Hisahiburi...

Well, for everyone who doesn't read Japanese, the title roughly translates as "Long time no see".

It's been forever since I've written here and I'm truly sorry (Marlo). Today won't be much of a post, but I hopefully will take the time and do a massive update. I have tons of new pictures to share and some stories too. I'm looking forward to writing them all down. But today, I've got to go out again, so I will have to wait until maybe Wed. to have some time to start writing. I have to write a news letter sometime too, and update my web page, and write a devotion and... and... well, the list goes on. I hope I can stay motivated to finish it all.

Anyway, I will try to be back soon! Just wanted to mention that I am alive and kicking.

Shibuya

Shibuya is a section of Tokyo known for it's crowded sidewalks and is a popular hang out for young people. You get lots of interesting fashion in Shibuya. For example, this girl here. That's something American girls would wear to a costume party. But girls here wear it out. I'm getting used to seeing dresses like this.
Here are some random buildings from the same area.

As for my life recently...

Well, Saturday I went to the other side of Tokyo (imagine how long it takes to cross Houston or Dallas) to help get the new house ready for the new missionaries. (They are actually going to arrive today.)

It was nice because everyone in Tokyo came to help out, but it was a lot of work. And I certainly didn't work as hard as some of the other people! I was so tired at the end of it. (which is where the Tired, oh so Tired post came from)

I'm excied by the new missionaries of course, but this year is a bitter sweet year. This year one of those girls will replace me as a teacher. That's kinda a hard thing for me right now. I really love my job, and I wish that I could work here longer. But I have to trust that God is leading me somewhere else. It's hard to think about saying goodbye though.

In other news... It's raining. I'll bet you're surprised right? I mean rain is so rare in Japan! It's heavy rain too. *sigh* I wonder what I'll do about food today...

Speaking of food... Another interesting fact... People here usually go grocery shopping every day. They buy the food for that day and then cook it. That was a big transition for me. I still don't do it every day. But if you keep fresh food too long it goes bad really fast because of the humidity. So they shop everyday. I don't cook so much because I live alone and it's really annoying to cook for one person. But I also don't keep so much food in my house. So on a day like today, when I definately don't want to walk to get my food, I'm left with few choices. It rained yesterday too...

Yeah, I really don't like the rain... 

Random fact about Japan...

So for the second post in a row I don't have pictures. Sorry. But I remembered something today that I used to think was strange.

So in America there are two basic types of bicycles. In Texas (I'm not quite sure about the rest of the country) they were called boy's and girl's bikes. The boy's bikes had this high bar on it, and the girl's didn't. Where I lived, boys didn't want to be caught dead on a girl's bike.

Anyway, when I came to Japan I was shocked to see everyone riding girl's bikes! In fact, I'm not sure I've even seen a "boy's" bike here. So that's the deal. And lot's of people ride bikes here. Grandma's, buisness men, everyone. Lot's of bikes. And almost no one wears helmets.

Ok, so that's the random bike information.

In other news... I've been kinda busy lately, and as my last post, a bit tired. I got to rest and go out today to a movie with a friend. Watched X-men 3. Good movie. Disentgrating people was a bit disturbing, but on the whole it was a good time. Anyway, I'll make a more informative post sometime soon I hope. :-D

Tired... Oh so tired...

Wow. I'm really tired. That's all I can say. Today was such a long day. I hope I can wake up for church tomorrow. I'll write more later. For now all you need to know is... I'M TIRED!!!!!!

Comments on comments...

I have an appology. I was totally unaware that I had been getting comments. I guess I had put it on some sort of moderator setting, but I didn't know that I had to go and moderate it to put the comments on the site! I put them all up, but I'm not sure if I'll reply to all of them just yet. But just so you know, I can see my comments now, and maybe I'll even comment on your comments! I feel loved now!!! Thanks!


Here are four random pictures. I use the puppets in my class. They were all about one dollar (one hundred yen). Good deal. The flower thing came with my classroom.

And last is an old post office mail box. I'm not sure why it looks like a frog, but it's on display at my train station. It's cute though. I think you can even still use it, but I'm not sure. So anyway...

This week has been good so far. But I'm still getting headaches. The typhoon season is horrible for my sinuses. Just have to make it through.

I've been getting a lot of presents lately. One of my students gave me a fan that his mother used to have (his mother is dead now). I was really touched. It's really beautiful too. I'll post a picture when I get around to taking one.

I was also randomly brought food by Lawson's Girl. Lawson's is a convience store in Japan and she works there. She used to study in America, so she started talking to me. We've gone out a few times and it's been fun. But I haven't really had the time lately to go by Lawsons, so she came looking for me at 11 at night bringing me food. So nice of her!

This weekend looks like rain and work. Oh well.

The new missionaries are coming next week. This will be the group that replaces my group. I can't believe I've already been here two years. Hopefully I'll find a way to stay longer in Japan...

Ok, so those are my random comments today. Sorry again about the comment problems. Thank you very much for reading my blog!!! 

I like Holidays!

So yesterday was a holiday. That means lots of people were off from work. Unfortunately I didn't get an extra day off since Monday's are my normal day off to begin with. And most holidays in Japan are on Monday. Oh well, I can't have everything!

Anyway, I had another good day. The rain cleared up and we had some pretty skies (see last two pictures). The band plays on holidays so I got to see them three days in a row. Life is good. :-D


So here are a few pictures. Picasa was updated so I was finally able to find some of the pictures I'd lost. The first picture is of some of my Sunday Bible Study students. They come every week and study the Catechesim for TWO HOURS!!!! These are the best students ever!!!

Next is Sing. Not only is he in a Band, he writes poems and makes them into post cards and sells them. Here is what his little set up looks like.

And lastly, are two pictures of yesterday's evening sky. It was quite beautiful. One thing I do miss about Texas is the sunsets (as in being able to see them). In Japan there are just too many buildings, or mountains or whatever in the way to see beautiful sunsets. So this is the best I have to look forward to. Anyway, it's time to go and begin another week of teaching English!
 

Good weekend.

This weekend was amazingly good. It was still rainy, but for some reason my mood wasn't affected. Actually, I'm pretty certain that it's because I spent a good day with God on Saturday. I listened to Christian music online most of the day, so when I went out I was in a really good mood. But it seems to be a combination. Lot's of good things happened this weekend.

The band played really well this weekend. Everyone seemed mostly healthy and in good spirits. I had a lot of good conversations, and even in Japanese. I didn't end up feeling like an idiot this weeked, which was good.

I guess I was also a bit on the hyper side. I guess I don't go hyper as often in Japan, so they seem to be surprised when it happens. It's fun!
So here are some pictures from this weekend. I had pictures of my Bible Class too, but I couldn't find them, so I'll put them up when I do. But the first picture is the three "staff" members. They do a lot of the work. They help set up and take down and make and pass out flyers. At least one of them is present every weekend. They are very dedicated.

Next is Shi-shi, the new guitarist. He played Electric guitar this weekend. It was really cool. Yesterday he wore a cool hat too. Musicians are just really cool looking!

Today is a national Holiday, so they should play again today. It's still a bit rainy, but it shouldn't be as rainy as yesterday was, so that's good.

Anyway, I'm just really happy this weekend!!! It's a good feeling. :-D 

Rain....

So it's raining. It started raining yesterday and hasn't stopped. No wait, it's been raining since Monday. I was told it's supposed to keep up all week. There has been too much rain this year....

Anyway, here is a random picture for you. I walk past this barber shop a lot. There is always this huge stuffed pig outside. They even change it's clothes depending on holidays and seasons and stuff. I think this is in reference to the popular maid cafe's. Not sure though.

The guy inside the shop was wondering what I was doing. It was funny. 

Another weekend.

Another week has passed. Time really does fly. I'm sure that pictures of the band are getting old, so I found a few other things to take pictures of. These pictures are from my cell phone. The flowers are outside of my house. I don't take care of the flowers or anything. So sometimes I'm surpised by what pops up.

The other pictures are of my new pencil. One of my students went to a city famous for tako-yaki (fried octopus balls). So this is a Hello Kitty pencil dedicated to that. It's cute. More than that, it's fun. I can play with it while I write. I love Japan!

So it's been one of those weeks. The weather's been changing, so I've had pressure headaches quite often this week. Normally that's not so bad, but it's been hot and muggy lately too. So I've had the headaches and then also upset stomach. Not fun. :-( Hopefully the hot weather will stop soon. Fall is comming. Comfortable weather for a little while, then winter again.

Recently, I think my brain has been off. Lately whenever people talk to me, I can't understand what they are saying. Doesn't matter what language they are speaking to. I called my mom, and had to keep asking her to repeat herself. Same thing when I talked to another friend on the phone. And today too. It's just one of those things where you just end up feeling amazingly stupid. I hope my brain turns back on soon... 

Some pictures of me.

I just got these pictures from a friend last night, so I decided to show some pictures with me in them. Obviously I don't have so many of those because I tend to be behind the camera instead of in front of it. I'm not such a fan of pictures of me, but I know other people like to see them, so here you go. I hope you are happy. :-)

These are from the Church Camp we went to and then the Prayer retreat. Enjoy.

 

Just one of those days...

So here's two random pictures of my cell phone. Yeah, it's strange, but hey. As you can tell, (or recall from knowing me before) I really like accessories. I'm not quite obsessed, but I do spend too much money on them.

So yeah, there are days living in a foreign country that you just realize how foreign it really is. Or at least how far you have to go still. So sometimes I'll feel really good about my Japanese. Everyone compliments me, and I can follow a lot of simple conversations. Also, I'm so used to not understanding things, that I don't always notice when I'm missing information.

Well, today I went out to eat. And everytime someone talked to me, I had to ask them to repeat themselves, or I didn't understand something. I felt like I had just taken ten steps backwards. Operating in a foreign language is a good way to feel stupid all the time...

Anyway, today a Japanese Prince was born. It's a big deal. First male born to the Royal family in 41 years. So everyone's making a big deal about it. It's kinda cool.

So while I was eating sushi tonight at this really cool place called KappaZushi (it's really cheap and yummy) I decided I should buy something to commemorate the birth of the new Prince.

So I bought a Hello Kitty dressed up as a Kappa. A Kappa is a mythical water sprite. Apparently they really like to eat cucumbers. Anyway, it's what the sushi shop is named after. It's really cute, so here's a close up of it. 

One of my favorite places.

So this is Saizeriya. It's one of what they call Family Resturants in Japan. This means it's a bit cheaper and it's a nice place to take the kids or whatever. But I really love this place. The food is good, and cheap. And they have a drink bar. Now in case you are wondering what that means, you have understand that you just don't get free refills in Japan. So a drink bar is great because you can get up and get as many refills as you want. It's wonderful.

Anyway, I come here a lot. I'm usually by myself, so I often study Japanese here. So this is where I was on Monday night. Good times. 

Random thoughts.

So yesterday was back to my typical Sunday Schedule. I did the church thing, taught my really awesome Bible Study class (for two hours), then after I actually managed to do some work at my house (ususally I bum around) like e-mails and detail stuff that I really don't like so much, then of course, I went out to see the band. Good day.

So this is a picture I took on my way walking to the station. Really no meaning, but it just goes to show, graffiti really is everywhere.

So anyway, I had a good time last night. I did some homework while I was there, but I also managed to talk to many people. It's really nice, because I don't like to initiate so many conversations, but people are getting really good about making sure I am included in the coversations.

Yesterday Mako sat beside me. Normally I'm sitting close to Sing and he translates for me, but yesterday Sing was being treated to massages, so Mako decided to sit next to me. He doesn't really speak English, but he was very good about including me in the conversations. I was happy.

But the funny thing about my conversations now. It ususally goes something like this.

Japanese person: First couple of words are in English, short pause, finish the sentance in Japanese. Usually this works because I can understand the key words and guess the meaning of the sentance.
My reply: First couple of words in Japanese, short pause, finish sentance in English. Again, this usally works because they understand the English key words from school.

So that's the basic conversation. Everynow and then we get hung up on words that we can't explain or translate and then we have to ask someone who speaks more English to help us translate. Then we go back to the conversation. It's a really interesting format, but it works.

On a side note, I have known the band for a year now. Time really does fly. My Japanese has improved a little, at least I can have more conversations than before. Maybe they are just used to me being there and talk to me more. But I still realize how much my Japanese still lacks. So it's time to study more!

Today I'm going to mail in my application for the Japanese Language Profeciency Test. Japan is really serious about tests and stuff. I'm just taking the test to give me a motivation for study. It will be hard though. I'll have to try hard. 

More from yesterday...

So my friends aren't the only street performers out there. This group was there yesterday. I'm not really sure what exactly they were doing. All I know is it involved baseball uniforms, dancing, and taking off of shirts... Strange...


This is Misaki. She's really cute, but she doesn't think so. I like taking pictures of her!





And last night the boys decided to play around a bit. They had a jam session with Shi-shi playing the drum and Mako playing Shi-shi's guitar. It was interesting, but they are better at their normal instruments. 

More pictures of the Band.

It seems like I only talk about the band... Yeah, it's my hobby at the moment. I tend to be pretty focused that way. Anyway, here are some pictures from yesterday night. It was a nice evening.

They made a new album. This is what it looks like! 

Wooden creatures...

Can you call this art I wonder? But the little animals made from logs were cute so I snapped a few pictures to share. This was my encounter with Japanese "wildlife." That and the bugs. Seriously, there are so many bugs in Japan. Ick!

The funny thing is, is that kids here are obsessed with finding and collecting a certain type of beetle. That's a trend I'll be happy to see pass...