Neat freaks

The Teenager is struggling to come to grips with a country as fastidious as Japan. Even after seeing that the homeless people sleeping under bridges put their shoes neatly to the side of their cardboard mats, we still have to keep reminding her to keep her own shoes off of the chairs, the benches, the beds, and any other surface that isn't the ground. Just take them off, child!

Nothing exemplifies the attention to order more than our first experience swimming in Japan. After signing a one page legal document signaling our intent to comply with all of the pool rules, we tucked our shoes into a cubby and moved upstairs to the pool entrance. The first order of business was to step through an ankle-height pool of disinfectant, because human feet are filthy. Next was to step through a waist-high pool of the same stuff. I think this is because germs are crafty and sometimes move up the legs when they get a whiff of the first dose. After that, a thorough shower, supervised by the pool attendant. Don't think you can get away with the 2-second US version of the pre-swim shower here.

After running that gauntlet, we were ready to graduate to the swimming pool. Only one more thing to do - everyone has to wear a swim cap, so pull those on...

Surf's up!