I am actually not in either city right now. I am in between…and above. I am sitting on a 747 reflecting back on a full day. It started with having to roll myself out of bed – literally. I really tweaked my lower back yesterday and it has been immensely painful. (Please pray.) It felt a little better today, which is good, since I had a couple hundred students to talk to today.

First up was the Senior Bible Class. Three minutes after that class ended, the Bible teacher walked me over to the cafeteria where they had gathered all of the sophomores, the entire middle school (6th-8th Grade), the teachers, and even several parents. I never get tired of watching teenagers as they begin to realize that the Bible isn’t boring.

Afterward, my buddy Cam took me to a few places around Tokyo. I stood in the busiest train station in the world. We saw an intersection where many movies based in Tokyo are filmed. We looked out over the city from the 45th floor of the Government Building. It truly was a bit surreal to look out on a city and not be able to see where it ended – in any direction!

Overall, today was a very good day. Started out with breakfast at Cam & Kristen’s and then off to the Christian Academy in Japan, where I spoke to a class of 9th graders. After that Cam and I stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall for a very traditional meal of rice, meat, miso soup, and hot tea.

The most unique thing about these little restaurants (we hit another one for dinner) was the way you pay. Inside the door is a little kiosk with pictures of all the different items on their menu. You put in your money, press the button and out pops a ticket that looks like the stub of a movie ticket. You sit down, hand it to the waitress, and your food is in front of you in less than three minutes. Delicious.

At 3pm we started a 35-minutes bike ride to speak to a group of college students and young adults. (I might write an entire post on the bike riding around here. Yowza!) At that meeting there was also the debut of a Campus Crusade “anime” called “The Last Day” that looks at the crucifixion of Jesus through the eyes of the criminal on the cross. Very powerful…and gory.

Back on the bikes for a trip back to toward C.A.J. to speak to a high school youth group. What a blast to see 40 high school students completely engrossed in worship. We had a great time hanging out in the Gospel of John and then started the 15-minute walk home (I gave Connor – Cam’s son – back his bike.)

Now the hard part: On the first 35-minute bike ride I had to stop and turn really fast, and tweaked my lower back quite badly. It’s been killing me ever since (I’ve got ice on it as I type). I did sleep ok (thankfully), but I have a full day of walking, standing, train riding, and a 4+ hour flight to Hong Kong at 7pm. Delta is offering free wifi on board this month, so I’ll probably write the next post from 35,000 feet!

Please pray for me if you will. His grace is sufficient…

The only thing that surprised me about Day 1 was how quiet it was. The 10+ hours in the plane didn’t surprise me. The fact that I only got 20 minutes of sleep on the plane didn’t surprise me. Not being able to read any of the signs (once I left the airport) didn’t surprise me. The fact that the 3-train, 2-hour train ride was packed with people wall-to-wall and body-to-body didn’t surprise me. The quiet surprised me. 

As I stood on the train with several people I’d never met pressed up against me I noticed that no one was talking. Not to each other. Not on their cell phones. Not at all. Other than my buddy Cam and me whispering to each other, the only sound was the sound of the train itself. Talking on a cell phone on a train is more than a little frowned upon. It’s rude. And Japanese people don’t do rude.

Sixteen hours after leaving my house in Kirkland I arrived and Cam & Kristen’s house in Tokyo. Two hours later I arrived on my bed. Oops…I mean “futon.” Slumber, sweet slumber…