OK! The past few days have been kinda... uneventful. Only a few things here and there to talk about, so I let it build til today. :P
WEDNESDAY
So, yeah. Wednesday. I basically sat in on Laura's classes and ran small errands. The final class of the night was pretty fun. The class was learning about clothing and styles and wearing. Wearing, as in the verb we Englishers (?) use for almost everything we put on from wearing a shirt to wearing contacts or glasses. We had some sort of mini fashion show where everyone got to stand up and the class had to describe what they were wearing. It was fun. Keiko, the secretary, and Aki, her friend, are in that class. I like hanging out with them, so I like being in that class.
THURSDAY
Not much for most of the day. It was a lazy day for me. Though, I did get Laura and the girls to try pork chops with saurkraut, one of my family's favorites! After hanging around the house all day being lazy, I went with the Sasaki-sans, Keiko, and Aki to a Japanese Christian concert. On the way there, Keiko and Aki were teaching me some Japanese words like nande (why), nani (what), cho (very, but only for younger girls. sorry guys), and Kimoy(?) (creepy) haha.
The concert was pretty good. It was a very famous Japanese woman who sang. She even sang a few songs I knew like Count Your Blessings and Because He Lives, mainly in Japanese. Though, on Because He Lives, she did sing one chorus in English. It wasn't really my style of music, but the lady had a very beautiful voice and I enjoyed myself alot. After she was done singing, a man got up and shared a message. I apologize because I didn't really catch the names of these people. Noburo Sasaki was kind enough to try and interpret everything for me.
If I understood right, Keiko gave the woman singer a cd with songs from her band to listen to. I hope that's right. Way 2 be, though, Keiko!
FRIDAY
Today was bible study again. We went over the last part of Exodus 12 and the first part of 13. We talked alot about covenants, since these passages were about the Passover and circumcision. After bible study, I went to my first Japanese class! Yata! Keiko took me to get signed up. It was funny cause as we were waiting, my purse felt like it was wet. I thought maybe I had left a water bottle in my bag and just forgot, so I investigated and pulled out a piece of ice. Laura had accidently dropped it in there when she was getting her drink together before I left. haha
They were nice enough to put me in a group with a girl who spoke pretty good English. Everyone in my class is from China. We learned about how to say you are going somewhere and names of certain things. I also learned how to say I want this/that please. I have a couple pages of homework to do before next week, but I liked class.
Prayers:
*Kei-san's aunt is still in a coma, but Kei is able to go see her for a night. That's a praise!
*Yuko's, another lady from bible study, mom has cataracks (?) in her eye and is going to get surgery done as soon as she finds an eye doctor she likes :D
*Enma Ichi starts THIS Sunday, so prayers for ECS to impact people and aquire new students
*PRAISE! We did get a new student this week!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Long Day
Today was kind of a long day. I woke up kinda early, around 6:30ish, so that I could go with Jerry to his University class. I liked the class and had fun. One girl said that I was Bijin, which means very beautiful. Jerry said she was sucking up hahaha. If she was, she was doing a great job of it. :)
After class and as Jerry and I were waiting for the bus, he told me a little about Kanji, one of the alphabets here. Each word written in Kanji is made up of certain symbols. Kashiwazaki, for example, is White-Oak and then Coast (pretty much) so it basically means oak coast. Some of the more awesome Kanji he was telling me about were deception, salvation, and redemption. The Kanji for deception is made up of the symbols for woman, snake and tree. Sound familiar? How about Eve and the serpant? Salvation is a boat with eight people. Ring a bell? Maybe Noah and the seven other people on the ark will. And redemption is sheep, blood, and one other thing that I can't remember, but i thought that that was so cool.
He also showed me his Old Testament Manga. A manga is pretty much a Japanese comic book. It was really neat. It was the Old Testament in Japanese comic book style. Jerry told me how things were expressed in teh Japanese language. Like when God was talking to Abraham, He talked to him as a friend, not a lowly peon. But when Abraham spoke to God, it was using language like that of a lower person to a higher person. It was way cool. I liked how everything was depicted.
After we got back, I had a couple hours to chill before heading off to ECS. I helped a bit with the kids classes, but I actually participated in the young adult/adult class (the Intermediate class). We talked about what we did that week and about the upcoming festivals. It was really fun. The last class of the night was the Advance class which is basically conversation. Noboko was the only one in the class tonight, so we talked a bit about what I am going to school for, about onsens (hot spring baths), and about tea ceremonies. Noboko invited Jerry and I to go to a tea ceremony with a lady that speaks pretty good english to explain everything. I am way excited! :D
After class and as Jerry and I were waiting for the bus, he told me a little about Kanji, one of the alphabets here. Each word written in Kanji is made up of certain symbols. Kashiwazaki, for example, is White-Oak and then Coast (pretty much) so it basically means oak coast. Some of the more awesome Kanji he was telling me about were deception, salvation, and redemption. The Kanji for deception is made up of the symbols for woman, snake and tree. Sound familiar? How about Eve and the serpant? Salvation is a boat with eight people. Ring a bell? Maybe Noah and the seven other people on the ark will. And redemption is sheep, blood, and one other thing that I can't remember, but i thought that that was so cool.
He also showed me his Old Testament Manga. A manga is pretty much a Japanese comic book. It was really neat. It was the Old Testament in Japanese comic book style. Jerry told me how things were expressed in teh Japanese language. Like when God was talking to Abraham, He talked to him as a friend, not a lowly peon. But when Abraham spoke to God, it was using language like that of a lower person to a higher person. It was way cool. I liked how everything was depicted.
After we got back, I had a couple hours to chill before heading off to ECS. I helped a bit with the kids classes, but I actually participated in the young adult/adult class (the Intermediate class). We talked about what we did that week and about the upcoming festivals. It was really fun. The last class of the night was the Advance class which is basically conversation. Noboko was the only one in the class tonight, so we talked a bit about what I am going to school for, about onsens (hot spring baths), and about tea ceremonies. Noboko invited Jerry and I to go to a tea ceremony with a lady that speaks pretty good english to explain everything. I am way excited! :D
Monday, June 8, 2009
Birthday day
Today was Rebekah's birthday pls a day off of most ECS things. I woke up kinda late, and we went to GuraGura sushi (name ?). I tried a few things. I tried natomaki which is this really nasty smelling bean thing. I dunno if I actually tasted the nato cause all I could taste was the seaweed wrapper.... and I did not like the seaweed thing. :S I also tried some rice patties with an egg on them... it was pretty good, plus some fried shrimp wrapped in rice.
We went shopping after that for groceries followed by homemade coffee shakes back at the house. After some cards, Kei and I watched The Little Bear Movie :) and then walked down to 7-11 and got some sodas.
We had soba (noodles) for dinner and then played some more euchre. I'm really liking this game. I also got to talk with Jerry tonight about the mission field and evangelism and it made me really think about some stuff.
Please continuing praying for Kei-san and Sato-san as well as Enma Ichi. I would also appreciate prayers just for the ECS ministry and for boldness on my part to help out with the ministry.
Thank you~
We went shopping after that for groceries followed by homemade coffee shakes back at the house. After some cards, Kei and I watched The Little Bear Movie :) and then walked down to 7-11 and got some sodas.
We had soba (noodles) for dinner and then played some more euchre. I'm really liking this game. I also got to talk with Jerry tonight about the mission field and evangelism and it made me really think about some stuff.
Please continuing praying for Kei-san and Sato-san as well as Enma Ichi. I would also appreciate prayers just for the ECS ministry and for boldness on my part to help out with the ministry.
Thank you~
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Catch-up
It seems that this week is all about the Catch-up game with me. Sorry readers. :S
After the Undokai, we went to Kaze no jin which is basically a wind-surfing festival. Down by the beach were tons of flea market, food and game booths plus a concert stage. Wind surfing is pretty popular in Kashiwazaki.
On the way back to the house, we passed a small shrine. It is for a neighborhood caretaker. It's not a god, just a neighbor guardian/watchmen. I thought it was interesting, so yeah. Here ya go.
FRIDAY
Friday was the Bible Study with the ladies again. We talked about Exodus 12 and the beginnings of the Passover. After bible study, Laura taught classes and I.....was supposed to go to Japanese class. But it turned out to be a no-go this week cause I would have been late, so I attempted to study my Hiragana alphabet. The Japanese have like 3 or 4 different alphabets. Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji, I believe. The Hiragana has almost 50 characters in it... and I'm having a little bit of a hard time remembering what is what. I also colored some more flash cards! :D
After we got back to the house, Laura sent Kei and I out to buy some bread to go with dinner. I have fun hanging out with Kei. As we were walking, she would tell me words in Japanese like tree=ki, dog=ino, cat=neko, that sorta thing. After dinner was Clue and brownies. You can't go wrong with brownies, like ....ever. :)
SATURDAY
Saturday we went to Josh's Undokai. An undokai is kind of like a school track 
and field day, only with more pizzazz. Laura told me that they practice for weeks before the actual Undokai. Josh's school is a special needs school, so they made many of the events so that the kids are able to do them. Josh got to make a goal with a large ball..... and he liked playing in the dirt. haha
They also had a ping-pong-ball in a spoon race for people in the audience. Kei did that and got some juice as a prize :). Yata, Kei!
and field day, only with more pizzazz. Laura told me that they practice for weeks before the actual Undokai. Josh's school is a special needs school, so they made many of the events so that the kids are able to do them. Josh got to make a goal with a large ball..... and he liked playing in the dirt. haha
They also had a ping-pong-ball in a spoon race for people in the audience. Kei did that and got some juice as a prize :). Yata, Kei!
After the Undokai, we went to Kaze no jin which is basically a wind-surfing festival. Down by the beach were tons of flea market, food and game booths plus a concert stage. Wind surfing is pretty popular in Kashiwazaki.
On the way back to the house, we passed a small shrine. It is for a neighborhood caretaker. It's not a god, just a neighbor guardian/watchmen. I thought it was interesting, so yeah. Here ya go.When we got back home, Jerry and Laura taught Rebekah and I how to play Euchre. It was pretty fun! I love games! Yay!
After church and a fellowship lunch, we went to a Kite museum because today was the Kite Festival. 
Apparently, long ago, Samurai kids and village kids used to "fight" each other with kites. Soon, the parents got involved and the tradition of kite fights still stands. The kites are humungous, some as big as a small room.
Afterwords, we went to the actual kite fights. We got there too late for the fighting, but we got to see some of the huge kites get launched. It takes a team of about 30-50 people to launch these bad boys into the air.
Nathan and I also got to try some Japanese festival food, namely Takoyaki and Popoyaki. Takoyaki is fried octopus balls. They were actually pretty good, only, really chewy, and I could barely get past feeling the suckers on 
my tongue. haha. Popoyaki, however, tasted like a cross between soft pretzels and pancakes. They were sooooooo good.
SUNDAY
Ok. Now to today. We went to a church in Kamo today. It was a small church with a bilingual service. Jerry preached. He preached about wilderness experiences and how they strengthen our faith. We also got to meet Sanjo's intern, Nathan Worley(?). My brother's name is Nathan, and I was telling the girls (Rebekah and Kei) about him, so Kei thought that Worley was my brother and was so excited to meet him. haha.
After church and a fellowship lunch, we went to a Kite museum because today was the Kite Festival. 
Apparently, long ago, Samurai kids and village kids used to "fight" each other with kites. Soon, the parents got involved and the tradition of kite fights still stands. The kites are humungous, some as big as a small room.
Afterwords, we went to the actual kite fights. We got there too late for the fighting, but we got to see some of the huge kites get launched. It takes a team of about 30-50 people to launch these bad boys into the air.
Nathan and I also got to try some Japanese festival food, namely Takoyaki and Popoyaki. Takoyaki is fried octopus balls. They were actually pretty good, only, really chewy, and I could barely get past feeling the suckers on 
my tongue. haha. Popoyaki, however, tasted like a cross between soft pretzels and pancakes. They were sooooooo good.Prayers:
Kei-san, one of the ladies from our bible study, her aunt has been in a coma for almost three weeks now. The aunt is a widow and has no children. Kei-san's parents have been going to take care of her, but it is hard for them because they are older. So prayers for her
A lady named Sato-san in Laura's Thursday class has been asking alot of questions about the bible lately, and it is a good opportunity to minister to her, so prayers for that.
Next week from Sunday-Tuesday is the festival called Enma Ichi. ECS will be having an open door and having games/crafts for the kids as well as providing drinks. Prayers that this ministering opportunity will go well and that we might be able to attract new students for ECS.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday/Thursday
Okay, so today is Thursday. I skipped over Wednesday's blog cause I was sleepy :).
On Wednesday, oh, let me see if I can remember everything without mixing up my days...... ok. I can't remember everything. Sorry. :S haha. But I do remember the important things.
I went to English classes with Laura. Basically, for the first two classes, I colored flash cards. I did peek in on the 3 and 4 year olds and they were sooooooo cute. They were learning about the letter B. :)
I did get to help with the last two classes of the night. I fielded questions and listened to introductions as well as provided my own. I also helped with a few games. The last class played Clue. It was a lot of fun. I was the murderer the first time and then Keiko was it the second time. I think we had Laura kinda worried that she was working with two murderers. haha
Thursday! (today)
I did a little bit of babysitting today. Not much to it, just stayed here with the girls and Joshy while the parents were at work. After Laura got back, the girls and I walked down to the 7-11 so I could get out some money. I have to admit, I caved and bought a Coke. It was my first pop in a week, though. I'm pretty proud of myself for lasting so long.
After the excursion we hung around for a bit and played some cards and then went shopping. We bought a clock for my room, a clock for ECS, some ant poison, and a present for Jerry for Father's Day. Well, I didn't buy any of that, but I went with them to buy it. :) I bought 2 notebooks, one for my daily journal and one just for writing when i feel like it. I also bought a Koala cookie pen. I like it alot haha. Kawaii. :) (means it's cute).
I should be starting Japanese class tomorrow ( i think). So I'm excited about that.
Prayers:
Joshy hasn't seemed to be feeling well the last couple days. His temp was way low this morning. So prayers for him.
Also, Rebekah told me of a fellow blogger named Lisa whose father has had 2 strokes and a heart attack recently, so I would also appreciate prayers for her.
I think that's all I have for you tonight. But I will have something for you tomorrow. :D
On Wednesday, oh, let me see if I can remember everything without mixing up my days...... ok. I can't remember everything. Sorry. :S haha. But I do remember the important things.
I went to English classes with Laura. Basically, for the first two classes, I colored flash cards. I did peek in on the 3 and 4 year olds and they were sooooooo cute. They were learning about the letter B. :)
I did get to help with the last two classes of the night. I fielded questions and listened to introductions as well as provided my own. I also helped with a few games. The last class played Clue. It was a lot of fun. I was the murderer the first time and then Keiko was it the second time. I think we had Laura kinda worried that she was working with two murderers. haha
Thursday! (today)
I did a little bit of babysitting today. Not much to it, just stayed here with the girls and Joshy while the parents were at work. After Laura got back, the girls and I walked down to the 7-11 so I could get out some money. I have to admit, I caved and bought a Coke. It was my first pop in a week, though. I'm pretty proud of myself for lasting so long.
After the excursion we hung around for a bit and played some cards and then went shopping. We bought a clock for my room, a clock for ECS, some ant poison, and a present for Jerry for Father's Day. Well, I didn't buy any of that, but I went with them to buy it. :) I bought 2 notebooks, one for my daily journal and one just for writing when i feel like it. I also bought a Koala cookie pen. I like it alot haha. Kawaii. :) (means it's cute).
I should be starting Japanese class tomorrow ( i think). So I'm excited about that.
Prayers:
Joshy hasn't seemed to be feeling well the last couple days. His temp was way low this morning. So prayers for him.
Also, Rebekah told me of a fellow blogger named Lisa whose father has had 2 strokes and a heart attack recently, so I would also appreciate prayers for her.
I think that's all I have for you tonight. But I will have something for you tomorrow. :D
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
June Deux
Hello friends.
Sorry to disappoint but I have absolutely no photos today. haha. This morning, Laura, Josh (6 year old son), and I went to run some errands. Bank, Post office, store. The store we needed to go to wasn't quite open yet, so we went to the 100 yen store. Laura and I took a quick look at some t-shirts. "English" t-shirts. They were pretty funny. Some of them didn't make any sense.
Well, today was my first actual involvement with the English classes. First was a ladies class with Laura. There were two ladies, and we just sat and chatted. We also decided about going to lunch in two weeks. I'm pretty excited about it, and they were really nice ladies.
Next were a couple kids classes with Jerry. I helped out a little bit here and there, but it was fun just to watch. The kids were pretty funny. One class, especially, was full of giggly girls that just made me laugh. Then we had another adult class. There were five in the class, so i ended up taking a student role to help with some of the activities.
I had a good time, all-in-all, today. Can't wait for tomorrow.
And now I will issue an apology for the shortness of my blog today. I'm pretty tired, so i'm going to turn in. One good thing to pray for:
Rebekah, the Mort's oldest, seems to have caught a cold and is spreading it through the family like wild fire. Kei is coughing, I'm coughing. Joshy is kinda coughing. So I ask for prayers for health. It would be very much appreciated. :D
Sorry to disappoint but I have absolutely no photos today. haha. This morning, Laura, Josh (6 year old son), and I went to run some errands. Bank, Post office, store. The store we needed to go to wasn't quite open yet, so we went to the 100 yen store. Laura and I took a quick look at some t-shirts. "English" t-shirts. They were pretty funny. Some of them didn't make any sense.
Well, today was my first actual involvement with the English classes. First was a ladies class with Laura. There were two ladies, and we just sat and chatted. We also decided about going to lunch in two weeks. I'm pretty excited about it, and they were really nice ladies.
Next were a couple kids classes with Jerry. I helped out a little bit here and there, but it was fun just to watch. The kids were pretty funny. One class, especially, was full of giggly girls that just made me laugh. Then we had another adult class. There were five in the class, so i ended up taking a student role to help with some of the activities.
I had a good time, all-in-all, today. Can't wait for tomorrow.
And now I will issue an apology for the shortness of my blog today. I'm pretty tired, so i'm going to turn in. One good thing to pray for:
Rebekah, the Mort's oldest, seems to have caught a cold and is spreading it through the family like wild fire. Kei is coughing, I'm coughing. Joshy is kinda coughing. So I ask for prayers for health. It would be very much appreciated. :D
Monday, June 1, 2009
June!
Today was the first day of June! Well, here in Japan, anyway. It was kind of a laid back day.
Jerry gave me a quick tour of main street, emphasis on quick. Not because it was breif, but rather cause Jerry has a quick stride and I half jogged to keep up. :D We went to a 7-11 where I got some money out. Silly me, I didn't notice there was a limit to how much I could take out at a time and ended up trying to get money twice. After that was a department store, then a sweets shop? Jerry bought two bunches of Sasudango.
Sasudango is this chewy little bun thing full of sweet bean paste wrapped in sasu(?) leaves. I think they look kinda like cucumbers. They taste really interesting. It didn't taste bad, but I couldn't finish my sasudango.
Right next to the sweets shop is Number 1 coffee. We stopped in and said hello to the owner who was really nice. But right now I feel bad cause I can't remember his name. But they were roasting coffee beans when we walked by and it smelled sooooooooo good. We also stopped at the post office.
Jerry is a wealth of information. During a little town tour, he told me a bunch of things about superstitions. There are soooooo many superstitions like certain days are bad for weddings or funerals while others are good. Like, Take a Friend Along day? Good for a wedding, bad for a funeral. :D haha
The rest of the day I spent just hanging around. Rebekah, Kei, and I played like 7 games of Eqyptian Rat Race/Killer. I also walked around the park with Laura. I get to go to English classes with Jerry and Laura, tomorrow, though.
Jerry gave me a quick tour of main street, emphasis on quick. Not because it was breif, but rather cause Jerry has a quick stride and I half jogged to keep up. :D We went to a 7-11 where I got some money out. Silly me, I didn't notice there was a limit to how much I could take out at a time and ended up trying to get money twice. After that was a department store, then a sweets shop? Jerry bought two bunches of Sasudango.
Sasudango is this chewy little bun thing full of sweet bean paste wrapped in sasu(?) leaves. I think they look kinda like cucumbers. They taste really interesting. It didn't taste bad, but I couldn't finish my sasudango.Right next to the sweets shop is Number 1 coffee. We stopped in and said hello to the owner who was really nice. But right now I feel bad cause I can't remember his name. But they were roasting coffee beans when we walked by and it smelled sooooooooo good. We also stopped at the post office.
Jerry is a wealth of information. During a little town tour, he told me a bunch of things about superstitions. There are soooooo many superstitions like certain days are bad for weddings or funerals while others are good. Like, Take a Friend Along day? Good for a wedding, bad for a funeral. :D haha
The rest of the day I spent just hanging around. Rebekah, Kei, and I played like 7 games of Eqyptian Rat Race/Killer. I also walked around the park with Laura. I get to go to English classes with Jerry and Laura, tomorrow, though.
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