I did not have too much to report from my side today, so let’s dive right into Lily, Lydia and Mary’s first day in Japan!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Writing this from the next day] Yesterday I talked to Lily right after my massage and learned that they took a bullet train to Kyoto, and Mary fell asleep on the train. Lydia moved from being next to Mary over to sitting by Lily, and when the train stopped and Mary had awoken, she didn’t see anyone, thought Lily and Lydia had gotten off the train, and so she got off too. Lily and Lydia continued on 89 miles to Kyoto and when they were going to exit they realized Mary was not on the train! Lily was panicked, but not for long, because the train station officials were quickly able to help her (after navigating the language barrier and possibly never fully understanding why Mary was 89 miles away from Lydia and Lily). They called the station where Mary got off, located Mary and brought her to Lily and Lydia. We were worried that Mary would have been very afraid and sad, but actually she was just fine. She found an official, and they sorted out the situation, and then Mary talked to a lady who spoke English about nails and was shortly reunited with the family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lily, Lydia and Mary were already in-love with the city, but this incident just drove home the point. Japan is so safe, so organized and so helpful. It is literally one of the only places in the world where this type of situation could have gone so smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The language barrier is intense (even more intense than Hong Kong because even fewer people speak English), but everything is safe, clean and organized, and the people are wonderful. Lily did tell me it was hard at times to eat though as you aren’t allowed to eat on the streets, and places close promptly after lunch time, and don’t open up for afternoon tea until later, so if you are looking for food in the wrong time window it can be difficult. Food is also expensive and Lily has been stressed about that, but I hope she stops worrying. I think Japan is just a little more expensive of a place to be. They loved the iconic scenes that they saw both in Tokyo and Kyoto. Here are some pictures and a video of them at the dog cafe!<\/p>\n\n\n\n