all systems go

except for the lack of apostrophe on this keyboard, everything has gone swimingly these first few days. flight over was long but really ok, nate did great. at about hour 8 rachel and i looked at each other and said theres no way we are going to make it to 13.5, but we brought out the wiggles and the time just melted away. spent the first night in a hotel near the airport to catch up on sleep, but nate had other plans (up at 1am). saw the old palace and ginza area (shopping, sony building) in tokyo, then spent the night in the mountains where it was quite a bit colder than we would have wanted (the innkeepers daughter lent nate her mittens) to break up our journey to kanazawa where the wedding reception will be. weve been staying in "japanese" inns, which means there are tatami mats and futons on the floor and tea kettles and sliding paper-covered doors for nate to break. actually, rachel broke the door, but you didnt hear it from me. food situation is as expected, a sometimes not-so-fun challenge unless youre looking for udon noodles or chicken curry. they just really love to put pork EVERYWHERE. in sat question form, that would be japan -> pork as pizza hut -> cheese. today we spent the day in the old samurai and shinto temple district, really amazing old houses and gardens and windy, twisty streets. nate is a ridiculously big hit here. he had them at "blond haired two year old", but when he gives them the "bowwwww" with the namaste hands, its really all over.

hope all is well with you, should have somewhat frequent email access so we will write again soon--