Written by: Laura R.
Our first week here has been a blur of getting over jet lag, seeing old friends and making new friends, and traveling around Japan. Here’s a day-by-day update of this week 😊
February 13/14
We arrived at the Seattle airport in the morning to try to take the direct flight to Tokyo using buddy passes. Our friend who gave us them told us not to expect to get on the plane. It was already full and we were 10th in line on standby.
With this in my mind, I was shocked when they called us up to the desk and handed us tickets (with seats right next to each other!). Not expecting to get on the flight, and then getting on the plane and ending up halfway around the world is a strange feeling!
We arrived in Tokyo Narita to discover the card I use when I am abroad to pull out money (this card covers all ATM and international fees, so it’s my favorite!) had been blocked a week ago in America. 🤦🏼♀️ On top of this, the backup card I brought was expired. 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️ What is this, our first time traveling??
With some help from a nice metro employee and our friends, Tim and Julie, we finally made it to our friends’ apartment. Luckily Tim has an app that lets you make calls to America, so I used this to get the credit card unblocked— crises adverted.
Tim and Julie hosted us for our weekend in Tokyo and were a huge blessing! They have worked with YWAM (Youth with a Mission) Tokyo for 4.5 years now, and are preparing to help start a YWAM base in western Japan. You can check out their story here.
February 15
We got a SIM card for data (thanks Tim and Julie for your help!) and went to Shibuya to meet with Ritsuko. Ritsuko (or, Ritz) was our exchange student for a year when I was in high school. I am so grateful we’ve stayed in touch all this time.
(guess we have to see each other again, Ritz 😉),
but I did get one of Mark with his first Ramen in Japan.
February 16
We spent most of this day at Tim and Julie’s church. It was encouraging to meet each person and to hear their stories. My favorite part was the hip hop lesson after the church service. 🙃
But here’s the next best thing- worship practice before church.
February 17-19
Mark’s birthday!! Although he said it didn’t feel like a birthday, more like a travel day. We went to a YWAM worship service in the morning, and had the chance to meet many people there (including five Minnesotans 😮).
Afterwards, we travelled to Shinjuku, the nightlife and entertainment district of Tokyo. From there we took a bus to Kawaguchiko Station, just north of Mount Fuji. There we met my friend from my Japanese high school, Atsuka, and her husband, Kenya.
going on a class trip while I studied abroad.
They graciously hosted us for a few nights, and Atsuka gave us the tour of her favorite places around Mount Fuji. It was truly beautiful!
Also, Mark was cold.
On Wednesday the 26th we headed back from Mount Fuji to Shinjuku Station to take an overnight bus to Osaka. Of all the overnight buses we’ve taken (which is too many…) this was by far the most comfortable! Compare this to times we’ve taken the Megabus, and felt like we were hit by the Megabus. Also, the overnight bus is a much cheaper option than the shinkansen or flying if you need to get across Japan.
February 20
We arrived in Osaka and got on the train with our backpacks to go to our Airbnb right during rush hour. Pretty much after the whole week of traveling around, we were exhausted. We spent the rest of the day settling into our Airbnb, catching up on emails, getting groceries at the supermarket, and resting.
Next week we’ll give you another update about our time in Osaka along with this coming week.
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions, let us know 🙂
Laura & Mark
A Rowdon Adventure 