"So Santa Clause is really Ann Sensei!!"

That's right folks! Santa Clause's true identity has finally been revealed. The so called "Santa" has recently made "his" home in the tiny but mighty country of Japan, and has taken on the role of an Eigo no sensei (English teacher). It has also been discovered that Santa Clause is indeed a woman, and tall and blonde at that. Nevertheless, Japan's "Santa San" was welcomed warmly by the elementary students, who laughed and cheered, and tugged at the beard, of course!

Me, my translator, Sachimi, and my principal, "Kochyo Sensei." (from L to R)

HAHA! Actually, here's the real story: One of my teachers has a Santa suit, and asked me to wear it for the Christmas lesson, which happened to be first period. Lots of kids saw me in the outfit, and I didn't want to let any of them down, so I wore the thing all day to all my classes!

One first grader even commented- "Oh! So Santa Clause is really Ann Sensei!!"

HAHA!! They really thought I was the Santa Clause! I was amazed at how students would run up to me and wanted to touch me hand, or hug me- even though they knew it was Ann Sensei! This touched my heart, and it reminded me of Jesus- and how he wanted the little children to come to him. I would say 98% of my students have never heard of Jesus, which is truly tragic. But they do know that Santa Clause is a kind man who gives gifts- so its almost like the Santa Clause figure is "Jesus" to these kids- kind, welcoming, and miraculous! Wow.

**Making Christmas cards!!**

Miraculously I have been able to share Jesus with most of my students, through a Christmas lesson we teach. Of course, the original lesson did not include Jesus, but I asked if I could show pictures of Jesus in the manger, and pics of a manger scene, and my teacher had no problem with that. SO- I show the students these pictures and ask them if they have ever seen anything like this before. Not astonishingly, most of them say no, they have not seen pics of Jesus. I only hope that my introduction of Jesus will stick with them, and when they hear about Him in the future, their hearts will be sparked, and curiosity will turn into exploration for truth. Please continue to lift up my students. I love them so very much!

Chili Party

American traditions live STRONG- no matter where you are! When spicy chili, homemade cornbread (soaked in honey), ritz crackers covered in a plethora of ingredients, and pumpkin cheesecake call your name- you do NOT say no.

Joe, me, Molly, and Angela (from L to R below) had an American food, chili party this weekend. We are a family! Joe and Angela are the parents- of course- because they are older (and more mature), and Molly and I make GREAT kids- as we are always joking, laughing, or asking questions about something or other. Here we are!

These friends of mine have been Jesus to me time and time again-what an example! Angela housed me for two nights in a row- I even slept in her bed, and she was on the floor, she let be borrow sweatpants, she fed me breakfast. She did it all with a smile- what a servant!

And we had some fun with camera- throwing us into hysterics!! Tears all around!!

Scary Necks!!

Angela's crying... Molly's crying...

I can't breath!!!

MIRACLES HAPPEN!

Lately God has really been challenging me to not only believe what the Bible says, but to ACT on what it says, and have faith that God will show up in every situation. I often find myself thinking about God's power, and believing so much that He can and will show up when I call on His name to do something miraculous, but I have been keeing this inside, and not GOING when the Holy Spirit calls me to GO!So I was at school this past Thursday morning, sitting at my desk as usual, and getting ready to read my Bible cause I didn't have an early class.

There is a 1st grade student at this school who has some learning disabilities, or other things going on, I'm not sure what. But on this morning she was freaking out: yelling, screaming, thrashing her fists at the teachers, throwing a tantrum. She was beyond help- none of the teachers could get her to calm down. She was running, and they were actually chasing her around the school, and the principal was there too.

As I sat there, the Holy Spirit reminded me that in the Bible when this sort of thing happens, the person is always possessed by a demon, and Jesus or someone casts the demon away. I knew in my heart that this little girl was being tormented by a demon, and I KNEW that the very name of Jesus would drive this demon away, and bring her peace. I almost held back, but the Holy Spirit's calling was so strong. I got up from my desk, and followed the sound of the screams.

When I found her, one teacher was trying to pick her up off the floor but she was laying there kicking with her feet, going stiff, and still screaming and crying. I didn't know exactly how I was supposed to do this, so I just put both of my hands on her head and started speaking "In the name of Jesus, come out! In the name of Jesus, come out!" I said this probably 10 times, and as I spoke, she began to calm down, she stopped flailing, and screaming. Then one of the teachers picked her up, and I kept playing with her hair, and then started speaking "peace in the name of Jesus. Peace in the name of Jesus."
And she stopped crying.
And started LAUGHING!!!!
And I fell down!!!!!

The demon left this girl, and the peace of Jesus entered. WHY? Because I was obedient. Thats all it takes is obedience to the call. Oh my word- the HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, JESUS- they are ALIVE and WELL. When God lays it on our hearts to do something, He doesn't just send us off and wish us well- He GOES with us- every step! And its HIS power anyway, that does the task for which we are sent. We are merely vessels- which carry His Living Spirit where it needs to go, to do His work. Just like with Moses and the burning bush- God didn't send him off, God went with Moses, and performed HUGE wonders in Egypt.

Its not about us at all! WOW!!

Sunday Afternoons...

Today is Nichiyobi, or Sunday. I took a photo-documentary of my afternoon today, as requested by my parents! My main mode of transportation around Yamanashi City is my bike- there we are! I tried to get my bike in the picture, but he wasn't cooperating. I haven't named him yet...



This afternoon I visited a place called "Off-House", which is basically Japan's Goodwill. I have enough of my mother in me to live up to the phrase "One man's trash is another man's treasure!" I found some goodies at the Off-House! Finally- a complete set of small bowls, complete with lids and a serving tray. I don't think they have ever been used! Also- a set of drinking glasses. They are so me- colorful!! I'm really excited about these, because all my dishes before were one-sies, in other words- nothing matched anything else!


Autumn is becoming my favorite season. The weather is perfect, it was probably mid-70's and sunny today. This is a road near my house. These trees are "persimon trees." Persimon is the orange fruit, I don't think we have these in the States; they taste sweet, with a sort of apple texture.






I caught a cute family on a Nichiyobi bike-ride. Look at that little cherub!!




After the Off-House I went to D2, which is a big home store. You can buy nearly anything there! I bought a small pot, and some Taiyaki...




This was my lunch after D2. The fish is the Taiyaki. Taiyaki is a snack thats a waffle outside and has sweet bean paste in the middle. Its so yummy!! I dipped it in my milkshake! I'm a dipper!!



THEN- hit up the grocery store, called Ichiyama. "Ichi" means "one," and "yama" means "mountain." I guess the grocery store is called "One Mountain." Cool. Here are some pics of the isles and food options.











Notice the "Happy Halloween" sign in the picture above. They think its cool to "celebrate" Halloween... or at least have the icons present.


Shopping makes me tired, so I came home and read my bible and prayed- so rejuvenating!

GUESS WHAT?? I prayed for an opportunity to share Jesus' love with my neighbor. Then I took her some candy corn and Dove chocolate (courtesy of my package from home!) and she invited me to go on a walk tonight! GOD IS FAITHFUL TO ANSWER PRAYER!!! I am so excited to continue building my relationship with her. She speaks mostly Japanese, so communication is limited, but God is bigger than language barriers!!!

Hope ur having an awesome day!

Sionara!!

School Dayz

This is just a tiny blip of what I see everyday at school. HAHA- no I don't see kids with goblin lanterns- I just thought he was cute and I wanted him to start this blog off!

Anyway- the teachers all have their desks in one big room. We call it the teachers' room! The vice principal, secretary and school affairs teachers sit at the head of the room, and the principals office is next door. My desk is the one in the center of this picture- with the flower bag on the chair. This is Kusakabe Elementary, my Wed/Thurs. school.

As far as formalities at school, we don't call the principal by his last name, as we do other teachers. The principal of every school is called "Kochyo Sensei" which means "leader teacher." Other teachers are called by their last names and then "sensei." For example "Nezu Sensei" or "Kobayahsi Sensei" (these are teachers I teach with!). However, as the foreign teacher, my first name is difficult enough, so I am called "Ann Sensei." I hear that about a million times a day, kids exclaiming "Ann Sensei!! Hello!! Good Moning" (thats right- no "r" sound! SO cute!)

This video was taken at recess at my Yawata- my Friday school. The kids at this school are the most talented I have ever seen on these monkey bars! Although before I took these videos, I saw a couple girls fall on their heads! Take a look- its truly amazing.

This second video is better- or more extreme I would say!

Japanese children are very high-energy. The Japanese term for this is "genki." Even in the classroom some of them are loud and bouncing all over the place. In between each period students and teacher get a 5 minute break. Its a bathroom break basically, but its not unusual to see kids wrestling in the hallways, or running up and down them screaming and chasing each other. In fact that's expected. But after 5 minutes they have released their pent-up energy and are back in their seats ready to go again. Its an incredibly different system than in the US- but it seems to be working!

This month we have been hitting the Halloween lesson! So I get to talk about Jack-o-lanterns, kids in costumes, and trick-or-treating! Then we do a fun activity! These 5th graders are making pumpkin or goblin lanterns from paper. Its a simple project, but the kids are engrossed and spend lots of time on details!

The second graders make "halloween crowns" for their activity. They were thrilled to be able to color something, and then have it turned into a head piece!

Those are only a few of my many students. I love them, and they seem to like me too! I am really enjoying my job as an English teacher. The crazy part is that I don't to any grading. In fact- English is not graded at all, rather its considered an elective, or "fun class," like sewing or p.e. Interesting... because in jr. high and high school they will be graded, and they must start writing. In elementary we only do listening and speaking- no writing or sentence structure. If the 6th graders are speaking a sentence- I write it on the board and then say it- and they repeat after me until they have memorized what is sounds like. There isn't necessarily any comprehension!

School Building

Here are some photos of a basic Japanese elementary school, in this area at least.

There are sinks like this upstairs and downstairs, and yes that is soap in that little net. After lunch all teachers and students use these to brush their teeth! They also come in handy throughout the school day.

This giant metal support beam was just installed this summer, along with several others throughout the school. The elementary schools in this area all received new beams like this for extra support in case of an earthquake. I'm so glad we are up to "code!"

Everyone- students, teachers, and visitors, removes their outside shoes and dawns inside shoes upon entering the school. If you don't have indoor shoes- you get to borrow some slippers!

Every student has the exact same, slip-on, indoor tennis shoe, which is a great idea- no one is "richer or poorer." So they all put their shoes here, along with their umbrellas! Yes, Umbrellas are a must! It has rained at least once a week since I've been here! Crazy! Every school entrance looks like this- shoes and umbrellas galore!

That was a ton of info, but if you made it this far then you've completed the marathon blog!! YAY!!

Sionara!!

Tokyo- Haaiiiiii!!!!!!

Molly and I ventured to Tokyo this weekend! This was my first time, her second. We just wanted to experience it and do a little shopping! Tokyo is absolutely beyond description, size-wise. We saw only a drop, compared to the sea that Tokyo is.

We took the Chuo train line (local train) all the way there and back- about a 2.5-3 hour trip one way. When we got closer to Tokyo, we had to change trains and get onto the subway lines. We were packed like sardines standing in these trains! It was crazy! I have never seen so many people in my whole life. When we got off the train in Shinjuku (an area of Tokyo) my eyes were flooded with masses and masses of people. They were everywhere, and they just kept coming- there was no end!! We went to Shinjuku first, then rode to Shibuya to see the "Time Square" of Tokyo. Check out these pictures. Molly and I sat in Starbucks, on the second floor, and just watched the street corners fill up. Then the traffic would stop and people poured into the streets. It was like flood gates being opened, and waters gushing out.

We really didn't DO that much while in TOKYO, but we were there, and thats what counts. There's only so much a person CAN do in a city that humongous.

I wanted to find some tennis shoes to wear to school, because teachers here dress very casual in elementary school. but guess what? Even in Tokyo, they didnt' carry my size! Of course we only visited a couple stores, but still! I've decided to buy shoes online! We did step into a real Gucci store and peek at the $2000 purses. Criminy!!

Molly and I had a blast. Molly has been such a blessing! Please pray for both of us as we are seeking to do God's work here in Japan. Sometimes we're not sure what God wants us to do, but we do know we have a purpose here, and we will live to love people, if nothing else! Thank you! Hugs!!
Here is the link to the pictures from TOKYO. Sorry- the blogger wouldn't let me post pictures on this page! You may have to copy and paste it into your browser! Sorry for the extra trouble!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011927&l=fc708&id=164100495

Sushi and Samurai

I have the coolest neighbors! The lady who lives right next door to me is a school nurse, and my other neighbor is an English teacher from America. Today we had a pot luck sushi lunch at my apt.! Wow- real Japanese sushi is nothing like "American sushi." It is SO much better!!! The way the meal works is that you build your own sushi rolls. You'll see all this in the pictures, but there's a big plate of rice, and other small dishes of cucumbers, egg, raw fish, canned tuna, or whatever you like. Then you have your seaweed, called "nori," and your soy sauce and wasabi-mmm! So we sat and ate sushi after sushi after sushi, and drank our green tea, and then at some more. Japanese meals tend to be very relaxed and move at a slow pace. We enjoyed conversation while we ate, and we ate slowly, so we didn't get too full too quickly. Its a remarkable way to eat and enjoy dinner and friends- I think the US could take a few lessons! Here are the pictures!


Amanda and I also showed Hirose where we are from on my huge map! I am so thankful for my giant map, or "chizu." It comes in handy so often!

This was the first sushi party, or party of any kind that I've hosted. It will not be the last... OH- but then Amanda and I opened this mysterious box that has been in my apartment since I arrived. Wouldn't you know it- it was a sword!!! Not just any sword- I believe its a Samurai Sword!!! We will find a great use for this!

It's about time...

KONNICHIWA!!!!!
I finally set up my blog so I can share amazing stories and pictures of my adventures in Japan! I already have so many! I have lived here for 7 weeks this weekend. That doesn't sound very long, but I already feel very at home here. I have peace in my heart that this is where God wants me to be for the next two years. God has already done some amazing things since I have moved here. I found a church where I am connected, and people who I love and who love me. What a blessing!
I moved here to teach English, and that is going really well. I teach at three different elementary schools in one week. Mondays and Tuesdays I go to Goyashiki Elem., Wednesday-Thursday to Kusakabe Elem., and Fridays to Yawata Elem. I adore my students, and all the teachers are so kind to me. I will post more pictures of the schools and students later.
Since I started this blog so late, I will be working backwards and forwards at the same time, and I'll start with today...