Do you guys ever read the titles? Just wondering because I forgot to put my last one up. I think I was going to title it "Another random list that no one will read. I don't know why I do lists, but I do, and I am not even organized. I only make lists when I write, so enjoy this boring list". Yeah, I thought it was to long. So I just left it blank. Anyways, today was a great day. We only have one more day of reading sessions left and I am so sad! It can't be over! Anyways, about today (cue in whimsical-trippy-loopy-trumpety-going-back-in-time music). We decided to each invite a reader and make a huge lunch for them today. I invited my reader Hisae. She is so sweet, and she brought her 2 year old son. I cannot pronounce his name. I think that she is like 30 or something, but she is definately seeking, and reading sessions with her go by so quick and they are really productive. Tyrel invited the man Hajime. Tyler invited a reader of hers named Mitsui. Bryan invited two- Yoriko and Keiko. The only reason is because they both came last year, and they are best friends and do everything together. Anyways, Bryan and Tyler both had a reader at 10, so Tyrel and I decided to walk to the store and get the groceries. We were going to make hamburgers. Anyways, about 13 minutes later we get to the store and it is closed. We knew that they were going out of business, but not until the 4th. Anyways, I guess they decided to close early. We were not sure where the other store was so we just walked back to the church which took another 13 minutes. We did not want to take the bikes because we figured that we were going to be coming back with all these groceries. Yeah, bad idea. At least half way through our trek it stopped raining. We got back at about 10:45 and Tyrel and Bryan left to walk to the other store and Tyler and I stayed behind and started peeling potatoes. Yeah, we did like 20 potatoes, but they were pretty small. We had them almost peeled when the guys showed back up at about 11:30. Everybody was suppose to meet at about 12:30 for lunch. Bryan began cooking the patties, and I started frying up the potatoes. It was crazy with Bryan and I trying to cook at the same time but it worked. About 11:45 Yoriko showed up and took over the kitchen. It was so cool. She brought all this stuff as well! She made two pizzas, right there in front of us. It was awesome. Then Keiko showed up with a lot of stuff as well. We had a few dirty dishes in the sink, and it was my day to do dishes, so I told them not to worry about washing them. Yeah, they didn't listen. Every time we put a dish in the sink, it was immediately washed. Bryan and I got finished cooking at about the same time. Even though we told everybody not to bring anything, they all brought something. Hajime brought pears and mandarin oranges. Mitsui brought a honeydew melon, and Hisae brought peaches. Fruit is very expensive and they make very good gifts. The fruit is so good!! Yummy. Anyways, we had a whole lot of food and we just dug in. Yoriko brought her two oldest daughters and Keiko brought her two oldest daughters. Hisae brought her son. It was awesome!! What a blast. We did not sit down to eat until about 1:00. We chowed down and there was like nothing left. 15 hamburgers, fried potatoes, and 2 pizzas, lots of fruit, and other good stuff does not go that far. It was so good. All of us except for Tyler had a 2:00, so about 1:45 we began to clean up the auditorium. By like 1:51 everything was clean and in place. WOW. They work fast. Hisae, Yoriko, and Keiko took charge in the kitchen, while the rest of us set up the auditorium and cleaned the floor. We had cooked some rice to serve for lunch in case we ran out of potatoes, and forgot about it. Yoriko found the rice and used that to make us dinner! How sweet was that? It was delicious by the way. Yorkio and Keiko washed all the dishes and cleaned up the entire kitchen. They ever cleaned the stove to pand everything. Pretty cool. Hisae was my 2:00 so we finished up our last lesson. She did not realize that that was our last lesson together. She got pretty sad. She wanted to come tomorrow, but every single space is full. 10, 11, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. WOW. What a day tomorrow. It was great, but she is coming to camp so I will see her again.
I had a break until 5 today, so I went upstairs and began packing my souvenir bag. I barely got them all in the bag! It is so heavy. I hope it does not go over the 50 pound weight limit! Oops, that would be not good. My 5:00 showed up and that was also our last lesson, but she is coming to camp as well, so that is good. When I got out of the reading session at 6, one of my readers that finished Sunday was in the kitchen waiting for me. She is a church member, and knows like no english, but she is sweet as can be!! She can "Jesus is wonderful", and "God is so good" pretty good. That makes me happy. Anyways, she wanted to give me and the other team members a gift. She gave us all a really nice fan. I mean, it is not one of the cheap ones, but one of the super nice ones. She then gave me this box to open. Once I looked inside, I was speechless. Inside was a beautiful diamond bracelet. AND I MEAN REAL DIAMONDS!! There is also these other jewels on there that are beautiful. What a wonderful gift. IT MUST HAVE COST A FORTUNE!! There is even a little card in there that tells me the seriel number, the date it was purchased, and the types of jewles on the bracelet. There is a bunch of other stuff on there, but I do not read Japanese. It is so beautiful and I was almost afraid to wear it. Wait till I show you all, you will all love it. It is silver and just absolutely wonderful. Wow. Thank you Emi. No Hannah, you cannot borrow it. Don't even ask.
My 7:00 canceled, but I have her again tomorrow night. It was really wierd, because none of us had an 8:00. That is usually our busiest time. We all decided to take a trip down to our favorite media and entertainment store Wonder Goo. (Crazy name, I know....GGGGOOOOOO!!!) I brought three cd's and I only spent 15 dollars on them. Well, 1500 yen, so less than 15 bucks. I got a John Mayer, GooGoo Dolls, and Dave Matthews Band cd, all in english. I had previously bought an Incubus cd there, so I have quite the collection! Hahaha, MORE cds!!! Who-hoo! What is that, like 250 now? Some where in there. Well, that was my day and it was awesome. Tomorrow will be very sad for me. Saying goodbye to 9 readers! How sad!! Oh well, it had to be done. Welp, gotta go but I will report back soon. Jordan out. youknowwhatitisveryhardtoreadthishuhyupiknowitisthatiswhyiamnotputtinganyspacesinit. hahaha. youguysjuststopreadingandgodootherstuffaroundthehouse. gotoyourjobsandmakemoneyweallneedmoneyhuhyeahineedmorebecauseiambrokeohwellseriously
gottago..........hahaha. yeah, i am very tired. just thought you all could enjoy a good joke.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
In exactly one week we will be leaving Japan. Wow. These six weeks have flown by, well for me at least. Since there is really nothing new to report, I have decided to have a quick review about my time here. I think I will make a list. I like lists, although I am not an organized person. Anyways, enjoy a change for once, and tell me what you think:
1. Japan is just so awesome. We should all come to Japan at least once.
2. Serving God is so cool.
3. The people rock. That's all there is to it.
4. The food is so good.
5. Since we walk everywhere I thought that I would actually lose some weight, but nope, the food is to good.
6. I have been given the nickname of "Team Chef". Yeah, I know, shocking. But I have cooked chicken teriyaki with sauteed veggies, fried chicken with fried potatoes and macaroni and cheese, bbq chicken with grilled veggies and soy beans, and stuffed bellpeppers with hamburger meat and chesse. Yeah, I have cooked more here than I ever have. And those are just the lunch's that I cooked.
7. I get stared at every time I walk down the street. It's because I'm white.
8. Whenever we are waiting for the train, it gives me the excuse to sing "I hear a train comin'......". Haha, gotta love Johnny Cash.
9. I have spent so much on souvenirs.....for other people, and not for myself.
10. Tyler and I stayed up until 1:30 the other night talking about FFA. Minus two geek dollars Jordan...
11. I love the LST Fairy!
12. Seving God is so cool.
13. The bugs and fruits are bigger in Japan, everything else is very small.
14. One out of 7 days will be rain free.
15. I did not bring a rain poncho.
16. I have taken a ridiculous amount of pictures.
17. Serving God is so cool.
18. I want to come back next summer.
19. I am not home sick, but food sick.
20. It's ok to be jealous. If I was me, I would be jealous too.
21. Readers are so sweet and fun.
22. Discouragement comes easily, but I just think of why I'm here.....serving God is so cool.
23. Hannah leaves me cool myspace messages.
24. I think I bug Hannah with my myspace messages.
25. Hannah is going to have so many gifts when she gets back....more than anybody because whenever I walk by something it goes like this "Oh Hannah would like that!", and then there is a slap across my face and I tell myself no! Enough already! Gosh!
26. I will be broke when I get back to Texas.
27. I refer to the church as "home".
28. Tokyo is so crowded and bright.
29. There are temples everywhere.
30. I need to stop writing......
1. Japan is just so awesome. We should all come to Japan at least once.
2. Serving God is so cool.
3. The people rock. That's all there is to it.
4. The food is so good.
5. Since we walk everywhere I thought that I would actually lose some weight, but nope, the food is to good.
6. I have been given the nickname of "Team Chef". Yeah, I know, shocking. But I have cooked chicken teriyaki with sauteed veggies, fried chicken with fried potatoes and macaroni and cheese, bbq chicken with grilled veggies and soy beans, and stuffed bellpeppers with hamburger meat and chesse. Yeah, I have cooked more here than I ever have. And those are just the lunch's that I cooked.
7. I get stared at every time I walk down the street. It's because I'm white.
8. Whenever we are waiting for the train, it gives me the excuse to sing "I hear a train comin'......". Haha, gotta love Johnny Cash.
9. I have spent so much on souvenirs.....for other people, and not for myself.
10. Tyler and I stayed up until 1:30 the other night talking about FFA. Minus two geek dollars Jordan...
11. I love the LST Fairy!
12. Seving God is so cool.
13. The bugs and fruits are bigger in Japan, everything else is very small.
14. One out of 7 days will be rain free.
15. I did not bring a rain poncho.
16. I have taken a ridiculous amount of pictures.
17. Serving God is so cool.
18. I want to come back next summer.
19. I am not home sick, but food sick.
20. It's ok to be jealous. If I was me, I would be jealous too.
21. Readers are so sweet and fun.
22. Discouragement comes easily, but I just think of why I'm here.....serving God is so cool.
23. Hannah leaves me cool myspace messages.
24. I think I bug Hannah with my myspace messages.
25. Hannah is going to have so many gifts when she gets back....more than anybody because whenever I walk by something it goes like this "Oh Hannah would like that!", and then there is a slap across my face and I tell myself no! Enough already! Gosh!
26. I will be broke when I get back to Texas.
27. I refer to the church as "home".
28. Tokyo is so crowded and bright.
29. There are temples everywhere.
30. I need to stop writing......
Saturday, July 22, 2006
sharks, penguins, and beef bowls
Today was such a great day. Like always, let me start from the beginning. LST has been coming to Taga church for 11 years now. Sugao, the preacher, always has a "Sugao Day". He always takes the team out for the day. Today he picked us all up at the church at 9am. We headed to Mito, which is about 30 minutes away. He took us to this ginormous aquarium! I have never in my life been to an aquarium, let alone a 7 story one! It was amazing. Sugao had a coupon so we all got in for only 1400 yen. Good price. We started walking in, and the tanks were massive. I work at a pet store, and I stare at fish all day, and our place is punny compared to this! When you first walk in, there are these huge circle tanks each with a different breed of fish. Most of them are salt water. They are huge! We got to the aquarium at a little after 10, and the dolphin show had already started. The show is on like the third floor, but in the first floor you can go into this huge room and the entire wall is made of glass. You can see the dolphins up top and when they go to swim under the water, it looks like they are coming right at you. It was awesome! Wow. We watched the dolphins for quite a while, and then started walking again. There is an outdoor exhibit, so we hit that up next. First, there is an area of what the ocean looks like. There are 1 billion (well, maybe not that many) types of seaweed, and they had every single one in the water. There are all these fish and starfish and etc. living in there. From the outside you can see right into it, and from the inside it follows along the entire wall and the whole wall is made of glass. Next, we went to this area with a California Seal. What a majestic creature. He was loud, but super cool. Next, there were none other than penguins!! REAL LIFE PENGUINS! Like a hundred of them. They were the Humboldt penguins and they were so cool. The were all swimming around and having a good ol` time. Hannah, I took a video for you to look at when I see you. Took pics for you as well. Your welcome. By the way, the ocean is like staring you in the face, and the entire aquarium is right there on the ocean. What a beautiful place! It was such a beautiful day today, with finally no rain, and the waves were really kickin' it so there were tons of surfers out. It was pretty cool. We then went back inside and began to look at more exhibits. We walked into this one area and all of a sudden you are surrounded by blue on every side of you. You are walking under this huge tank and there is a diver in there with a camera showing you all these fish. And of course, it is all glass. On the top of the water were 10,000 sardines swimming their little hearts out. There was also this huge sea turtle in there. There were a ton of sting rays, and some were huge! There were lots of sharks in there and a ton of eels. It was so cool. Some of these fish were bigger than the diver. Sugao was with us so he served as our translater. It was very cool. I got a really good picture of the sardines on the top of the water. The diver had the camera and was on the bottom of the tank and showing us this huge sand eel, and all of a sudden this shark took off and grabbed a mouthful of sardines. A few managed to run away, but it scared the diver so bad! It was actually pretty funny. After that, we went into the "deep sea" section. We saw all of these jelly fish, tons of different sizes and breeds. We also got to see illuminated fish. Those were the coolest things I have EVER saw. Their eyes and mouths glow! The tank is dark, and you can see all of these blue lights swimming all over the place. There is a button you can push that turns on a light briefly, and these fish are huge! The lights on them are so small, so you are expecting a small fish, but these guys were like 6 inches long. The fish do not like the light by the way. They go and hide in the rocks when the lights are on. That was the only place that we could not take photos. We then went upstairs, and while on the escaltor, I just happened to look up. What I saw I will never forget. A huge hammer head shark, and a huge other sharks were swimming over my head! WOW! What a scary feeling that was. I cannot remember the names of all the sharks, but whatever kinds of breeds there are, they were all in the tank. I think there was even a juvenile great white in there. A bunch of them had wonds and gashes on their bodies from where they have been fighting. That tank is death waiting to happen. Did you know that sharks have like 6 rows of teeth? Who da thunk? Anyways, I stood there mesmerized for a good while. I took a few pics and got a really good one with a shark swimming by with an open mouth. In that tank there were also these huge devil rays and sting rays. Some of those suckers were so big that I could have curled up and slept on one and been comfortable. I`m telling you, these are huge, and the tank was like the size of like 3 olympic size swimming pools and probablyh even bigger than that. Very deep too. Ouch. Next, there was a smaller tank with smaller sharks in there. The tank was not as big and the sharks were babies, but there were a lot of hammer heads in there. I did not know that the eyes were on the ends of the "hammer". Pretty cool. Then, they had these little bitty tanks full of little bitty baby sharks. They were really cute, and did not look that mean, but still, I probably would have lost a finger or two. Keep going and there are all of these other tanks full of fish and cool stuff. More eels, and even more huge sea turtles. They reminded me of the turtles in "Finding Nemo", and they looked just like that. Pretty cool. We started to move out of there, and in this one tank was this huge octopus. I mean, this guy was huge!!! Literally, like 2 feet long, and probably that tall. Whenever it would spread out, it was beautiful. There were also these huge Snow King Crabs, and they looked delicious, sorry to say! We walked out into this little souvenir and restaurant area and there in one of the glass cases was a huge Great White Shark, stuffed of course. Sugao told us that it was caught about 10 years ago in Hitachi. Can you believe that? This dude was huge, and some guy just went and caught him in the ocean. Pretty cool. I bought a few little things at the souvenir shop, and it was about noon so we all sat down and ate a snack. We then went up to the sixth floor and saw there huge tanks with MORE PENGUINS! These were the Tufted Penguins, you know the kinds with the long yellow eyebrows. The ones that look scary. They were the cutest things. No pictures though. When they dive under the water, their wings look like bat wings. Pretty cool. We then moved on and saw this otter. He was in a talk all by himself and having a blast. We saw an old momma otter that was also in her own tank. She was pretty old and almost solid grey. It was almost 1, so we made our way to the dolphin show. We saw the whole show from under the water last time, and this time we had seats inside the arena. There were two bottle nosed dolphins, one big dolphin (cant remember the kind) and two small fast dolphins. Ok, I always knew dolphins were smart, but these guys were amazing! Wow. The trainers did all these tricks with them and it was so cool. This one dude surfed on the big dolphin, and the two bottle nosed dolphins pushed the other two trainers by their feet with their noses. Pretty cool. Then, the trainers would go down under the water, and the dolphins would go down and fling them out of the water. Pretty cool. Then, a seal came out and did some amazing tricks. I was so busy watching the show that I forgot to take pics. The dolphins came back out and did some more amazing tricks. They can jump so high! The seats were pretty far away from the tank, but still the bottom 4 rows got pretty wet. It was so much fun. By the way, this is all inside, and the back wall is huge glass sheats, so it looks like you are in the ocean. Pretty cool. We then went to the hands on exhibit. There is this huge tank that you can go and stick your hands in there and grab all sorts of things. There are all these types of starfish, sea urchins, crabs, anemones, and all sorts of other things. There are these workers there that make sure you do not hurt the fish, and this lady kept putting all of these things in my hand. It was really cool. The sea urchins were pokey, and when you picked them up they would move in your hands and it was such a cool feeling. What a cool exhibit! It was about 2, so we made our way out of the aquarium. In the car, I told the others that that was my first time to go to an aquarium, and see dolphins, penguins, seals, sharks, etc. How cool is it to say that I got to see all of that stuff in Japan. Tyler and Bryan said San Antonio, Tyrel said California, and Jordan said Japan. Yeah, mine has a nicer ring to it. By the way, I now still know nothing about fish, and learned nothing new about fish, so sorry Bonnett Pet Center. I do, however, know what a shark feels like, know what sound a seal and dolphins make, and got poked by a sea urchin. Not a bad day if I do say so myself.
We were all pretty hungry so Sugao took us to eat lunch. It is this place where you can get bowls. Hang on, let me describe it. I got a beef bowl, loaded with cheese. In it is rice, beef, onions, and cheese. It was so delicious! And very cheap. It was only 420 yen. We then wanted to go and get a few souvenirs so we hit the stores. Mito is the biggest city in Ibaraki prefecture. A prefecture is like a state, and Mito is a town in the prefecture. A huge town. Sugao took me to a sports store and I finally got dad's gift. We then went to this really cool shop that was like 4 stories high. They had these beautiful silk wall hangings, and I bought a very very very pretty one. It is blood red with the picture of a Giesha turning around. Pretty cool. It is 100% silk and was only 1650 yen. Not bad Jordan, not bad. By the way, this one is MINE, no one better try to take it ok? We all walked out of there with some great stuff. We hit up some more shops and we all blew most of our money. I told Tyrel that I am glad we waited to go to Mito on our last week, instead of before because I probably would have spent more money. We are all going Sunday night to see Pirates of the Caribbean, and I am so stoked! I can`t wait. Who-hoo. That, my friends, is another experience worth writing down. Seeing an American movie in Japan. How cool is that? Just say it, it's ok to be jealous. We then went inside this huge mall (we could fit like 4 of our malls in there) and hit up a kimomo shop. I was telling the guys that I have only bought like 2 things for myself this entire trip, and all of these other amazing gifts for others that I have totally forgot to buy things for me. I have bought all of these things for Hannah, and Tyrel stopped me from buying her something more. I had to stop him from buying more for his fiancee. We saved each other quite a bit of money! It was funny. Anyways, it was about 6:30 so we decided to go home. Sugao dropped the guys off at Omika, and took us back to the church. What an amazing day we had. So much fun. Tomorrow is our last party, and it is a Texas Party. It will be a lot of fun. Only 4 more days of reading sessions folks! Wish us luck as we begin to wrap up these lessons. God has blessed me with so much on this trip. I'm sorry this post is so long, so thank you all for hanging in there and reading it all the way through. Thanks so much. Love you all, and continue your prayers!
We were all pretty hungry so Sugao took us to eat lunch. It is this place where you can get bowls. Hang on, let me describe it. I got a beef bowl, loaded with cheese. In it is rice, beef, onions, and cheese. It was so delicious! And very cheap. It was only 420 yen. We then wanted to go and get a few souvenirs so we hit the stores. Mito is the biggest city in Ibaraki prefecture. A prefecture is like a state, and Mito is a town in the prefecture. A huge town. Sugao took me to a sports store and I finally got dad's gift. We then went to this really cool shop that was like 4 stories high. They had these beautiful silk wall hangings, and I bought a very very very pretty one. It is blood red with the picture of a Giesha turning around. Pretty cool. It is 100% silk and was only 1650 yen. Not bad Jordan, not bad. By the way, this one is MINE, no one better try to take it ok? We all walked out of there with some great stuff. We hit up some more shops and we all blew most of our money. I told Tyrel that I am glad we waited to go to Mito on our last week, instead of before because I probably would have spent more money. We are all going Sunday night to see Pirates of the Caribbean, and I am so stoked! I can`t wait. Who-hoo. That, my friends, is another experience worth writing down. Seeing an American movie in Japan. How cool is that? Just say it, it's ok to be jealous. We then went inside this huge mall (we could fit like 4 of our malls in there) and hit up a kimomo shop. I was telling the guys that I have only bought like 2 things for myself this entire trip, and all of these other amazing gifts for others that I have totally forgot to buy things for me. I have bought all of these things for Hannah, and Tyrel stopped me from buying her something more. I had to stop him from buying more for his fiancee. We saved each other quite a bit of money! It was funny. Anyways, it was about 6:30 so we decided to go home. Sugao dropped the guys off at Omika, and took us back to the church. What an amazing day we had. So much fun. Tomorrow is our last party, and it is a Texas Party. It will be a lot of fun. Only 4 more days of reading sessions folks! Wish us luck as we begin to wrap up these lessons. God has blessed me with so much on this trip. I'm sorry this post is so long, so thank you all for hanging in there and reading it all the way through. Thanks so much. Love you all, and continue your prayers!
Thursday, July 20, 2006
So sad
Alright, last night my first reader finished. She cannot come any more. It made me so sad to realize that it is actually almost over. I knew that it was coming, of course, but all of a sudden reality hits me. I am so sad to leave this wonderful place. We only have 4 more days of reading sessions! I want to stay here and continue working. Six weeks is such a long time, but I want to stay longer. we have been here pouring our heart out to these people, and most of them are finally opening up to us. They have begun to ask us difficult questions and really want to learn more! It is so exciting. So, I guess the time comes for me to face reality and accept the fact that it will soon come to an end. I have made life long friends and the memories I made here will always be with me. These things are so important to me. When I get back to the states, I will be thinking about that one reader. What is she up to? How is her spiritual journey going? Then I will look back and remember that other reader, and the great questions that she asked me. I could always tell when God made her ask the question. Amazing. So now is the time to begin giving out the reader gifts. I bought like 20 of these little crosses that are silver and come with a bookmarks with John 3:16 on them. For some, I got these little lapel pins that each have different things on them. I brought along with me on the trip one of my devoltional books, and am debating whether or not to give to this one reader who is really seeking. I showed it to her and she loved it. She has been studying the Bible for about 6 years now. Praise God! She is so close, I can feel, and so can she. As the rain falls gently on the roof, I am reminded of home. Will I ever return to this wonderful place? Hopefully so!! Next year even! That would be awesome. I miss home, and want to go back, but I love it here and want to stay. Oh well, the time comes for all good things to end. I guess that I am thinking that when I do get back home, I will always think of this summer and the work that we did. I spent my summer serving God and doing His work. When I get back to school, and go back to work, I will feel almost useless. I mean, for 6 weeks I have been nothing but a servant. When I get back I will fall into this usual routine that I love. Be with my friends and family that I love. I do not get depressed at all, but this is slightly depressing. Oh well, I`m sure that when the time comes for me to board that plane, I will not think twice about it. Some good ol` Mexican food here I come!! Sweetened ice tea, down ya go! I can`t wait to tell you all of my amazing stories that I have not posted on my blog. Things are great with us, but we are at that point of the trip where reality has hit. Soon, we will be home and have all of the precious memories. Take care guys!!
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
A three-fold utopian dream
OK, I know I never see rain at home, but come on! For three straight days it has been pouring down. Not a nice little drizzle either, but a horrendous downpour. It has been a constant stream of wetness, and it is making me sad. My party is tomorrow, and it was suppose to be outside, so it looks like that option will be cut. Oh well, we will still have fun. Anyways, Monday was a great day. It was Ocean Day, and I am sure that no one was out at the ocean. Big surprise huh? Step outside and you could get soaked. Since we walk everywhere, it is a problem keeping our clothes dry. We have umbrellas, but they do not get the job done. Sorry, I got way off topic. Where was I....oh yes Monday. Anyways, I ran out of money so I had to go to the post office and use the ATM there. I got out like 10,000 yen, which is like 93 dollars. I hope that will last me the rest of the trip, but probably not. Tyler and I were hungry so we went to our favorite place-7-11! Who-hoo. Yeah, that`s right, in the pouring rain! The guys came back from lunch with the Okabe`s and we all just hung out at the church. We were getting our postcards written, which were suppose to be in the mail last week, whoops! We were all getting a little bit of cabin fever, so we decided to run to Hitachi. Our train left at 4:46. We went to the 100 yen store and I bought a whole lot of souvenirs. I hope everybody likes chopsticks because I bought like 20 pair. I`m sure that I forgot gifts for some people, so I am sorry in advance. We were all starving so we ate at our second favorite place-McDonalds. Hey, it`s cheap, and pretty good! We were all tired so we hopped on the 6:58 train and headed back home. First of all while in Hitachi (which is about the size of Lubbock) we ran into some of our readers. That was kinda cool. Next, we were inside of this huge mall and we ran into Judith. Small world huh? Then, on the train home we ran into this girl from Oklahoma Christian that is studying at Ibaraki Christian and goes to Taga church. Wow. What a day of "run-ins" with people we knew. How cool was that? Being in Japan for only 4 weeks and running into all these people. Awesome. We walked back to the church, in the pouring rain, and just stayed there for a while. The guys caught the 9:09 train home, so Tyler and I watched a movie and then went to sleep.
Today, I woke up to a now familiar sound-beating rain. I took a shower and got ready for my day. It was pretty busy, 6 readers in all. The one good thing about the rain is that it has cooled off tremendously. Whew, what a relief. The day started off well. I had my 10:00 reader, and then I went to the bank with Tyrel. Our LST funds were dry, so Tyrel went and cashed some travelers checks. We then got back to the church and it was around noon, so we all went to Woody`s again and got some wonderful Italian food. The LST fairy showed up and paid for lunch. Aw, how sweet! I then had a 2:00 reader, and I got some good results from her. She has been really shy, but today she opened up, and asked a lot of questions. What a breath of fresh air. She was wonderful. I then had a break so I went with Tyler to the stationary store so she could buy some more postcards. My 4:00 reader showed up, and she had two gifts for me. She was the one that took me to buy the ukata, the summer kimono, anyways she brought me an obie, it is the tie that goes around the ukata with thje big bow in the back, and she also brought me some sandles that you wear with the ukata. Wow! How sweet is that? The sandles are the traditional Japanese wooden sandles that are very uncomfortable but you only wear them like once a year. It was so cool to get those gifts from her! she is so sweet, but she hates to read. She just wants to talk. Normally that would be alright, but we are suppose to be reading about Jesus (say it with a southern accent, it is funnier and just sounds cool- JAYSUS! Caitlin knows what I`m talking about). Anyways, she is sweet, but lacks motivation. I then had a break, so I walked to the post office to mail my postcards.
My 6:00 showed up, and she is a young 17 year old girl. She is the granddaughter and daughter of church members here and has just recently been interested in Christianity. She is super shy, but today she really opened up. We were on this one lesson, and it talks about the guy who planted the seeds and some fell on the thorns, the rock, and the side of the road, while the rest grew out in the good land. I asked her what kind of seed she was, and she explained that she was the kind that is one the side of the road. She explained that she believes, but whenever something bad happens the devil makes her not believe. She said that she wants to be the seed on the good land though. She wants to become a Christian but is still hesitant. Can I get an AMEN?? Praise God! Wow. What a statement. I love her and I hope that Christ can come to her and offer her some peace. Pray for her. My next reader I love to death! She is like 25 and as sweet as can be. She likes to read the Bible and has been studying it for like 7 years. She is very open to Christianity. God is really working in these two young girls. My last reader I also love. She is Tomomi and she is a blast. She is also a young girl, and the reason she came to LST was for a homework assignment. She goes to Ibaraki Christian and one of her asignments was to go and visit a church. She happen to come on the day of our info meetings and signed right up for classes. I see God slowly beginning to take light in her and she notices it too. She is trying to fight it, but is not doing a good job. Slowly, the light shines through. We went out to eat tonight and she actually prayed before we ate! How cool is that? Anyways, that was my wonderful day. All four of us are so wiped out, and days like this come around and we rejoice and celebrate. God lifts me up just enough to get me through each day. With the rain and the stress dragging me down, a day like today lifts me up! I thank God for things as small as this. This morning was very hard for me to get up, but I can`t wait until tomorrow! Hope all is great with all of you. I mailed out 20 postcards so most of you should get one. If not, it got lost in the mail and I am sorry. I am putting up pictures on the blogsite as we speak, so enjoy those next! Take care people and have a wonderful day as I am about to go to sleep.
Today, I woke up to a now familiar sound-beating rain. I took a shower and got ready for my day. It was pretty busy, 6 readers in all. The one good thing about the rain is that it has cooled off tremendously. Whew, what a relief. The day started off well. I had my 10:00 reader, and then I went to the bank with Tyrel. Our LST funds were dry, so Tyrel went and cashed some travelers checks. We then got back to the church and it was around noon, so we all went to Woody`s again and got some wonderful Italian food. The LST fairy showed up and paid for lunch. Aw, how sweet! I then had a 2:00 reader, and I got some good results from her. She has been really shy, but today she opened up, and asked a lot of questions. What a breath of fresh air. She was wonderful. I then had a break so I went with Tyler to the stationary store so she could buy some more postcards. My 4:00 reader showed up, and she had two gifts for me. She was the one that took me to buy the ukata, the summer kimono, anyways she brought me an obie, it is the tie that goes around the ukata with thje big bow in the back, and she also brought me some sandles that you wear with the ukata. Wow! How sweet is that? The sandles are the traditional Japanese wooden sandles that are very uncomfortable but you only wear them like once a year. It was so cool to get those gifts from her! she is so sweet, but she hates to read. She just wants to talk. Normally that would be alright, but we are suppose to be reading about Jesus (say it with a southern accent, it is funnier and just sounds cool- JAYSUS! Caitlin knows what I`m talking about). Anyways, she is sweet, but lacks motivation. I then had a break, so I walked to the post office to mail my postcards.
My 6:00 showed up, and she is a young 17 year old girl. She is the granddaughter and daughter of church members here and has just recently been interested in Christianity. She is super shy, but today she really opened up. We were on this one lesson, and it talks about the guy who planted the seeds and some fell on the thorns, the rock, and the side of the road, while the rest grew out in the good land. I asked her what kind of seed she was, and she explained that she was the kind that is one the side of the road. She explained that she believes, but whenever something bad happens the devil makes her not believe. She said that she wants to be the seed on the good land though. She wants to become a Christian but is still hesitant. Can I get an AMEN?? Praise God! Wow. What a statement. I love her and I hope that Christ can come to her and offer her some peace. Pray for her. My next reader I love to death! She is like 25 and as sweet as can be. She likes to read the Bible and has been studying it for like 7 years. She is very open to Christianity. God is really working in these two young girls. My last reader I also love. She is Tomomi and she is a blast. She is also a young girl, and the reason she came to LST was for a homework assignment. She goes to Ibaraki Christian and one of her asignments was to go and visit a church. She happen to come on the day of our info meetings and signed right up for classes. I see God slowly beginning to take light in her and she notices it too. She is trying to fight it, but is not doing a good job. Slowly, the light shines through. We went out to eat tonight and she actually prayed before we ate! How cool is that? Anyways, that was my wonderful day. All four of us are so wiped out, and days like this come around and we rejoice and celebrate. God lifts me up just enough to get me through each day. With the rain and the stress dragging me down, a day like today lifts me up! I thank God for things as small as this. This morning was very hard for me to get up, but I can`t wait until tomorrow! Hope all is great with all of you. I mailed out 20 postcards so most of you should get one. If not, it got lost in the mail and I am sorry. I am putting up pictures on the blogsite as we speak, so enjoy those next! Take care people and have a wonderful day as I am about to go to sleep.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Cinnamon and karaoke
Ok, so we had church Sunday morning like always. Tyler and I had to give our testimonies so Sugao translated for us. After we gave our testimonies we were asked questions and stuff about our faith and our lives. It was great. Then came church, and Rusty preached. After the service we had a potluck dinner. Wow, what an emourmous amount of food. It was all delicious! Um, I don`t know how many of you know this, but I am allergic to cinnamon. Well, Rusty had brought these snacks for everyone to try and I ate a couple (5). They were delicious. They tasted like the cereal Golden Grahams which has no cinnamon in them. Well, these snacks did have cinnamon is them. Yeah, I didn`t realize that I was eating cinnamon. Then, for dessert, Rusty`s wife Laura made this wonderful apple torte cake and it too had cinnamon. After I had already eaten the little cinnamon things, Bryan and Tyrel told me that they had cinnamon in them. Thanks guys, a little late huh? Anyways, I felt fine, so I figured it was not that much cinnamon. I had 4 reading sessions that day, so my 2 is a church member, so she was already there. We went through the lesson, and I was having a hard time. After the lesson, Bryan looked at me and told me that I should probably lay down or something. I don`t know how to describe it, but I felt wierd. My skin was itching, my tongue was burning, my head was spinning, and I could harldy stand up! I was worried about my readers, but Bryan covered for me. He had no readers Sunday so he just picked up the rest of mine and I went upstairs and slept. Tyrel followed me up there and told me that they would come wake me up at about 5. I had a reader a 3 and 4, and my break was at 5. He said that then I could eat something and if I wanted to I could do my 6:00 reader. I did not disagree. I do not remember what happened next. Next thing I know, Bryan is standing over me, waking me up. He tells me that it is 5:40. I get up and go downstairs, and I am feeling nauseous. Maybe it was because I had not eaten anything. Anyways, my 3:00 reader was still there at the church. Her name is Michi and she is 21. She is so sweet! I love her to death. Anyways, my 6:00 reader had showed up, and she is an 18 year old high school student named Ayaka. They both looked so concerned, and wanted to help me. Judith explained to them what happened to me. Anyways, 6:00 rolls around, and Bryan gets up to go read with Ayaka. I looked up at him and he basically tells me to go eat, and don`t worry about it. I honestly did not feel like reading, but I felt that Bryan had already done to much. Anyways, Michi was still there and her friend Mayumi who is one of Tyler`s readers. Tyrel and Tyler did not have readers at 6, so they were all hungry. The two girls told me that rahmen would be good for my stomach. The noodles are healthy and the broth is filling. The 5 of us walked down to the rahmen shop and I had a bowl of Shio rahmen. It was delicious. I had never tried that one, and it was so good. If you like bean sprouts, then you will like this one. They are not small, shredded bean sprouts, but thick fresh ones. They are so good. I immediatley began to feel better. We walked back to the church, and Bryan was finished with my reading session. We had a karaoke party at 7 at Cosmo World, so we were all going to meet at the church. There were about 17 of us, so we all walked to the karaoke place. All the way, Ayaka talked to me, and Michi helped me walk. Not that I needed help, she just is so sweet. Ayaka loves Coldplay and Daniel Powter, as do I, so I told her that we would sing a duet together. We got 2 rooms, and we sang for 2 hours. It was so much fun. I did several songs, none by myself because I am a terrible singer. I even did Johnny Cash- Ring of Fire. Hahaha. Yeah, it was terrible. Ayaka and I did a couple of duets together and the night turned out to be a blast. I felt great after the rahmen, and the melon soda that I had at karaoke was delicious. All the way to the church I told Bryan that I am paying for the rest of his dinners for the trip. He just laughed, but did not tell me no. So anyways, that was my Sunday. Fun filled and excited huh??
Today, Monday is a national holiday. It is called Ocean Day. This is the day to officially mark the beginning of summer and the beaches are now open. They are always open, but now you have to pay to park ans stuff. I dont know. Anyways, we have no readers today but it is raining (big surprise) and everything is closed, so there is nothing to do. The guys are eating lunch with the Okabe family. Tyrel teaches Mr. Okabe. He is a tough old man who knows more about the Bible and Christianity then anybody. He just will not make that step. Bryan teaches Mrs. Okabe. She is already a Christian so she is fun to work with. Tyler and I have to find something for lunch now, so take care guys and my lunch will be cinnamon free!!
Today, Monday is a national holiday. It is called Ocean Day. This is the day to officially mark the beginning of summer and the beaches are now open. They are always open, but now you have to pay to park ans stuff. I dont know. Anyways, we have no readers today but it is raining (big surprise) and everything is closed, so there is nothing to do. The guys are eating lunch with the Okabe family. Tyrel teaches Mr. Okabe. He is a tough old man who knows more about the Bible and Christianity then anybody. He just will not make that step. Bryan teaches Mrs. Okabe. She is already a Christian so she is fun to work with. Tyler and I have to find something for lunch now, so take care guys and my lunch will be cinnamon free!!
Saturday, July 15, 2006
These Days
So I have been listening to Rascal Flatts lately, and this is one of my favorite songs. It sums up the past two days perfectly. Friday was great. We woke up for an early game of basketball. The 4 of us met up with some of our readers and played at Mike`s house. It was so much fun, but it was so hot. It was actually only about 80 degrees, but the humidity was 100%. Wow. It looked like we had jumped in the pool and gone swimming. We played for a couple of hours, and then they had to go to school. The rest of the day we just sat around and chilled. It was great to just sit and relax all day. We actually turned on the AC because it was almost unbearable. We then got the idea that the two girls that played basketball that morning, we invited over for dinner. Bryan cooked burgers, I fried up potatoes, and we had a huge feast. The girls loved it. It was lovely. We had a great time hanging out with the two of them.
Today was a blast! Bryan`s reader Kiyomi invited us all to spend the day with him. He is the fire marshall of the Hitatchi area, so he let us go out on the fire boat. We spent over an hour out in the ocean and it was wonderful. We then went to his house and made our own lunch. We made soba noodles. It is a type of buckwheat noodle that is served cold and it is delicious. You cook them for only 5 seconds and then you put then under cold water for a second. They are amazing! His wife also cooked some wonderful tempura. I am addicted to the food here! (Well, some of it). It was about 1, and we had nothing to do until 3. Kiyomi is a huge fan of The Beatles. We sat around and sang a whole bunch of Beatles songs and had a great time. His daughter lives in Hawaii and he showed us pics of his daughter and son-in-law, and his two beautiful granddaughters. It was about 2:30 so we made our way out to the park to climb a huge rock wall. This thing is ginormous! It is 17 meters tall, and it is so difficult. I got to about 8 meters. Tyler about 4-5, Tyrel about 8, and Bryan about 10. It was so difficult. Kiyomi went up the whole thing in about 3 minutes! The dude is 57 years old! He was like a spider crawling up a wall. It was so fun. He then took us back to the church and it was about 5. The 4 of us just hung out and had a great time. It is so much fun just us hanging out and talking with each other. Tyrel and I cooked up some gyo-za for dinner. There are no dryers here, so our clothes have had this sort of sour smell to them, so Bryan got tired of it. He was washing his clothes, and decided to throw one of his shirts in the microwave. Genius!! It actually dried and it did not smell sour. It is raining now, so all of our wet clothes are upstairs hanging to dry. We got all of the fans together and are blowing them dry. Hopefully that will work. Our shirts and stuff just plain stink. We are not sure why. But anyways, I just wanted to tell you all that short story, and I hope that you all enjoyed. The past two days have been wonderful. Basically, the best part is just relaxing. Sunday we have church, a potluck lunch, reading sessions, and a karaoke party from 7-9. It will be a blast. Monday is a national holiday, so we are off. Hopefully, we will find something to do. Saturday the 22nd, Pirates of the Caribbean comes to theaters here so we are definately going to see that. Can`t wait. The halfway point has come and gone, and it has been a blast. What an experience of a lifetime!! Wow. God has truly blessed me.
Today was a blast! Bryan`s reader Kiyomi invited us all to spend the day with him. He is the fire marshall of the Hitatchi area, so he let us go out on the fire boat. We spent over an hour out in the ocean and it was wonderful. We then went to his house and made our own lunch. We made soba noodles. It is a type of buckwheat noodle that is served cold and it is delicious. You cook them for only 5 seconds and then you put then under cold water for a second. They are amazing! His wife also cooked some wonderful tempura. I am addicted to the food here! (Well, some of it). It was about 1, and we had nothing to do until 3. Kiyomi is a huge fan of The Beatles. We sat around and sang a whole bunch of Beatles songs and had a great time. His daughter lives in Hawaii and he showed us pics of his daughter and son-in-law, and his two beautiful granddaughters. It was about 2:30 so we made our way out to the park to climb a huge rock wall. This thing is ginormous! It is 17 meters tall, and it is so difficult. I got to about 8 meters. Tyler about 4-5, Tyrel about 8, and Bryan about 10. It was so difficult. Kiyomi went up the whole thing in about 3 minutes! The dude is 57 years old! He was like a spider crawling up a wall. It was so fun. He then took us back to the church and it was about 5. The 4 of us just hung out and had a great time. It is so much fun just us hanging out and talking with each other. Tyrel and I cooked up some gyo-za for dinner. There are no dryers here, so our clothes have had this sort of sour smell to them, so Bryan got tired of it. He was washing his clothes, and decided to throw one of his shirts in the microwave. Genius!! It actually dried and it did not smell sour. It is raining now, so all of our wet clothes are upstairs hanging to dry. We got all of the fans together and are blowing them dry. Hopefully that will work. Our shirts and stuff just plain stink. We are not sure why. But anyways, I just wanted to tell you all that short story, and I hope that you all enjoyed. The past two days have been wonderful. Basically, the best part is just relaxing. Sunday we have church, a potluck lunch, reading sessions, and a karaoke party from 7-9. It will be a blast. Monday is a national holiday, so we are off. Hopefully, we will find something to do. Saturday the 22nd, Pirates of the Caribbean comes to theaters here so we are definately going to see that. Can`t wait. The halfway point has come and gone, and it has been a blast. What an experience of a lifetime!! Wow. God has truly blessed me.
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