of students...

Well, Friday's are my longest work day. Not because I work a longer amount of time, but because I have more classes in the same amount of time. Doesn't sound like such a big deal, but it does make a difference. But the students are fun. I esp like my adult students on Friday's. And tonight was the first night I have been invited to go out with my students after class! Hurray! We went to a restaurant that is less than a block away and chatted for a while. (I tried talking in Japanese, but everyone always laughs when I do. I'm not sure why...) Anyway. This is good news for me. I was wondering why I was never being invited anywhere. It was fun, and I am happy. But I'm tired now. Time to sleep.

of random look-alikes...

Seriously, today I saw a Japanese man who looked like a Japanese version of John Wayne. Not kidding. I mean, take off the business suit and put him in faded leather and a dusty hat, and there you have it! The Duke of the East. It was strange.

Either that, or I'm strange. It's a toss up on this one...

of a long day, or make that week...

So this week has been busy. I have been teaching all my classes of course, plus getting ready for Gingerbread House (a huge success) and a ton of other minor details (I hate minor details). Anyway, today I went back to Takenotsuka for the first time since I moved. It was B's Open House. It was rather strange to visit my old apartment and find a friend living there. Lot's of people were there, so it was a success.

Then I was invited to a Cell group meeting that happens on Sunday nights there. It was interesting. The new director is all about "Community" as a theme, so of course, we were reading a Bible Passage about that. It was John chapter 17. I am not sure I have ever read that particular chapter before. There was some interesting discussion.

But I guess the thing I wanted to reflect on here came from verse 3. In the verse, it mentioned that we (the believers) were given to Christ by the Father. This is a new twist on something that I guess I've already known. But I guess it was the thought of me as a gift. I can't imagine anyone who would want to receive me as a gift, esp one who knows everything about me. But Jesus is happy to receive me. How amazing is that? I want so much to be a gift that brings Him joy. I want to make Him smile. I am pretty sure that when my parents named me, they weren't thinking of the jewelry by the same name. In some (loose) translations, I find that the name Amber can mean "Precious treasure." Names are powerful things. I want to live up to my name. I want to be a precious treasure for my Lord. I can never be worthy enough, but He gives this poor, flawed, excuse of a treasure more worth than can be imagined. How wonderful is that?

of having internet in my home...

So I finally have internet in my home once again. Horray! I will now spend the next couple of weeks catching up on all the things I fell behind on. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day will see the sending of my newsletter. Unfortunately, this fell at a rather busy time for me. I have Gingerbread House this Sat and I am still working on details for that, and I still have classes everyday till then. Well, hopefully I will find the time to get it all done. So that's all for now.

How wonderful it is to be back on the internet on my own computer...

of Golden Week (so far) and general updates.

So it`s now the middle of a time of holidays in Japan known as Golden Week. Notice, this is not translated. Japanese actually call it Golden Week. So far, I`ve had a good time. I`ve stayed at home one day, went out with people two, and went out exploring my area two. All in all, I`m rather pleased with the results. And I have two more days to go.

Today I spent with Lauren, another missionary. We decided to check out a sword museum. After some time spent being lost, we finally found our way (thanks to her superior Japanese ability). It was a good time. Then we went shopping at a new found area. It was a good day, but we were both a bit tired out from the walking.

Also, last week on our day off, three of us who went through orientation together met for the first time since we became working Volunteers. We went down to Tokyo Harbor and had a good time. We played at a science museum where I laughed so hard I cried. The workers were laughing at us. It was a fun time.

But don`t think it`s been all play and no work. I do in fact work. Well, not terribly hard, but I do work. Actually, I find that so far, after roughly a month of teaching, it is going rather well. There are still some little details I need to nail down, but for the most part I am relatively unstressed by the demands of teaching English here. I stay rather busy, but not overwhelmingly so. All in all, I am rather pleased with my new life.

Hmmm... Do I have anything else that is interesting to say? Not really I suppose. Other than the fact that today, Lauren and I had three unexpected encounters of males, or groups of males, speaking to us. Strangely enough, they were all in English. Two were foreign men, and one was a rather amusing Jr. High boy. If I had been alone, it would have been disturbing, but since I had company, I was able to laugh at the encounter.

And now for a few random thoughts: I found I prefer my kids classes to be energetic as opposed to silent, my adult classes enjoy learning about Texas (and I certainly enjoy teaching about it), and I have to be careful to teach the difference between "l" and "r" (clap and crap are two drastically different things...)

Also, I definitely love my Bible Studies so far. Many students seem very interested in what I am teaching, and I love watching their faces as they learn new information. For instance, I had the honor to teach one woman about Creation. She had never heard about it before. I of course grew up with it, and didn`t pay it much thought. Perhaps I even considered it a bit on the boring side. But this woman was amazed by just the first 4 days of creation. Her face lit up and she kept staring at the pages in wonder and amazement. This makes me appreciate these things so much better. I pray that God guides me as I teach these men and women and that He works though me and uses me as His tool to reach these people.

God is Good.