, or rather, I sat in on the lesson that was already going on. I finished all but one of the books I brought with me. I'm actually kind of bored. Soon enough I'll be busier than I can deal with, but I have almost nothing to do and only a couple of people who know English enough to hold a conversation. So I'm trying my hardest to learn Japanese. I've already made significant progress, but I still understand only about one of every seventy-five words that are spoken.

Yesterday was church. I delivered my testimony, and I'm glad that's over with. Everyone was very kind to me, but again, the language barrier makes things really hard. I like it here, but I'm a bit lonely.

My partner, Janice, arrives on Thursday, and I have to say, I can hardly wait.