Of Trash Box Jam...

Hehe, well my last post title wasn't so Original, but this one can be. It's actually the name of the afore mentioned band, Trash Box Jam.

Ok, so lets start with some history here. When I first moved here, I was a little worried about being lonely. The other missionaries lived in Tokyo and quite a bit lived in Takenotsuka, so I was feeling a little left out of things. I was doing well teaching and at church, but most of the people were at least 8 years older than me or more. This is fine and all, but it's a little strange for me. So I started praying that God would provide some friends for me, closer to my own age. I waited for a little while (tried to make friends on my own, but that didn't work so well) and then it happened. God answered my prayer in a way I would have never expected.

So sometime in Sept. I was getting bored at night living in a house by myself. So occasionally I would go on walks for lack of nothing better to do and just needing to get out of my house. Well, pretty much the only places I know is Stellar Town and Omiya station. Well Stellar Town closes down around 8, so that left Omiya station. So I would walk there and back. Talking little over an hour. Well at Omiya station, sometimes musicians perform outside. One night I stopped to watch these two young men playing. I think I had seen them at least once before, because I remember the drummer (yeah, he's cute). So there's one guy on guitar and one guy sitting on a drum and playing it. Well this time when I stopped to watch, (there's a little bit of a crowd) the singer decides to talk to me. In English. In front of everyone. I was embarrassed. Well, that was my introduction to the world of being a groupie.

Their name is Trash Box Jam. (yeah you know that.) The Guitarist is Sing and the Drummer is Mako. Sing is the one who speaks English and writes the songs. The sound is described as guitar pop, whatever that means. But it's nice, I like it.

Well, they play every weekend at the station and they have a following of loyal groupies. I started going whenever I could. (in the beginning I was bored, so it gave me something to do. Now I'm a fan) Several people like practing English with me. Some don't speak any English, so I get to practice my Japanese. With help, we communicate. Japanese people are as a rule, shy, so many of the groupies are just now getting used to me and talking to me. But I consider it a great honor.

So now I'm pretty much an insider. I get to hang out when everyone else leaves and chat longer until the last train when everyone has to go. I have to say, it means so much to me to be accepted into a group like this. I feel so blessed to have their friendships. They are really nice people and the more I learn about them, the more I respect them. So now I am praying for them a lot, hoping to return the Blessings they gave to me some day.

OH, I forgot one detail. It's illegal to sell or play outside the station. So they have this whole system set up to watch for cops. Yeah, this part makes me a little uncomfortable, but I don't help them run away, and I figured if Jesus hung out with prostitutes and the such, well, I can be friends with an illegal band. For now I feel like it's Ok to be there. But I pray a lot to make sure God's OK with it.

Anyway, that's the history behind "the band" and the "groupies" as I call them. I invited them to my house this week, so Wed I will cook dinner for around 10 of them. I'm doing it for two reasons (at least). One, I really want to thank them for how nice they've been to me. And second, I just want an excuse to spend more time with them. So that's what's going on. I have to do a huge house cleaning now though. I have today and tomorrow to make my house presentable. But today is rainy and cold, so it's hard to get motivated to clean, despite knowing moving around will help keep me warm. So I'm blogging instead. Well, at least I'm being somewhat productive. LOL Anyway, I hope it all goes well. And now you know the rest of the story.