A few thoughts...

I don't have any new pictures to post yet, but I have been making a few observations and thoughts I wanted to share with you...
1. Luke starts school tomorrow which is so crazy to me. I feel like we just stepped off the plane and haven't stopped going since. Sterling and I will both wait to start until the rest of our team gets here on Feb. 4. Luke will have to take a placement test to decide which class he'll be in, which makes me nervous because I feel like we know NOTHING.
2. Lots of people smoke here and they do it inside all the stores and restaurants. It's really disgusting because I had gotten used to California and Greencastle where there is no smoking allowed in public places.
3. The trash situation here is ridiculously complicated...I mean ridiculous beyond comprehension. They have categories, special bags, special locations and special times for each item of trash you have. So far, we've figured out that there is combustible trash, incombustible, plastics, PET bottles (which you must rinse, remove the cap and label, then dispose of), as well as all other trash which goes in various other categories such as household appliances, mirrors, clothing, aluminum cans, cardboard, etc. So each of these categories go in different places with different bags on different days. It's about to drive me insane because we can't figure any of it out since all we have is pictures and Japanese writing. On our apartment contract it says that incorrect disposal of trash has serious repercussions on the entire local community. Wow!
4. We have been walking everywhere so far and it's really cold here. Not freezing like Indiana or Iowa, but cold like Missouri. Most days it's about 40, but today it's down in the 30's and raining. (which means we can't go anywhere because we don't have a car). It's about a 2 mile walk to school, 3 miles to the train station, probably about 3 miles to the mall. That makes it really difficult to get anything like a microwave, bedding, or anything larger than what you can carry a few miles. This has been pretty frustrating to us, and we're wondering about how we're going to get to school on the days that it's raining really hard.
So please pray for us because we're tired and having all the frustrations of living in a new place where you don't speak the language, you can't get the things you need, and you don't know how to do basic every day living. We're doing well and enjoying the experiences we're having, but we want to be honest and let you know that we need your prayers!