of a long day...

Man, weekends aren't for resting anymore. Today was LONG! I used to think, "yea! Weekend, I can sleep in..." but nope, that's not how it works here. LOL. Today was pretty long. I had to help give this English test for some of our students, and then after we had lunch and then Gingerbread House. It was lots of fun though. The weather today was great! We had a picnic outside and played a lot. It was great. But the kids stayed pretty late, and there was a lot of cleaning to do. So I didn't get the break I expected before the next event happened. After Gingerbread House, I went to this ministry at a nearby Lutheran school called Music Box. It's basically praise music in English and Japanese. Anyway, a couple of my kids go, so I decided I should go too. It was cool. All the new missionaries go and so I got to see them there. We went out to dinner afterwards. It was this really nice place that was super cheap. So that was fun. But the day wasn't finished yet. Then I went to go see the band.

I've been trying to learn some of the songs they play, and there is one song, "Rose" that I have been studying. So right as I walk up, they play that song. It made me smile right away. Then, I had a bunch of girls say hi to me and stuff. But the best thing was the chocolate. So in Japan, Valentines day is a big deal. It is the day the girls buy, or preferably make, chocolate to give to guys. They can also give to their friends, co-workers, etc. I didn't have any money, or I would have brought some chocolate. But anyway, one of the girls gave me some of her homemade chocolate. Apparently she had made a whole bunch to give to the groupies. But what really made me happy was that my name was even written on the bag! That means she had thought of me before and included me in her preparations. That just makes me so happy. :-D I also got chocolate from a couple of other girls, but I think those were just extras or something. Anyway, I was really happy. I also got to spend some good time in conversation tonight. Which is good since I won't be able to see them next week because we have a retreat. And the week after that, they won't be playing on Saturday. :-( So I'll have to wait until Sunday evening to see them again. And I always get there late on Sundays because I have an evening meeting. Oh yeah, they aren't playing tomorrow either. OH well, today was a good day anyway.

In other news, my second cousin wants to buy me a round-trip ticket home to visit my family. I'll probably come home in March. It seems like everything says I can go. I'm happy.

But man, right now I'm so tired! I have to get up early again tomorrow and Monday. *sigh* I'm sore too. So many of my muscles are so stiff and hurt right now. I need to go to soak in the public bath, but I don't have the money. Too bad.

Anywho, it's time to go to bed now. I have to pray first though. I just wanted to write these things down before I forgot them.

of perspectives...

Remember that teacher who always had a trademark "gesture"? Maybe it was a certain phrase he would say, or the way she used her hands when she said a certain word. I'm sure everyone has had a teacher at some point with that unique gesture that all the students could mimic and recognize right away.

It's funny, but one, I had never really imagined being a teacher. So two, it's even more surprising to me to find out that I am a "gesture" teacher. It's official. I have a gesture. I found out today after my first class. It's a great class. We laugh a lot. It's mostly housewives, and we all get along pretty well. Well, after class, one of the girls did an impression for me. Of me. Apparently, when a student asks me a question, I have this whole hand and head pose thing going on. I totally didn't even know I did it. I was so surprised that I had something so obvious to copy. The other ladies laughed and said it was exactly right. Apparently, they also think its cute. LOL.

I guess it just goes to shows how limited our own impressions of ourselves are. I'm actually already aware of this fact, but it does manage to sneak up and surprise me again sometimes. It makes me continue to wonder how other people perceive me. I wonder what I look like from the outside. I wonder if I saw myself, how I would think of me. Would I like the person I saw? What kind of flaws would I see? What kind of opinions would I form and keep to myself? What things would I like? Sometimes, I wish I could get to know the person other people know. I can only see myself from the inside out. I wish I could see myself from the eyes of other people. It would be such a fascinating experience.

of my weekend...

Well, this weekend was nice. Saturday was my first day off in a while, no events, no classes etc. It was really nice. I went to a prayer meeting in the morning and then after I was able to do some homework and stuff. And then I was able to spend the whole evening with the band. I had a good time.

Sunday was church and we had a long meeting, so my Bible Study was canceled. But the meeting seemed to go well. After that was Cell group, but everyone managed to go home at a decent time, so I was able to see the band for a little while Sunday night too. It was good. I am definitely inspired to improve my Japanese now. I want to be able to improve my communication with people who don't speak English.

But Monday was very exciting. I got e-mails all day on my cell phone, had Japanese class, and went to like 3 meetings. There are going to be some changes in the program, so it's an exciting time. It looks like I'll get to help form a Children's Ministry group and I'm excited about that. There is also other exciting news, but that'll have to wait for a while. In any case, it looks like I'll have even more to do next year. I guess this means I really need to grow up more. I need to manage my time better and do more with what I have been given. This is definitely a challenge for a lazy person like me. I'll have to rely on God to help me out a lot on this one.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the Blessings God has given me. I know I don't deserve any of them, but I'm happy that He is allowing me to become a more responsible servant. :-) God is Good, Life is Good. The End.

of ureshi-ness...

(ureshi means happy)

So, I'm really happy right now. Today was a good day. It's nice to spend a day devoted to God. Granted, I'm really busy on Sundays, but somehow it's just really good. I'm so happy to have a wonderful Bible Class that is so eager to learn and who come every week to study Christianity for two hours in a foreign language. God is awesome. And the great thing about teaching this class is that I learn too. Today made me re-examine some of my thoughts about the Sabbath. It's interesting.

But Cell group went well today too. Of course I was a bit of a looser and failed to keep us on track, so we went over a bit, but we had good discussion.

But probably the reason I'm so happy is the final Blessing of the Day. So Cell group is supposed to end at 8:30, and granted one person does go home at that time every time (she has a family to take care of), but the other two like to stay after for some good old Christian fellowship and catching up time. This is good too. Normally, this is the part I look forward to the most. But lately I have been torn. Because the band only plays on Saturdays and Sundays (and the occasional holiday) I have very limited opportunities to see them. So I am often torn between wanting to spend time with my Christian friends, and wanting them to go home so I can spend time with the band. Well, when this all first started, I made a commitment to God. Christian fellowship comes first. I will not skip out early when I can spend good time with Christians to go see them. I will not kick people out of my house early just to see them. So far, I have done this in action, even though not always in complete spirit. But it is what I want. So anyway, tonight was a bit like that, esp since I got to see them for like 3 whole minutes last week, and it snowed yesterday and I couldn't see them. Tonight was a bit cold, so I seriously didn't expect them to be out late. Well, by the time we are finished talking, and everyone's ready to go home, I get to the station at around 11pm. I totally didn't think that they were going to still be there, but I checked the meeting spot anyway, just to make sure. I was so surprised to find a small group still there! It was nice. I had maybe about 20 minutes to hang out with them before they left. And we had good conversations too. I found out, two people wanted to invite me bowling on Friday night, but they had been afraid to e-mail me because they weren't sure of the English. (and I don't think they had my address). That just made me so happy. Because I was thought about outside of the regular meeting time and place. This means I'm closer to forming real friendships with these people. I'm so happy about this. My communication seems to be getting higher (their English and my Japanese both). So anyway, I came home on cloud nine tonight. I can only think that God is blessing my obedience. This has happened at least twice now, that after I spend time with fellow Christians faithfully, then I go to the band, God really blesses my time there. I'm so happy that God is allowing me to do this in my life.

Next Saturday is going to be one of my few days off. So far nothing is planned, so it looks like, if the weather is good, I'll get to spend some good old quality time with them. It's great. So, as they say in Japan... ureshiiiiiii!!!!! :-D (yeah, I know the spell checker's not gonna like that word...)

of eventfulness...

Man, today was eventful. I woke up with it snowing. At first, I thought it wasn't so bad, just a nice little snow. By 4:00, I realized this was a lot of snow. It just kept snowing all day! I would estimate almost half a foot of snow fell today. This ain't your puny West Texas snow ya'll!

Anyway, today I met for the first time to begin a weekly prayer meeting. The first meeting went pretty well, and I'm looking forward to it next week. But a funny thing happened on the way to the prayer meeting. I got carded for the first time. I was surprised. I was waiting for the girl I was meeting at the station. This is the station I am at every week, so it's possible people recognize me (after all, I easily sick out of a crowd here). Well, I wait 5 mins or so. When I first arrived, I noticed two young police officers standing in the area. Well, since I wasn't doing anything wrong, I promptly forgot them. Like I said, I waited for 5 mins or so, and the girl I am meeting comes. We are talking for a min, and then next thing I know, the cops are there, asking us for our passports! Now you have to remember, it's perfectly legal for them to ask any foreigner for their passports or ID. In fact, I'm required to carry my foreign registration card with me at all times. Of course we didn't have passports, but we had our cards. They inspected our cards and then let us go. It was strange. I never expected something like that to happen just out of the blue like that. But I thought it was really funny. I have no clue why they did it. Maybe they were bored. I don't know. It's not like we looked dangerous or anything. LOL. Anyway, that was interesting.

So then we went to the meeting, and after that we had Gingerbread House. Three kids came. Most didn't come because of the snow. It went well. We played a bit in the snow afterwards. Then she went home and I went shopping for shoes. I don't really have any shoes that are good for rain and snow, so I have a new pair of sneakers now. My old ones were a bit too old. I brought them from America, and that was well over a year ago. Time for new shoes. But I found out today, that while my feet are small in America (8, 8 1/2), they are big in Japan. It's almost impossible to find ladies shoes that fit me! How sad! Well, I suppose it's ok. Most shoes here are hideous anyway. LOL. But I now know my shoe size in centimeters.

The sad part of the day: it was snowing so the band didn't play. That makes two weeks in a row I don't get to hang out with them. I'm sad. Oh well. Got some Japanese homework done today instead. Oh FUN!

of my not-day off...

*sigh* Today is my day off, yet I'm up earlier than normal. I've fallen into bad habits again since school started and I'm finding myself staying up later at night. Maybe because I have to fit in all my procrastination etc into a shorter time now. Oh well. Today I have to go to Japanese class. I'm not prepared and I'm tired. But I guess that's my only complaint. I'm just grumpy in the mornings.

But yesterday was cool. Got a new Bible Study student, I hope. And cell went well. Got to spend some time with Bethany afterwards, and then I made it just in time to say goodbye to the groupies. I saw them for like 3 minutes, but really, it made me happy enough to wait until next week. (Sat. I worked, plus it rained, so my only day to see them was Sunday). But the cool thing was I was able to ride the train home with Ai-chan (she is a high schooler) and I had a nice conversation with her all in Japanese. It was a very simple conversation, but we communicated and I'm really excited about that. Ai seems to like me and that's really cool. (I get hugs from her all the time)

Anyway, I need to go, get dressed and get on the train now. I'll probably be late. Oh well. I hate mornings.

of Coming of Age Day...

Well, today is coming of Age day in Japan. This means anyone who turns 20 this year, becomes an adult today. They dress up, the girls in beautiful kimono, and traditionally go to a local shrine for a blessing. So today is a national holiday. Actually, I think this is a great idea. I wish America had something like this to celebrate becoming an adult. (other than getting hammered on your 21st birthday). Anyway, I should get to see some girls in nice kimono today and that's always exciting. The other great news is because it's a holiday, the band is playing today too! Horray. It's nice because I arrived just as they left yesterday.

Yesterday after church I went to visit Bethany. We were pretty close in Orientation because we saw each other all the time and we could talk and stuff together, but since we have started working, we don't get to see each other so often. So yesterday was a nice day to just talk and catch up on each other's lives. So much had happened, so it was nice to get caught up again. So after that, I came back here, and of course it was after like 10:00, so because of the cold, the band went home early again. But what was cool was that 6 people decided to go out since there was still time before last trains, and they invited me. That might be the first time I was invited without Sing being there. I mean, I went Karaoke with two people, but I started that. So that was fun. I was surprised because turns out all the people there spoke at least a little English, so between my Japanese and their English, conversation went pretty smoothly. I learned some new words, and dazzled them all with my knowledge of anime. Turns out the girls knew some of the same anime as me, so that was cool. I think I was also asked out on a date, but it's really hard to tell sometimes. If the guy is there today, I'll have to let him know I can't date non-Christians. I think it's a bad idea for me to date in a group like that anyway. I don't want to jeopardize any friendships I've made by dating. Besides, intercultural dating is a bad idea when I don't even know how to date in my own culture. LOL. But I'll leave the issue up to God. He knows these things better than me.

Today is also my last day of vacation. I go back to work tomorrow. Sad. I like work, but it's always hard going back after a long vacation. Well, anyway, today I need to run to Tokyo and buy some books for Sunday Night Cell that we are going to start using this year. So that means I need to shower and leave soon. I think I've bummed around enough today.

And soon, I'll probably be broke. Holidays take a lot of money, and I think I've gone out a few too many times. Good thing I have oatmeal and maltomeal, otherwise I might not eat for a week. Oh well, I'm sure things will work out fine. Besides, I know it's the choices I make with money that puts me in these situations. Maybe some day I'll learn. LOL. Until then, I'll deal with it.

Ok, I think that's about everything for now. I'm off to begin my day!

of happy vacation...

Wow, this has been a really great vacation. I'm kinda sad to see it end, but I'm really excited about this new year. I don't know if I have ever felt this optimistic about a new year before. Normally I don't care so much. But it's super exciting when you are right in the middle of watching God work. It's such an awesome thing!

So the past few days have been good. Thursday I talked with me friend on the phone for 4 hours. She is not mad at me anymore, so that's a good thing. We cleared up a few things, so now we is both happy. Me loves her and always will, so don't you forget it silly head! ;-)

Also yesterday I was able to meet with my boss. I love my boss. She is such an awesome person. It was great because we were friends before she became my boss, so now I have a really good working relationship with her. So we met and had a nice long chat. The really awesome thing about my boss is that she always challenges me spiritually. It's really refreshing, and often helps me go back to the place I need to be. She really encourages me in my work, and is encouraging me to become a better leader. I am really grateful for her influence in my life. I think I'm learning a lot and becoming a more mature leader.

The cool this is after meeting with my boss, I decided to find a prayer calendar. I have decided I have so many people I should be praying for and I'm not. So I spent like 4 hours at least and 20 bucks on this neat little calendar to help me organize my prayer life. Hopefully I will be able to keep it up and pray for these people everyday. I'm excited by this, because I've totally noticed how much my life and ministry has changed since I made a commit to improve my prayer life.

The good news is today I get to listen to the band play! Horray. I'm excited. I also got to sleep in really late today. It's nice to enjoy a few days just bumming around. :-) Well, the summary: I'm having a great vacation and the best new year ever!

This is from when I visited a co workers class during Christmas. 

Sing being silly and posing.

Kumi outside. This is after the sun rose. We played outside until I left at 10:00 AM

of Kumi...

This is Kumi. She is always with the band. I would classify her as one of the core groupies. She does a lot of work for them and calls Sing "Boss". She is super cute and is one of the people who is really nice to me. She gives me nice hugs. The coat she is wearing is the one I bought her for her birthday. It cost like seven bucks! Don't tell her! :-) 

of Sing and Mako...

Ok, so the guy playing the guitar is Sing, and the guy sitting next to him is Mako. Mako normally plays the drums. This is New Years Eve, after the countdown. We are just chilling and they are giving us some entertainment. 

of my first ever dinner party...

Well, I have just concluded my first ever dinner party. I invited the band and the groupies to come to my house and I fixed them some American Food. (Chicken strips, gravy, mashed potatoes and our family recipe - "slime") It went pretty well. They managed to find my house without too much difficulty. There were a grand total of 11 people who came. The gravy was a big hit. Although I don't know why, but Japanese people keep wanting to call it "white sauce" or "gravy sauce" or something sauce. Oh well. It was really interesting and fun. Sing came, but Mako didn't. But many of my English speaking friends came, and one girl whose name I don't know came. Lets see.

Well, the interesting thing is Sing. He knows I'm Christian and how important it is to me. Apparently he went to a Protestant University and knows a little about Christianity. So it's funny, because tonight he insisted I pray twice. So I taught everyone the common table prayer in English and we said it together. Later, I took everyone to look at the church, and before we left, he had everyone stop and had me pray in English. I was caught off guard, but I did it. It's strange. I don't know if he thinks its a game or not. Japanese people aren't so serious about religion most of the time. Anyway, it's interesting. Esp because of how everyone just does what Sing says. I'm not sure if it's because they are Japanese, or because they just listen to him. But he does seem to be a natural leader, or potential tyrant/dictator.

Then we came back to my house and we played games. I taught them how to play Skipbo and it made me miss Marlo. I remember playing Skipbo with her at her house with her mom and Kay (and Zoomer under the table). All in all, I think it was a pretty good party. Everyone seemed to have fun. It's good that they are able to amuse themselves since I was still cooking for like an hour. Kumi helped me cook and that was nice. Then she and Jun also did all my dishes for me! Wow. That was super nice, esp considering how much I hate dishes. Of course I had already washed all the dishes once today. LOL.

Anyway, I'm happy. My house (well everything but my bed room) looks nice, and everyone was really kind and seemed to have a good time. Sometimes it's hard to tell with Japanese people, because they are polite so much, but they seemed to have a good time (otherwise I don't think 11 of them would have come... I think...). It worked out well, for such a last minute decision. Thanks God! It was a good idea and good timing.

I really love my life here right now. It almost feels like nothing could go wrong. I know this won't last forever, but if I could spend the rest of my life this happy, it would be nice... Of course, I can imagine being just a little bit happier... I hope one day to be able to share my happiness with someone... But for now, I'll leave the arrangements to God. I think He has a better idea than I do about these things.

Anywho, I'm super tired now. I think I'm gonna have to crash. I did quite a bit of work today, I'm surprised. Time to sleep. Goodnight Ya'll!

of procrastination and cleaning...

Well, I really like one and really hate the other. Can we guess which is which? *sigh* Sometimes I just wish I was a naturally clean person. I figure it would make my life up to 30% easier. But that's just not who I am. In fact, being clean and tidy actually stress me out in the long run. I don't know what's so darn hard about putting things away when your done with them, doing the dishes after dinner, or even putting clothes in the laundry hamper. But the ability to do these things on a daily basis just seems to elude me. So that's why I find myself doing "cleaning marathons" every time I want to invite people to my house. I don't know how my house managed to get so cluttered in such a short time (I recently did a major overhaul on the house due to weekend guests at the end of last month, but once again, my house is unpresentable.) I really am hopeless when it comes to housekeeping.

So if you've read the previous posts, you know why I am talking about this. Tomorrow I will have roughly 10 Japanese people over at my house to eat some homecooked American food (chicken strips and gravy, mashed potatoes and broccoli), so I spent today doing shopping, procrastinating and eventually cleaning. I will eventually give up for the night, then spend tomorrow finishing cleaning, cooking and then last minute shoving everything into my bedroom to hide it. *sigh* I'm hopeless. Oh well, I guess it's good for people to see what kind of person I really am. It's sad but true. I need to get my life in order.

Some times I think my life is reflected in my house. If I had discipline, I would put God first and everything would fall into place. Because I can see how much work I still need to do, I know I need to focus so much more on God. But darn, it's so easy to get distracted and procrastinate. I suppose I'll have to fight procrastination my whole life. Somehow that's not a comforting thought. Good news is, God promised to never leave me to face it alone, and He will always be there to pick me up when I fall. It's good to have a God like that backing me up.

So now, in the midst of my sin, I still put my complete trust in God. He will ensure everyone gets fed (and hopefully full and not sick) and will help me get everything done. He's awesome that way. And if it doesn't happen the way I envision it (not that I really have a vision here), He will work His will through my mistakes anyway. It's kinda nice to know no matter how much I screw things up, God can always fix it.

In other thoughts, I had a nice day listening to Klove pretty much all day. I really feel ministered to when I listen to Klove. Thanks Klove. :-)

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.

Of a New Year...

Yeah, such an original title. What can I say? Good thing I'm not going for the original award. As much as I would like it, I think that this past year has taught me I am not nearly as original as I would like to think. Sad. Anyway. I suppose I should say something profound to reflect the old years passing and the new years coming. Well, I'm fresh out of profound, and the stores won't open again until the 3rd. Besides, I think profound's a bit expensive this time of year. Sorry folks.

Enough of that. I'm not actually a big holiday person. They just don't matter to me so much. But that's ok. I don't hate them or anything. Anyway, lets do a mass update, shall we? Here goes:

November: Well, I had Fall Retreat and then I went to Hong Kong. While the traveling was nice, it did manage to eat up every free weekend I would have had, and effectively killed all my day's off. It wasn't so bad, but by the end of November I was beginning to feel the stress.

Fall Retreat was fun. Every year we have two retreats, where all the missionaries in Japan, (well in my program anyway) get together. We got to get to know the new people and catch up with the old. I was much more comfortable this year than last year. Probably because when I'm not certain of my role, I tend to withdraw into myself until I know where my place is, and what is appropriate for me to do. But my revelation this year is that yes, I am probably an extrovert, but I don't like large groups. I find I get lost in the people and often wind up more alone than not. I think sometimes its more lonely being in a large group than just being by yourself. I mean, when you are by yourself, you can deal with the loneliness and understand why you feel that way. But when you are surrounded by people, and still alone, I don't know, it just hurts so much more. But I am getting way better than I used to. I think I'm finally growing up. Or at least growing closer to God. I think this is the reason for many of the positive things in my life recently.

So then we had the Asia Ablaze! Summit in Hong Kong. I wasn't so excited to go. I didn't really care about going to Hong Kong (although I was kinda excited about a free trip and another stamp in my passport). I was also sick. I had caught a cold at Fall Retreat and it had become a sinus problem. This in turn became an ear problem. Well, I ended up having to go to the hospital to get my ear drum punctured to relieve the pressure so I could fly. Let me tell you, going to a Japanese Hospital, with a hearing problem, alone is hard. But I made it through for the most part. And I went to Hong Kong. The Summit was much better than I had anticipated. There were all the LCMS Missionaries from all over Asia, as well as pastors and church leaders from various countries. I was surprised at how well it was done. We also had some time for sightseeing and stuff in Hong Kong. We had thanksgiving Dinner in Hong Kong. But the worst part was the busses. The roads were horribly twisty and turny (Hong Kong is build pretty much on a mountain). Well thirty minutes or more each trip in buses on these roads took a toll on my poor stomach. I was sick twice, once I didn't make it off the bus. But all in all, it was a good experience. But I have no desire to go back to Hong Kong. Although, I was excited to eat a Burger King hamburger and I was able to order it plain with no trouble at the airport. There is no Burger King in Japan. There are a ton of McDonald's and some Wendy's, but no Burger King.

I'm also pretty sure November is when I found out about Cold Stone Creamery coming to Japan. I went with Hiroki to get some. Yeah, ice cream in winter is strange, but we stood in line for a while to get some. Horray for Cold Stone!

Let's see. I think that's most of the interesting stuff from November.

December: Well, I started preparing my classes for Christmas. That was fun. We made snowflakes in my kids classes and hung them from the ceiling. People seem to like this. Then we had the traditional year end parties. I got lots of free food. I like free food. Christmas was good. I spent almost the whole time with people. Christmas Eve I was invited to a student's house for lunch then we went to Candlelight service together. Then Tami and I took some old blankets of hers and some boots to give to homeless people down at the station. I'm sure the men were very surprised to see these two gaijin giving away things. But they seemed very appreciative. Then we ate ramen together. After that, I went grocery shopping and then I baked until like 3 in the morning. Next day was church, and a pot luck. I had cooked garlic cheese mashed potatoes the night before while baking. It was a big hit. Then I chatted online for a little while, then I went Karaoke with two Japanese friends. That was fun. Then we went to watch the band play. (more on the band next post) The sad thing was they only got to play like two songs the whole night. The police came and ended up catching two of the groupies. They talked to them for like an hour. So after that, we ended up hanging out in McDonald's. That was much warmer than standing outside. I had baked cookies for them and bought some booklets in Japanese about the Christmas story and given them out. The cookies seemed to go over well. All in all, it was a good Christmas. I was very thankful for the blessings God had given me.

Then was New Years. I basically hung out with the Band for 11 hours straight. We started at like 10:45 and they played a while, then we had a count down and a toast. Then we went inside the station and talked and they played a few more songs quietly. We did that until 4 or 5 when we went as a group to the shrine. (around 12 or 15 people I think). It was nice. I got to walk Japanese girl style, with girls holding my hands and my arms for a while. It made me feel very accepted. I watched them do their thing at the shrine and took some pictures. We wandered around the vendors for a while (yeah, there were vendors at that late at night) then we went back to the station. They decided they wanted to watch the sun rise, but it was cloudy and the buildings were closed. So we found this abandoned field and played around there for about 4 hours. It turned out Mako had some balls and frisbees in his car, so we played with those. I had a fun game of three on three soccer and then joined in a Frisbee throwing contest. Sing is really good at Frisbee. It was really nice. Then I had to leave about 10 til 10 to go to church. I went to church and then straight to bed. I then slept for about 22 hours. LOL. So here I am today, typing, cold and thinking about needing to clean my house.

Last year was a good year. I'd venture to say one of the best years of my life. I wish I had written more things down to remember it all, but that's the way it works with me. I'm really lucky I wrote down the things I did.

Oh yeah. Some more news. There is now a Cell group meeting at my house every week and I'm the leader. (Cell group is like small group meetings with an emphasis on outreach). Right now there are three other women who come regularly. I'm looking for more Christians to join so I can invite more non-Christians. It's kinda difficult though. Well, I'll pray about it and leave it to God.

Ok, this post is super long and I think I've covered most things. If I left something out, or if you are confused, just leave a comment and I'll try to clarify. Happy New Year!

of a sudden revelation...

It occurred to me last night that I live next door to a hospital, and on the other side is a church. One saves lives, the other saves souls. And I'm in the middle. I'm sure eventually I can draw some profound symbolic meaning from this, but now it's rather comforting to know I'm being surrounded by "saviors."

Anyway, I know I haven't been updating often. This is a crazy season, so I don't often feel like writing even when I have the time. I can't write long today because I'm about to go to work, so sorry. The good news is that yes, I survived the earthquake this week. Although, really, everyone managed to survive it, so that's not really surprising. Anywho, that's all for now. Next week I jet off to Hong Kong for 6 days. Fun and exciting. Ok, lata~

of my birthday, business and cell phones...

So wow, things have been crazy busy here. My birthday was good. I don't feel older, but I sure had a good time. My Birthday was kinda spread all out over the course of a couple of weeks. I was taken out for food three times, and I received flowers, plants, perfume (very EXPENSIVE perfume by Christian Dior), DVD, change purses, water colors, cards, and more. So, I had a good time.

Last Wed, I cut my hair. I will send around 11 inches of hair to Locks of Love, and now I have a rather short (for me) bob. I will post a picture when I get one. Everyone thinks it's cute.

I have been crazy busy lately. I am like never at home. I am always going into Tokyo for meetings or to meet people or to run errands. And because I spend half my time traveling, people can't get a hold of me. So I finally caved and bought a cell phone yesterday. So far I am happy. I found a bilingual phone, and it's a Sony Ericsson, which is the type of phone I used in the states. So, now I feel better about traveling and stuff. I just have to make sure to re-arrange my budget.

Ok, so that's the short of it. I don't have so much time to explain all the little exciting things that have been going on. OH yeah, before I forget. Mika and I have finally started our drama ministry. It's hard finding Christian actors in Japan, but we have a few now and we have started practicing. We have even finished translating/adapting the skit we chose. So if you feel so inclined, please pray for the drama ministry. I will write more about that later.

Ok, so that's about it. I should get ready for work now. I don't know how often I'll be updating because things really are crazy this month. (and the next month) But I am trying to be more responsible about these things. Anyway, that's all for now.

Lata!

Of a year.

Well, today is my one year anniversary in Japan.  Amazing.  I don’t feel like I have been in Japan for a whole year.  And I do mean one whole, uninterrupted year.  Unlike my fellow workers, I have yet to return to America for a visit.  My time in Japan will be interrupted for the first time this November when I will travel to Hong Kong with the rest of the missionaries in Japan to attend a conference.

Anywho, I decided that my one year anniversary definitely needed a post.  So today was my day off.  But I did not spend it sleeping in and relaxing at my house.  No, today woke up early, rode the train during rush hour, met Mika and Pastor Saito in Iidabashi to talk about Street Drama Ministry that Mika wants to start, then I went to a Christian bookstore to buy some birthday presents, then made it back for a quick lunch before Japanese lessons, then I hung out with Lauren and Toshie, then we bought some train passes, had some fun at a bookstore with a nice English section (I almost felt like I was back in a really small American Bookstore… almost) then we hit Starbucks, then we met up with all the working missionaries for dinner at El Torito to celebrate Lauren’s birthday (which was the 30th).  I even found some food to eat.  All in all, it was a good day.  Long, but good.

On to other news.  The new volunteers are here.  They arrived last Saturday.  I went to the airport to help meet them.  We have five new people now.  It’s exciting.  More on them later.

Hmmm… What else.  I turn 26 on Wed.  It certainly doesn’t feel like I am that old.  Crazy stuff.

Anywho, there is tons to say, but I’m so sleepy (I’m working on 5 hours worth of sleep) and I have work tomorrow.  But after thinking about it some on the trains today, I’m wondering if this hasn’t been the single happiest year of my life so far.  As I look back on my year in Japan, I can’t find a prolonged period of time where I just hated my life or anything.  That’s so strange for me.  And I have also realized that I am still not homesick, nor do I feel particularity drawn back to America.  I don’t really miss living in America.  I miss people (and often wish they were here to share this experience with me) and some times I miss little things about America, but so far, I can’t really say that I miss living in America.  So, there you have it.  I’m happy in Japan.

Tomorrow my students will take me out to lunch for my birthday.  Free food and no lesson planning.  Not too shabby.  Yeah, I think that’s about it for now.  I’m gonna go to bed now.  (maybe the jet lag’s finally kicking in…  Or maybe this is normal for me. ;-)

of being a groupie and other stuff...

So yeah, it's been a while. I've been either busy or a bum (sometimes both) lately. Anyway, I just felt like sharing a bit today, so here I am!

Yeah, I'm happy lately. Life is good. Praise God. I had been praying about making some friends in the area, and it looks like God is providing for me. I'm even getting a good English/Japanese mix, so that I can communicate and also improve my Japanese. More on that later.

One really cool thing that really built me up this week happened on Sunday. Every Sunday we have Cell group meetings. Well, this week was my turn to do the Bible Study. I was lucky, the passage was amazing easy to write a Bible Study for. But she told me she liked it, which made me happy, and also, she told me that she thinks I make a good leader. I'm really happy about that. It's nice to hear that and have it affirmed. Sometimes I wonder about my leadership capability. But things here seem to be going great. For me, everything is really easy and has been falling into place. I can only credit God's grace in this. I am so thankful! And I'm having a great time!

Also, another couple of recent developments that have nothing to do with church or work. I forget if I've written about Ramen Boy yet, but if I haven't, I will eventually dedicate a post to him. But the sad news is, he is going back to China next month for good. He seems really happy about it, so I'm happy for him, but I will be sad to see him go, esp since we have been communicating more lately. Sad.

But the good news is that I've recently made some new friends. At a big station nearby there is an area where there are lots of street performers etc. Well, I like to stop and listen to the bands sometimes. About three weeks ago, I stopped to listen to this one band, and the lead singer started talking to me in English. I was a bit embarrassed (I didn't really want to be singled out in front of the crowd) but it turned out to be a good thing. I talked with him some, and started going back to listen to them more. Well, it looks like I've made it "in" and I think I get to be a groupie! horray! So now I'm making friends with the other groupies, and I even started talking to the other band member who doesn't speak English. It's great. Everyone is really friendly, and several speak English, plenty want to practice, and others will speak to me in Japanese. Several are really shy, but the more I see them, the more we talk. So, I'm really happy with this. Of course none of them are Christian, but maybe God will work through these friendships. Everyone already knows I work in a church, and no one's freaked out yet, so that's a good thing. Anyway, I'll be praying about that situation. I'm just happy because it gives me something outside church, school and ramen to do. Maybe I'll learn some stuff about music while I'm at it. :-D

Anyway, all this adds up to making me a very happy person. :-D

of summer...

Well, once again, I have let too much time pass between writing. But well, it’s my vacation, so I think it’s ok if I don’t really feel like writing! LOL. But anyway, I thought I would try out this new Blogger feature that allows me to post from Word. We’ll see how it works. :-D

So anyway, my vacation has been good so far. When I started my vacation I was worried I might be bored out of my mind for most of it, having only day plans here and there. Well, God is good, and He took care of planning my vacation for me.

Right after my last post I went to see fireworks for the first time in Japan. It was fun. I met a new girl, saw lots of yukata (think kimono only lighter weight and a bit simpler). It was great watching the girls in the traditional dress and spikey, trendy hair styles. It’s such a great blend between old and new. I also managed to take a few pictures of members of a biker gang. It’s fun stuff.

Then I’m sure I did other things for a while, and there were about two days where I was just about bored out of my mind. Then Cindy (my director, but still a friend) called me up. She had a surprise houseguest for a while and wanted to know if I wanted to hang out for a while and maybe spend the night. I immediately said YES!! So it turns out this girl went to the same university as I did and although we had never really spoken much, we knew of each other.

Well, I ended up spending the whole weekend at Cindy’s and I had to go to church in Takenotsuka. I got a little sunburned as well. I returned home to rest some, and I had a meeting with some of my students. I was theoretically supposed to clean my house too, but I never really got around to do that (like normal). Well, Tuesday Emily (the girl from Concordia) became my surprise houseguest instead of Cindy’s. It was cool. Definitely kept the boredom at bay. I showed her around my area a couple of days and we did a lot of running around (she ran, I walked). Saturday, there was a huge fireworks festival in the area where I live, so Cindy came up and Tami met up with us and even Hiroki came and we all went to hanabi together. It was a good time. The girls all wore yukata (I can’t wear them, they don’t fit me). The fireworks were great. I took tons of pictures. After the fireworks it started to storm, and we ended up walking something like 40 minutes because they wanted to avoid waiting at the bus stop (two people needed to make sure to get back before the last trains left). Well, I was wet and my shoes had at that point rubbed several places on my feet raw, so I wasn’t too happy at that point. But it all turned out ok.

Next day was Sunday, so I introduced Emily to the church in Japanese. Then we met up with Hiroki again. It was fun. We played a board game in one restaurant and then we went to this really fun theme restaurant called the Lockup. It’s this cross between a jail and a horror shop. It’s really cute. We had our own little “cell” and there were a couple of “performances” where the lights would go out and “monsters” would walk up and down the halls trying to scare people. It was fun and interesting.
After that were a couple of down days, and then Emily left on the 16th to go to her next country (she was on a world tour of sorts. The girl had been traveling alone for 99 days!). I helped her to get on the right train to the airport and then came home to recover.

Not so much has been going on since then. I have had the pleasure to hang out a bit with Tami and that has been great.

Oh yeah, I forgot the whole “Ramen Boy” story. Well, I think I am running out of energy, but I promise to write about him lately. It’s enough to say that Ramen Boy is very cute! (

Anyway, I promise pictures soon, and more interesting things. I’m leaving tomorrow for a prayer retreat, so I’ll be gone for 3 days. I’ll try to write again then. Lata!

of vacation...

Today is my first day of vacation! Horray! Actually, eventually today I will do some work, like clean my classroom etc, return flour, and other fun things like that. Maybe I will also start on cleaning my house more. Tomorrow is Sunday, and after church I will go to watch the famous Japanese fireworks! Horray! I am so excited about it! Anyway, I doubt summer will be all that exciting, but I'll keep posting if I have anything to say. :-)

of party day...

Wow, today can only be referred to as "Party Day". I started off the day with a takoyaki party (yes, octopus balls, no not those kind of balls Marlo). It was fun. We made our own. I took pictures. I will put them up later. We also talked about underwear. Yes, strange party.

Then I had an ice cream party with my favorite kids class. There are three boys and they are so well behaved (around 4th grade). We had ice cream and we let the little brother of one join us. Then we played Uno and Skipbo (the little brother played too, and the boys were super nice helping him and encouraging him. None of them were upset that he was in the class that day.) The little brother was great too. When we played Uno, I made them use English (Red Eight, etc) and the little boy was able to say it loud and clear and with no help! I was so impressed. It was great. And then Mika mentioned that I don't' have plans for the summer, and now my two favorite families have my phone number and e-mail address. So maybe they'll ask me out during summer break. Hehehe

Then my next two classes didn't show up. That's ok, because those classes don't seem to have as much fun anyway. LOL.

Next class was my fun beginner class. They brought food, (I forgot what it's called, but it involves sushi type rice, sashimi{raw fish} and nori {seaweed} you put the rice on the seaweed, then add your toppings and then roll it up and eat it. It's very delicious!). They also brough alcohol. Wow, I think I drank more than I have before. Don't worry, no bad effects. I didn't drink too much. But I did eat too much! Wow, you wouldn't think raw fish would fill you up so fast! I mean, it seems more like a snack than a meal, but it really does add up quickly! I don't know how Japanese people eat like that all the time! Wow.

So today was a good day. The last party lasted until like 11:00 PM! (the class started at 8). But I'm tired. So I'm gonna go now! Ja ne!

of "eel day"...

Yes, today is unagi day. This means every sane Japanese person should go out and eat some wonderful eel today. :-) I didn't, not because I don't eat eel mind you, I love the stuff, but because I'm trying to be a good girl and save my money for other things. :-) Just thought everyone should know that.

And on a different note, I have one more day of class until summer vacation! Tomorrow I get to have a tacoyaki party! (octopus balls, no not those!, these are fried round thingies with octopus inside... Just think of it as taco and it's not as disgusting!) Yes, I am excited about eating octopus. I like it. Lots! Hehehe. Also I get to have about three ice cream parties. Whoo-hoo!

Other great news of the week? I might actually be close to the end of the left overs. Thanks to Mika helping me eat them everyday this week! Thanks Mika! :-)

of the oddness of growing up...

Growing up is odd. I mean, realizing one day that you are a reconized adult, it's strange. For me anyway. Today I got an e-mail from a church member in America. I have known this person my whole life. She used to teach me Sunday School. And now she's sending me e-mails and talking to me like we are equals. How strange!

I guess it's just hard for me to internalize all the changes that comes with being an adult. I still find it hard to believe some days...

of randomness...

yes, we all know how much Amber loves being random (and beginning sentences with the word "yes"). So, here's a random post:

Many Japanese people are fascinated by the fact that I can braid my own hair and wear it in so many styles. They often think my hair is fake. LOL.

A typhoon is coming tomorrow. And I'm supposed to meet my students to go out for a party. I wonder who will show up... I wonder how I will get there...

There is no such thing as plastic knives in Japan. You can find plastic spoons and forks (often smaller than normal) in various colors, but it's is just about impossible to find knives.

I have become quite a fan of unagi (eel). It's actually quite yummy. :-) The problem is the super fine bones. I don't like bones. :-( To date, I willingly eat Squid, Octopus and Eel. But I can't eat Mexican food. Yes, I am such a strange American...

My genkan (entrance way where you take off your shoes before entering a house) smells like feet.

I will probably be eating Mashed potatoes and gravy, and "slime" for a month! If it doesn't go bad first that is...

I have a floor. Yes, this is often in doubt in many places I live, sadly enough. But a vast majority of my floor is now visible. That's what having Cell at your house does. The goal is for me to completely clean my house during vacation so that I can start having my Sunday Bible study at my house. Ah, goals...

I don't like that icky sticky feeling that comes with humidity.

I can't type or spell tonight.

of appreciating doing nothing...

Wow, this month has been crazy insane busy. So much happened. So it was American Culture month. In Adult classes we talked about America, in kids classes we made some crafts. It was good.

I also filled my plate in other ways this month. I experimented with having two Coffee Houses. I had one at 2:00 and one at 7:00. The experiment was a success. I had 4 people come to the 2:00 one, including a woman who had never been to Coffee House before. It was good. I will continue to play around with the Coffee House thing. I am considering having a small meal between Coffee Houses, and maybe that will help people loosen up. :-)

I also did Gingerbread House. I only had 4 kids show up this time, but probably because it's summer vacation here, a lot of my regulars had other plans. But that's ok. It still went fine, and I think one little boy liked it better in a small group.

But the kicker of the month was my American Dinner. I sold tickets, invited Students, Church Members, VYM, and my language partner. Some of all the above came. I had around 45 people come (I was shooting for 30). This just goes to prove how awesome a God I have. I started this whole idea on impulse (looking back, I'm pretty sure it was at God's prompting). Someone asked me what the purpose was, and I just kinda made something up on the spot. LOL. But I firmly believe that God wanted this to happen, and it's possible for a purpose I know nothing about. Why do I believe this you say? Well, because it happened and was such a success. I mean, we all know me. There were a few times when I let the ball slip, or waited until the last minute to do things, etc. But God came through all the time and made things work smoothly. He provided me with great helpers who didn't complain when I asked them to do the yucky prep work, and who took care of things like setting up tables and finding chairs. God even gave me energy. I was working on something like 3 hours of sleep, but I made it through the day with energy to spare. Everything went perfectly while cooking and all the food came out just like it should. I was happy. I had never made anything in such great quanities before (only for like 15 or 20 people before) so I'm really surprised at how well it worked. I was worried for a while that I wouldn't have enough food. People kept signing up at the last minute to come and I just felt like I couldn't turn them down. I just kept praying to God that there would be enough food. I also made a few rather bold statements like, Jesus fed 5,000, I'm sure He can help out with 45. Well, thankfully God didn't let me down. Like the previous food miracles, God provided and with more than I needed. I have tons of leftovers now. I don't know how I can possibly eat them all before they go bad. And it's not because people didn't like the food. I know one kid went back for 3rds! So many people asked me how I made things. Oh yeah, my menu was Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed potatoes, gravy and cheesy broccoli ("slime" if you know my family) and ice cream for dessert. Japanese people seemed fascinated with the gravy (they insisted on calling it white sauce) and wanted to know the ingredients. I saw one woman who went back for seconds, of only gravy! I have never seen anyone eat just gravy before! LOL. So the short and long of it all is that the American Dinner was a heaping success! Everyone seemed to have a good time, I was only 15 minutes late finishing the gravy (the gravy took longer than I thought it would) and I spent the day with people who's company I enjoy. I even had fluently of people who took charge of the clean up. (which was good because at that point I was about to drop. I can imagine trying to clean up all that with just me!)

But wait, the night wasn't finished. After the dinner, we had Cell meeting at my house. We had 9 people come (because most of them just stayed after the dinner) and that's the largest group I've seen since I joined Cell. Thankfully my house was mostly presentable. It went from disaster to I can see the floor now in little less than 24 hours while I was also preparing for the dinner and sprinkled with procrastination. But I am happy.

So, the reason for the title of the post: I am so glad it's my day off and I don't have to spent it getting ready for another event!

Tomorrow starts my last week of classes before summer vacation. It promises to be a good week because I get to have a party in virtually all my classes! Horray!

And on a random note, several of my students called me beautiful last week. (one said I looked like a doll with my glasses off) I of course wouldn't say I am ugly, but I wouldn't say beautiful either. But I can always chalk it up to people finding people from other races beautiful. ;-) But still, it's nice to hear! :-D

Ok, that's all for now!

in pictures:

So I decided to try out the new picture feature! Here goes:

Here is Pastor Shiba, my co-worker Mika (on the left) and my Japanese Teacher Nunokawa Sensei (on the right cutting the watermelon). We were sharing a watermelon I had bought one day after my Japanese lesson and before I started teaching. It was fun.







Below: The first picture is from Gingerbread House. I'm telling the story of Noah and Yoshiko is translating for me.

Next picture: This is my cutest class ever! They are six and seven years old and all cho kawaii (super cute). They are kinda shy and don't talk much, but I think I'm winning them over. And can you belive, the puppets were all around a dollar! I really love Japan!




This is the younger sister of one of my students. Cute ne?

of national pride...

So this whole week I have been teaching about America in my classes. I plan to do this the whole month in celebration of independence Day. It seemed like a good time to introduce a subject most of my students are really interested in. Well, in the course of teaching this week, I found out a few interesting things. One being: not all people in every country have national pride. I was asked by one class, "Why do American's love America so much?" And several times I heard comments along the lines of, "It must be nice to have a country you can be proud of." It makes me wonder, is America really that different from a country like Japan? Why are American's so proud of our country? Why can't my students find something to love about their country? It also makes me wonder, how does a people learn national pride? Is it something we are taught? I don't know, but I somehow have a sad feeling for these people who don't feel patriotic when they look at their countries flag. I mean, I can understand it if you are living under an oppressive government etc, but Japan is a democratic country now. Japan has a long and rich history. But so many people here are ashamed of war. Maybe this is something I can't understand. I don't know. Somehow, I'm not really capturing my thoughts and feelings about this subject very well. My thoughts are vague and hard to catch. But I am left with this sort of sad feeling for the people of this country. I wish they could love it.

Well, my week was good, and now comes yet another busy weekend. Wish me luck!

of comparisons...

The differences between working in Japan and working in America (or Why I like working in Japan):

1. Japan: I can wear as much, or whatever kind of jewerly I want, and the Japanese mothers tell me I am stylish.
America: I have to be careful what jewerly I wear and when or people might get upset at me, depending on where I work.

2. Japan: I wear blue hair extentions. Again, I am stylish.
America: I wear blue hair extentions and mothers wonder if I should be allowed to teach their children (and at some places it would be against the regulations)

3. Japan: I wear flip-flops to work and people tell me how much they like my shoes.
America: I wear flip-flops to work and people ask me if I bother to get dressed (and once again in some places this is against regulations)

4. Japan: If I don't like the parents, or don't want to talk to them, I can always pretend to not understand them (in most cases this is true!) Best part: so far, I like all the parents!
America: yeah, I have to deal with them.

I'm sure there are more great comparisons, but they'll have to wait for another time.

Anyway, quick update on my weekend (and by quick I mean long and detailed...)

So Saturday I went out with some students, of course you know that because you already read that post. Sunday, like usual was really long. I did Sunday School, Church, Bible Study and then went to Suginami for Cell. Bible Study was a bit difficult because the Chinese woman that has been coming is actually rather difficult to understand when she asks questions. So far, no one knows what she is asking. This is strange, because usually her English is pretty good. Hopefully this issue will be resolved soon.

Cell was good, there were only three of us. We got to spend more time just talking and catching up so it was good. And then I spent the night at Lauren's. OH yeah, we had Japanese pizza for cell. Now Japanese pizza is rather interesting. It's about 30 bucks for one pizza, and the toppings can be very strange. It's not uncommon to find corn or mayo on a pizza. This pizza was good. It was sea-food with no tomato sauce. I think it either had sea-weed or spinach on it, but probably sea-weed. I liked it. And I brought some sweet potato apple pie too. That was yummy as well.

Well, the reason I spent the night with Lauren was because Monday we met up with Tami and her friend from America, Warren. We met up and went to the Ghibli Museum. So Ghibli is an Anime studio. This is the company that made Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, and more recently Howl's Moving Castle. It was rather interesting, and educational too. It showed how animation was made. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. After that we went to Tokyo Dome City and wandered around. Then we had a Hawaiian dinner. It was good, but the day was long. I was happy to get home. The bad part about Monday: It rained ALL day long! And I did not exactly have the proper shoes for that. I slipped twice. Wasn't hurt, but got wet. Also, I had to carry my bag all day. It was heavy because it had my clothes and my big honkin Bible in there. But other than that, it was a good day.

But in any case, the weekend was full. This week starts American Culture month. So far the classes enjoy it. Next weekend is Coffee House where I will experiment with having two. Week after that is Gingerbread House and the week after that is my Homecooked American Dinner. I have some plans for the beginning of August, but after that class is out and I will be pretty free. I'm sure I'll find things to do. Oh yeah, I also plan to go to Costco this next Monday and see the new Star Wars movie with Lauren. Tanoshimi (I'm looking forward to it).

Ok, I think that's enough of my rambling for now. I'm going to study now for my Japanese test tomorrow.

of raw fish...

I guess every American in Japan has to write about eating raw fish sometime... I went out today with some students from one of my classes. They are great and I have a good time with them. We went to this really nice restaurant, the kind where they serve you food in "waves." There was so much food! And it was all Japanese food. I like Japanese food, don't get me wrong. It was very delicious. But wow, there was SO much raw fish! If you had told me a year ago that I would willing eat that much raw fish without hesitation, I would have never believed you. But I did, and I even enjoyed most of it. I think Japan is definitely teaching me how to try new things and be more mature in that area of my life. Well, maybe it's just something I've been growing into for the past few years... Anyway, I am happy about that part of me.

In fact, lately, I have been rather happy with the person I am. This is not normal for me. Normally I have a rather low self-esteem, but I think I'm gaining a rather realistic perspective lately. Of course I am not perfect, I never will be until heaven, but I am happy with my life right now. I wish I could feel this way forever...

Life is still good. My weeks go by quickly, and my weekends seem to be filling up. I have plans this weekend and probably the next. I have plenty of things to keep me busy with so that is good. For a little while, I was feeling somewhat lonely for good friends my age that I could call up and hang out with in my area. I put up an online ad looking for some, and I have gotten many replies, but we will see where that goes. Many are boys and it seems they are just looking to date a foreigner, doesn't matter who it is. I am wary of people like that, so I doubt those will go anywhere. But I think it's best to leave these things up to God. I am glad I have God to rely on at times like this. I mean, it's so easy to be confused about what I want and what is good for me. If I let it, this whole thing could really stress me out. But I can say, "here God, you know better than me, please deal with it and tell me what I should do." I want good people in my life, not people who will distract me from what's important. Also, I don't know if this is a good time in my life for me to think about dating and stuff like that. I mean, sure I would like a relationship, but can I really deal with one? I have no idea. But I don't want to just go out looking for one. I think it's better to let these things happen through God's guidance. Hmmm, maybe I'm just being lazy and using that as an excuse, but then again, maybe not. I still think it's best to leave these kinds of things to God. He's a better judge than I am.

Well, so that's my rambling for the night. I won't be home tomorrow night. Gonna spend the night with Lauren and then we are gonna go out with Tami and her friend to see an anime museum on Monday. I am looking forward to it.

And on an ending note, I am so full, I don't think I need to eat for a week. Not bad for a free meal (my students of course wouldn't let me pay for it.) Also, it's a rather odd feeling for me going out with my students. I mean, at least one is old enough to be my father, and they are all married with children. And here I am, this little 25 year old, and I am their TEACHER, and they are taking me out and talking with me. Somehow this is just strange to me. But I enjoy being with them, even if I don't understand half of what is being said (they spoke in Japanese most of the night, so I only caught bits and pieces of the conversations). But it was a good time, and I really like them. I guess in some circumstances, age really isn't a factor! But still, it would be nice sometime to have friends nearby who aren't at least 10 years older than me... LOL

of stuff...

So nothing terribly exciting has been going on, but several small things have, so I decided to update.

Sunday: The woman came to Bible Study. I had two people there. Turns out the woman is Chinese and has been living in Japan for 10 years. She is Trilingual! Amazing! Well, at one point, a friend had given her a book with Christian stories in it or something and she has been interested in learning more about Christianity. She asked some good questions, and I gave her an English Bible. I am excited that she came and I hope she comes again next week.

Then I went to Cell. Wasn't too exciting, but it was fun. A Japanese man came. His name is Toshiyuki. He is nice and I like talking to him. We went to McDonald's afterwards. Then I came home.

Monday: My day off. Didn't do anything special. It was payday, so I went to the bank to grab some money and I did a little shopping, but mostly for teaching stuff. Found a new textbook for one class. It was cool.

Tuesday: My first class of the day decided they wanted to throw me a "welcome" party. Yeah, I've been teaching for almost three months, but hey, they wanted a party. They took me to this super nice restaurant and we had lots of Japanese food. They are a funny little class. None of them speak great English because it's a beginners class. But they are cute. What was funny was when the waitress would helpfully correct their English! It was funny.

Wed and Today: Just basically teaching and stuff. Not too much going on. Life's not terribly dull, neither is it terribly exciting. :-) Tomorrow's Friday, horray!

of Gingerbread House and forgotten news...

So today was my second Gingerbread House. Lauren came to help and observe. We had less kids this time, but still, we had 15. They seemed to have a good time. They are really well behaved kids. Many of the older ones have younger siblings, so when we played games like Elbow Tag, the older ones were kind to the younger ones. It was rather amusing to see the older ones run in slow motion when a younger one was "it." But I am glad they are so well behaved. I know that many American kids are not this well behaved in such a large group of various ages. It was a good time, and the parents seemed rather pleased about it. I am thankful.

So, that's my news for today. Now on to old news I forgot to write about. Last Sunday I had another good Bible Study. Oh, yeah, that reminds me. A woman came today looking for information for an English class for her Jr. High daughter. (this is the second time this has happened while I was preparing for Gingerbread House. Normally there is no one at the church on Saturday's, unless Pastor happens to be working etc.) The mother spoke English, so I was able to tell her what I knew and show her the text book for the Jr. High Class. But then the mother asked me about Bible Classes. I thought it was for the daughter, so I told her about the Jr. High class for Sunday School, but it turns out the mother was interested in a class. So she is coming to my Bible Study tomorrow. Horray for chances like that! God works in mysterious ways, but it's awesome that a woman walks in off the street like that looking for a Bible Class!

Ok, back to old news. The Bible study went well and I was happy, and then I took a nap (I had been up late Sat night) and then went to Takenotsuka for Cell. I actually left a little early so I could go to a Tonkatsu restaurant I knew in the station. The tonkatsu was wonderful! It had been so long since I had eaten any, I forgot how much I loved it. Then I went to meet the others. The meeting was late that night since all the "locals" had been invited to Pastor Kitazawa's "surprise" Birthday Party. (Pastor Kitazawa being the pastor at Takenotsuka and also the recently elected Vice-President of the NRK, Japan Lutheran Church) So I was waiting in front of the church since I am still unable to find my way to Jason and Sarah's house, where the meeting was to be held. They all come back from the party together and I talked a little with Pastor and his family. Anyway, we went to cell, and I led the Bible Study, and we had a good time. Knowing that the Cell would run longer than we could get home, Lauren and I were planning on spending the night in Takenotsuka. We were given permission to crash at Cindy's apartment, as she was in the states for Orientation etc. But first, we decided to take the chance and do some late night Karaoke. It was good times. We spent about two hours at the Karaoke shop. We got back around 4:30 AM. But it was all good, because Monday is our day off. So of course, we slept in. :-)

Monday was also a rather good day. I got new extentions, three this time, and electric blue. I am happy with them, and I was also excited because I managed the whole visit successfully with my broken Japanese. Then I went wandering about for a while. I didn't want to return home because I was meeting my Lang. Partner at 4:30 in Shibuya. Now, if you don't know, Shibuya is the classic picture many people have of Tokyo. Lots of tall buildings with flashing lights and moving advertisements. And tons of people. It's popular for young people, rich people, and foreigners. It's cool. I went shopping a little, and then met Hiroki. We talked and that was fun and then we went to Okonomiyaki. It was great. I got some great pictures.

Anyway, I think that's most of what I forgot to mention before. It's funny because my life is either really busy, or really empty. I would be kind of nice if it were just evenly balanced. LOL.

On a random note, I find I wish I could spend more time thinking about God and putting Him first in my life. Lately it's been rather easy to become distracted and think about things like "I wish I was in a relationship" etc. I don't know why, as I am rather happy right now, and man, a relationship would only make my like way too complicated. In any case, I would really prefer to put my whole trust in God to provide for me in His time than sit and ponder things until I go crazy. I wish it was as easy to do things like that as it sounds. :-( But it's ok, I still love Japan and I am still content to be here. And most of all, I LOVE GOD! :-D

PS: I've noticed, the spell check really hates Japanese words. Wonder why? ;-P

of Friday's and such...

Well, today was finally Friday. I have more classes on Friday than normal, but overall, I really like my Friday students. All my adult students are super fun, and while I have two rather quiet and reserved Children's classes, I also have a nice class of three boys. They know how to have fun and always laugh and smile. I have a ton of fun with that class. And they aren't discipline problems, so I am happy with that. Anyway, it was that class that made me happy today. One of my students has a rather nice mother who I talk to sometimes (she speaks English fairly well) and today they brought me flowers from their home. It was really cute. I had just started class when I the door opens. In comes his little brother carrying three huge hydrangea, followed by his mother. I was so happy (esp since I've been trying to get his little brother used to me, but unfortunately last week, I scared him while trying to tickle him and he cried a little...)

Anyway, I am happy. Also tomorrow is Gingerbread House. I don't know how many kids will come this time, but I hope it will be a good turn out. But I have to get up early to go shopping for it. Anywho, I'm looking forward to it.

of my day off...

Wow, This has really been a great week for me. Yesterday I went to my old "hometown" of Takenotsuka for Cell meeting. It was nice because the meeting was later than usual, so Lauren and I had to spend the night in Takenotsuka. Which was rather fun. Lauren and I hit up our favorite Karaoke joint and had a goold ole time. We went to bed around 4:30 ish. Thing I learned from that experience: the sun actually begins rising at that time! Insane!

So we woke up and parted ways around 11 ish today. I had a meeting with my Lang. Partner at 4:30, so I decided to stay in the Tokyo Area. The weather was rather nice today, if just a tad hot and muggy. But I decided to get some more extentions. This time it is pure blue, and I got three. I just really get excited about having blue streaks in my hair! LOL. This time, I went to the salon by myself and muddled through the Japanese to get what I wanted.

So then I wandered about Takenotsuka for a while, and then caught a train to Shibuya, where I was meeting Hiroki. I was a couple hours early, so I also wandered around there. I found Claires and spent a bit too much there, but I am happy with the cute things I bought.

I also took tons of pictures today. So then I met up with Hiroki and that was fun. I always have a good time talking with him. We had Okonomiyaki again. Yesterday I had tonkatsu for the first time in a long time too. It was SO good. I had forgotten how much I like these foods!

So anyway, I just had a really good day and I am happy! :-)

of Grace...

I am so thankful for the Grace that God sends me. My Bible Study went well again, even though I actually changed it at the last minute to a totally different passage than I had originally planned. I'm glad God loves me, and gives me the words I need even when I'm a looser and don't prepare like I should. Grace is amazing, and humbling. Thank you Father.

of lack of sleep...

I'm tired.

That's what I get for staying up so late. Silly me. I have just a little break before a Bible Study I lead. Then I can finally take a nap. Horray for naptime!

of a random Saturday...

Yeah, so today was Saturday. I didn't have an event today, so I decided I should get some stuff done, like cleaning my house a bit etc. Well, the cleaning didn't happen, but lots of other stuff did. First of all, I got to chat a bit with Michael and then Marlo. I finally wrote and sent out a newsletter and I did a little updating on my website. Hope to do more of that soon. I got a phone call from Lauren, and then I went on a bit of an adventure to find Music Box, a sort of music praise time, run by former missionaries in a nearby Lutheran School. I finally found the place and it was a good time. Three of my students (please note, from here on out any of my students who are also children will be known as "my kids") were there and I talked with a couple of the moms. Met some new people. Spoke a litte Japanese. Got a free ride back to the train station. Not bad.

So then back at the main station, I decided I need to check out a book store for some ESL resources. I think I found a book I want to use for one class, but I am still looking for a book for a different one. So I wandered around there a bit, and then started walking back home. Well, on the way home there is this clothing store owned by a black man. I don't think he's American, but he does speak English. There are also a couple of younger black men who work for him. Well, one of these guys started talking to me as I walked by. He wanted me to go out to coffee with him. I declined. He was more persistent than most because he tried to set up a time for tomorrow etc. Yeah, there's just something strange about the idea of going out with some random guy I met on the street. I don't trust situations like those. But at the same time, it's nice to be picked up... LOL

So then I came home and had a message from Besty (I had called her earlier, but she wasn't home.) I waited about an hour and then called her back. We talked for over an hour. I was just getting ready to hang up when I hear strange tapping noises. It was really freaky. Then I started hearing voices, a man's voice. So now I am thinking a drunk man is wandering around my house. And I am also realizing that my door is unlocked. (apparently my window was unlocked as well, but I didn't know that.) So finally, I tell Besty (who is still on the phone) that I am going to go check it out. Turns out it's Mika and Alex. I had been so scared! But it turned out OK. So then, (after being teased because my house is a mess and I wouldn't let them in) we went out for a while and talked. So now it is 3 AM, Saturday night and I have church tomorrow. I won't want to get up in the morning, I promise. Well, I generally don't want to get up any morning, but that's just me.

So there's the play by play of what turned out to be a rather eventful Saturday, despite me not having any work related events.

of being built up...

So I've decided Japan is good for my self esteem. Or at least today was good for my self-esteem. Today I was fortunate enough to have many people build me up. It's so odd for me to be surrounded by people who praise me. I almost don't know how to deal with it. I keep wondering when I will wake up from this dream. My co-worker praised me (and I actually value her opinion very much) and I know at least one of my adult classes love to come to English class. And of course 99% of the kids love me (but that's normal, kids are easy to please.)

The adult class in question took me out again after class today. They are great. They are going to take me out on a Saturday next month it looks like. And my Tuesday class is planning a "welcome party" for me week after next. Things were slow at first, but I think it's just because it takes me a little while to build up relationships. But now my weeks are filling up with things to do. I feel like this is less work, and more like me being rewarded.

I just pray that God uses my time here. I know that I myself am not really capable of much. But I am so thankful for this experience. I know I will remember this for the rest of my life and be so happy that I did this.

It's funny, I still feel lost and directionless sometimes, but before when I felt that, I felt such overwhelming discouragement. But now, somehow, it's ok. I can still feel contentment, while I feel the other things too. I want to feel like this the rest of my life...

of cabbage...

Yes it is strange to have a post dedicated to cabbage, but there is a good reason for this. Today, my student brought me a cabbage she had grown. Now this is an exceptionally sweet thing to do but not really something to write home about, except for one thing, This cabbage is HUGE! Now when I say HUGE, I mean larger than my head huge! My arms were tired from carrying the thing across the street! I am not certain how I can possibly eat this much cabbage. Good thing I like cabbage! I have seriously never seen such a large cabbage before. Also, this sucker is heavy! Ok, that's my rant for the day. Anyone want some cabbage?

of multicultural students...

Yeah, today is a day for me to randomly blog. I have a break between classes, and wanted to jot something down before taking a nap.

So the two most popular "mission Fields" that people think of are Africa and China. Personally, I have no real desire to go to either place (my true love being Japan), but I came to an interesting conclusion the other day. One of my students is Chinese!

Not that I can tell the difference. I didn't know until he told me that he couldn't come to Gingerbread House because he takes Chinese lessons on Saturdays. When I mentioned it to Mika, she told me it's because he is Chinese! He went to Shanghai last week and brought back Omiyage for everyone in English class. He is such a cute kid too.

Anyway, that's my thought that has basically nothing to do with anything. I'm gonna nap now. Latta!

of late nights and early mornings...

Wow. Yesterday, I thought I was doing pretty good because I woke up in time to hit up good ole Micky D's for some breakfast (this is amazing for me actually, but lately I've been getting up before noon...) For some reason (unrelated to waking up at a decent hour) I was super sleepy yesterday. I think I might be developing some mild allergies, my eyes are itchy lately and I've been sneezing. Anywho, that's not really what I'm blogging about. It's what happened after work. Now, it is important to remember that I start work at 1 PM and I end work at 9 PM.

So after work, Mika (the woman I work with) tells me that her friend Alex (who lives reasonably in the area) wants to hang out. My first thought is, who the heck starts hanging out at 9 at night? My next thought is, heck yeah, I'm cool enough to tag along! So of course, I agree. And so I set out on a late night adventure (yes, I have a Japanese lesson today and I work. I am SO SLEEPY!). So I ended up meeting Alex at this new station while Mika went to get her parents car.

We managed to find this place from the directions Mika gave me and we met up with her not long after. This place was really nice, but it was kinda funny. The whole building was black, and inside was really dark. The waiters were dressed in the pretty traditional waiter attire (for Japan) but then they each had a walkie talkie. It was really funny to me watching this play out. So then we were escorted upstairs and led to another little secluded booth. We barely had time for the last order of food, then they told us it was the last order on drinks, then eventually, they told us it was time to go home. Nice place, but a bit pricey.

So afterwards we get in the car, and Mika, after some nerves (she hadn't driven in a while) drives us back to my house. No one really seems to want to end the night. They jokes about hanging out at my house, to which I wish I could have said yes, but alas, my house is not fit to hang out in atm. So then Mika suggested Karaoke. We of course agreed. So we then spent two hours at Karaoke. It was a good time, but man, I must be insane. I didn't go to bed until after 3, and here I am at 10:30 trying to get ready for my Japanese lesson at 11.

Thought of the day: I AM SO FREAKIN TIRED!

PS: the first spellcheck option for the correctly incorcorrectly spelled "freakin" is foreskin. Just FYI.

of the fall...

Yes, given my great enjoyment of writing on religious themese, unfortunately, this post is not one of them, though the title would be a great heading for one...

Actually, the news of the day ain't all that exciting. But I had another "first time in Japan" experience, and so I thought I'd grace all my readers with this knowledge.

Today I fell for the first time while riding my bike. Yes, sad but true. Got a few scrapes, but nothing too major. Other than that, I had a relatively good day. As it was my day off, I decided to ingore the state of my house and indulge the restlessness that was plaguing me. I spent the day wandering about, getting to know my neighborhood a bit better. Not too bad. Anywho, not all that exciting.

of community...

So my program is currently undergoing many changes, the least of which is a new director. This really has little to do with anything, except that this aforementioned new director has a vision for us: community. At first, I felt she was being a but pushy with this idea of hers (really, I am not sure you can understand unless you have actually met the woman), but since attending some small group meetings (hereafter referred to as Cell) I have jumped on the community bandwagon.

I am really excited about the changes in the focus of our program. It is exciting to see how just meeting once a week and having a Bible Study together helps. I am looking forward to seeing how this impacts Japan.

I also have to say, that I am just overwhelmed by the Blessings my Father has lavished upon me recently. I feel similar to Joseph (everything he did prospered). I don't want to sound conceited, because really, it's nothing I'm doing. In fact, I'd say things are going well despite my presence. But I see so many possibilities here. Maybe it's because I'm new in Japan, and I haven't seen the disappointments etc. But I am so excited about what I see. The new programs I start have more support than I thought they would, and God has been blessing my Bible Studies and meetings as well.

I have to admit, it's rather strange to me to have so much going well all at once. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Since I made the decision to come to Japan (has it already been a year?!?), my life has felt "right." There's just no other way to explain it. Of course life is not perfect, but I have never felt so content with my life before, for such a long period of time. Maybe it is because I have battled with depression so often, but this period of calm is like a whole new world for me, and just a bit unreal. Some days I just wonder when it will start going downhill again. Guess that's a bit pessimistic. For now, I am enjoying life in spite of myself. I don't know what the future holds, but I think that's best to leave in God's hands anyway.

Well, this doesn't even begin to skim the surface of my thoughts and feelings on these subjects, but it's late and it's been a long (although entirely fruitful) day. I am going to go off to bed now, and hopefully wake up ready to clean my house and do some much needed organizing of my classroom. If you read this anytime soon, please pray that I can have a productive day tomorrow (despite it being my day off).

Yes, life is good because God is good. I wish everyone knew that and could share in my Treasure...

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.