Yokoso Japan (Welcome to Japan)

Greetings all, 

I've been in Japan for three weeks now. We were traveling for the first 10 days, then Masami was traveling with the computer for 10 days, so I have a lot to catch up on. I'm kind of new to this blogging stuff, so bear with me while I figure it out (especially the pictures). Feedback on how you're seeing this is welcome also. 

It's hot and steamy here in Amami Oshima. We get some rain every day, then it's blazing hot and the air gets thick enough to chew. We're all soaked with sweat all day. We do have air conditioning in a couple of the rooms, but sleeping is pretty sticky. 

Theo is busy in school all day Mon-Fri. He goes to school about 7:40, gets home around 4, goes to swimming club every day at 4:45, gets home around 7, has dinner and does homework until it's time to go to sleep. It's a crazy schedule, but he's definitely getting some intense socialization. He's teaching me some Japanese and Kanji, Japanese writing. He's getting really good at it. (He's been in public school here for three months now). On weekends we go snorkeling or hiking in the forest.

I've been cooking, cleaning, playing saxophone, reading and doing some adventuring around the island, but more on that later. I have a motorcycle that we borrowed from Masami's cousin, so I can get around, although some of the roads are pretty rough with mudslides, a lot of rain, or simply the jungle taking over the road. 

I'm going to start at the beginning of the trip and work my way to present time, since the travel part was a lot more interesting than the home stay part. 

Here's a picture of part of Theo's entourage looking out the window on our first train trip, to Shikoku, the smallest and probably least visited of Japan's four main islands, which is where I'll start the blog next time.