Shizuka (静か)

Well, I'm here :) turns out that 11 hour flight wasn't so bad, due to the FANTASTIC airline which is Singapore Air. First of all, the plane had two decks. TWO DECKS! get out of town. And you know what they did as soon as we were settled in our seats? Gave out steamed towels to put around our aching traveler's necks. wow. 5 stars. When I got to Narita I took a while figuring out how to go through customs and immigration, and ended up using a mixture of baby-Japanese and sign language to communicate that I was not indeed smuggling zebra meat into the country. When I finally got out of that mess I walked around for a while looking for Anuk and Fredy. One thing that is kind of eerie is that everything is so quiet. Narita is a bustling airport, but honestly is was quieter than the library. Even on the walk home from the train station, the cars were quieter- no blaring horns or music... even the engines seemed to be whispering. And here's where I teach you guys a Japanese word: Shizuka. Quiet, peaceful. Anyways once Anuk and Fredy found me we took about an hour train ride back to Ichikawa. We had a little birthday celebration with delicious cake and even some lovely presents from the team here. It was wonderful :)

Also, just a funny little quirk- the toilets here have the option of 大 (BIG) and 小 (small) flushes. Well I accidentally pressed the 大 one... pretty sure it flushed constant tidal waves for about a minute. Like really? is that necessary? Is there really a human being who could produce such a situation that one would have need for such water power? Word to the wise: be wary of the 大 button, for it possesses the strength of 100 water benders. Okay folks, it's time for me to shower. Love you all mucho peace