Success. Full Sucess!

There have been a handful of victories that we are particularly proud.

First, figuring out how to hook up our internet even though most of the directions and prompts were in Japanese. We are increasingly thankful for pictures and drawings. Second, Joe's first day at work. He was prepared, the students were great, and the whole day went smoothly. Third, becoming better and more confident in ordering food at restaurants. After Joe's first day at work (and receiving our first paycheck) we thought it was time to celebrate. We left behind our day to day meals of rice or noodles in exchange for Japanese Domino's. The cheapest pizza was the American Special, which we were already excited about since it was pepperoni and onions... perfect! Fourth, getting better at riding the subway/public transportation. When Joe got home after his first day of work we decided to try and make it to a government office downtown before it closed at 5:00 so we could pick up some paperwork that was ready. We were able to make it from our home to the building in about 15 minutes. Of coarse this meant sprinting from our house to the subway, then trying to weave our way through the hundreds of business people and students at our transfer, and then sprinting again once we reached the street. The best moment was when we realized the office didn't close until 5:15. Nonetheless, we were proud of our subway riding capabilities. Finally, being able to take out money from the ATM and not having our cash card removed. Since Joe doesn't get off work until the ATM's and the banks are closed Kellyn was in charge of taking out the necessary funds. Apparently, Japan works mostly in cash. In addition, our ATM is not open 24 hours a day. Since Kellyn does not have her own cash card, doesn't have the same last name as Joe, and doesn't speak Japanese it didn't seem like a good idea to try and convince a teller that she could indeed take out money from Joe's account. This left the ATM. In all confidence Kelly ventured to the ATM, walked up to the machine, and did her very best to extract the proper amount of money. However, she failed. After pushing a handful of mysterious buttons the machine froze. Thankfully, the ATM's are easily seen by bank employees and one very nice lady came to her rescue. After some time the machine unfroze and she walked Kellyn through the process. Success!

There are many more experiences left to conquer... like tackling the post office, figuring out how to speak Japanese, finding a church, and wrapping up our cleaning project. We are quite pleased with ourselves, as is obvious by the Domino's celebration, yet we look forward to the adventures that are still before us.