In our last blog post, Kevin reflected on everything that we did during our month in Japan. However, I wanted to outline some of the cultural things that we learned and/or surprised us.

​We also had an opportunity to stay in South Korea for 24 hours during our layover. Even though we just scratched the surface, it was enriching to better understand the history of Korea pre and post the Korean War. The museum was wonderful and had a whole wing honoring the soldiers who died battle.
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Please note, these are assumptions and things that I have observed based on my own experience. If you disagree or have things to add, please share in the comments below.

Foreward: Japan was fascinating. We could write a whole blog post about the cultural differences and rich history (we may do just that). However, it also happened to be a very busy country for us, full of countless new experiences. For our memory's sake, this blog is basically recounting those experiences. 

​Audra and I got off the plane from Taiwan to Tokyo (Narita) on a brisk Wednesday morning and found the train station just in time to catch the train to Katsuura, where our friend Mike had been studying Judo and Japanese for the past year. We had to switch trains halfway through, but thanks to nice people at the station, we figured it out easily. Mike and his friend Akira met us at the station, and the adventures began!
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Japan has everything: great food, good nightlife, unique history and culture, interesting language, amazing transportation, and beautiful countryside.  Over the course of the next month, we were to discover this with a little help from our friends. ​