Matthew and I have been in Tokyo for almost a week so I'd better get with the program here lest my Japan blog consists merely of: "...and then we went home."

Our trip got off to a somewhat inauspicious start with a scheduling snafu by the airport shuttle service, resulting in us standing in the driveway surrounded by 3 months worth of luggage with Matthew on his cell phone showing the neighbors a more colorful side of himself than they have previously been privy to.

We arrived at the airport fashionably late, not a good thing for an international flight. Nevertheless during our mad dash to the gate Matthew still managed to help this Chinese lady in distress make a pay phone call, as well as stopping to extricate the luggage of an elderly Japanese woman from what looked like a ball of fishing line which had immobilized her wheels. We figure in the balance of things it's barely a few ounces compared to the tons of help we will require in Japan.