Got it!

Do the Japanese speak English? Well, it would seem to us that most of them studied it at school at some point and understand a few words, but the actual speaking seems to be more difficult. As for our Japanese, it hasn't evolved significantly from "konnichiwa" and "arigato" which we learned on the first days here. But somehow things always work out, and even though the language barrier does feel frustrating at times Christoffer's brakes got tightened last night and Kaisa found the park she was looking for. The people here are very helpful and will resort to personally guiding you or using a smartphone app to translate directions if nothing else will work.