Typhoon

Luke 8:24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"  He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.

I had always thought typhoons were no big deal.  Hurricanes, those were bad, but typhoons were just rain storms.  I mean come on, I live in Portland, Oregon, rain is not a big deal.  However, apparently typhoons are basically hurricanes, just ones that occur in the Pacific Ocean.  All day today rain has been pouring and this evening the strong winds hit Tokyo, knocking down some trees and halting train use across the city.  The worst part of the storm however, was in the Kansai region (where Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe are located) where lots of flooding has occurred.  So far it doesn't look like the damage will be as severe as say Katrina, or the recent cyclone in the midwest, but nonetheless keep Japan in your prayers as the nation recovers from the storm.

Today, the only thing on my agenda, other than getting home before the storm hit Tokyo, was getting my train pass.  The coolest part about my pass is I simply flash my wallet over a scanner and it reads my pass through all the contents of my wallet.  Another fun fact, when I renew the pass next month, all the current ink is erased and everything is rewritten for next month.

I also feel like the comfort level between my family and I is really growing.  They are beginning to teach me a lot about Japanese culture and aren't afraid to correct me if I make a mistake or am eating something wrong etc.

P.S. All my pictures are up on Facebook, including some that aren't on this blog.