It's Raining...

...and after a week of sticky, stifling, sweat producing humidity, the rain feels really good.

It was a holiday today, Marine Day to be exact, and Arny had the day off from work. We took the opportunity to take a train ride out to Jed's school which is in an area call Chofu. Rose, the woman we were meeting, said it would take about an hour to get there. However, she didn't account for the fact she was talking to two people who were not yet train literate and would spend at least ten minutes at each station figuring out what train to take, what direction to take the train in and what ticket to buy. You see, there were three separate trains, on three separate train lines, each requiring it's own ticket. Luckily, we knew our shortcomings in this area and allowed two hours to get there.

The ride out was not eventful, except for the fact that I was obsessed with looking at all of the umbrellas. Some people even had two, one for the sun (if it ever came out) and one for the rain. There were fancy ones and plastic ones, ones that perfectly matched their owners outfits, some with little tassels on the end, some just plain. They all had the same thing in common though - they were all perfectly folded!!! I watched in awe as each person would enter the train, sit and proceed to methodically straighten each fold before wrapping the tag around to fully close it.

Once we got there, our next mystery is to figure out exactly where the school was. I knew it was up the road from a temple, but when we looked at the town map, we realized there were several temples. Oh, did I mention the further out of downtown Tokyo you are the less English is spoken or written? I spotted a sign with the school's name and we walked toward it. Unfortunately, right away we were faced with a choice - right or left, with no addition sign indicating the correct way to the school. We guessed and started walking. Unfortunately, we guessed wrong, so we stopped in a 7-11 (yes, that 7-11 - they are everywhere) and asked, assuming they would know. They did, but didn't speak a word of English. Amazingly and so very kindly, the woman behind the counter came running out and found a young girl who could speak English and she gave us directions. We were so grateful, not just for the directions, but to be a country that was so accommodating. It makes every day so much easier to be surrounded by people who want to help you.

We made our way across the railroad tracks towards the school, passing the temple on the way. It seemed like a nice neighborhood, but like everything we have seen so far, congested, just like Tokyo. No grass, just home after home, one right next to each other. A few minutes later, we reached the school. It looked like an embassy with a big gate and a guard who asked for ID (he asked Arny - not me - that 'wife' thing again) and then handed us each a visitor pass on a lanyard we had to hang around our neck.

The school looked pretty typical except for the Japanese garden area in the center of the three connecting buildings that make up the school. They have a huge art room and science lab as well as a fully loaded kitchen where they hold cooking classes. Perhaps we can convince Jed to take the class and then come home and make dinner to show us what he learned - it would be a win-win for everybody.