Japan Journal - Day 2

Travel - Day began in Ichikawa. Early morning required to catch the flight from Tokyo to Sapporo. Kenton took me as far as the train change. He is the admin for OMF Japan, who made me feel at ease from the moment I met him. Very thankful to God for him. He said goodbye as the train pulled in and then we saw how full it was! Up until this point all we’d seen was quiet trains. Trains with seats to spare in abundance. The train pulled in and Kenton apologised as a squeezed into a gap that physically couldn’t fit me and my cases. It’s fair to say the local people gave the Brit with the bags as much room as they could spare. The airport was easy and the women at the desks very gracious as they constantly redirected me to the place I should be (not the rival company). Managed to get my bag down from 23.4kg to 21kg for the lower weight restriction. Back’s still a little sore from the rucksack though! 

Hokkaido - I was a little disappointed with how the area surrounding Tokyo looked. Very, very western. The only real difference was the writing. Even from the air the ground looked fairly familiar. As we flew over the water towards Hokaido, I saw the beginning of something special. A line of white across the haze of blue. At first, I thought it was the coast, as the waves were fairly substantial around the rest of Japan. Only as we got closer they showed themselves for what they really were. Standing proud, a guard of snow-capped sentries. Not just thrown down on the landscape, but carefully positioned like a row of dominoes. Mountains. It was a good start.

Sapporo - Sapporo itself is similar to the cities surrounding Tokyo, although the mountains can be easily seen on a clear day. I was picked up by Alaric who drove me to Richard’s, where I’ll be staying while I’m here. They had a meeting, so I was left to my own devices for the following three and a half hours. It was good to get my bearings and settle into my room.

My room - Just brilliant! It’s in a flat on the third floor but still with expected sliding doors and mat flooring. The room is empty apart from a floor chair (a normal chair without legs). A wardrobe lies behind sliding doors, which holds all the fold out bits I need to make a very comfortable bed on the floor. I love it! Can’t make a mess because it all has to be tidied away at the start of the day!

Tonight - Had a Birthday meal for one of the girls on the team. Taken as a great opportunity to share the gospel with Japenese people in a really comfortable setting. Got chatting to one of the lads who spoke a bit more English than the others. He’s going to become my language partner so I can learn Japanese and he can learn English. He also offered to help me out if I want to venture out into the more remote parts of the island. Very cool. 

Work - Still don’t really know what I’ll be doing. Expect to find out more tomorrow. Supposedly I won’t have time to get bored. Sounds good.