Four 5th grade girls from one of my schools came over for a "Christmas Parfait Party." In 5th grade English class, I've been teaching a parfait lesson. The English the students learn is fruit names, the words "slice" and "slices" and how to use tell the difference... Know what?- I'll just give you a run-down of what I write on the board and then practice with them. It goes a little something like this:
A) Hello!
B) Hello!
A) May I help you?
B) Yes, I want bananas please.
A) How many?
B) Three slices.
A) Here you are.
B) Thank you!
A) Goodbye!
B) Goodbye!
That is our typical run through. After the class has practiced repeating after "Ann Sensei" they practice with pairs, and then voluteers come to the front of the room and enact the "Parfait shop."
Anywho, there's a snapshot of English class, and here are some photos of the 5th grade madness in my apartment, from 9:45am~3:15pm.
Topping off her giant fruit parfait with whipped cream!
Oh yes, a fresh manicure and a fruit parfait just make the day splendid. ;)
But, pedicures and parfaits weren't the only thing this Christmas party entailed. When I went to a missionaries conference in November, I picked up a video for children about the life of Jesus. It was originally in English, but dubbed over in Japanese. I watched this hour-long video with the girls, during which we also made parfaits. But I was surprised that they remained mostly interested throughout the entire video. It even showed Jesus being nailed to the cross (a much more child-friendly version than The Passion movie portrays, but gruesome, none-the-less.)
Then, praise the Lord, Adeng came over right as the movie was finishing. He talked to the girls in Japanese, and asked them a little bit about the movie. They understood that Jesus had been nailed to a cross, but that he came alive again. Halleluh Yah!! A seed has been planted in their minds and hearts. Please pray with me that this seed will one day sprout, grow, and bear fruit for our wonderful Savior, whom we celebrate this Christmas.
A very special shout out to my family for the three Christmas boxes they sent, and to the women's bible study at LFUMC, for your Christmas package! Thank you!! Everything is much appreciated! I love you all!!
More to come...><>...
At the end of the evening we got ride of extra drinks, cookies, and other miscellaneous items by playing "janken," the Japanese version of "rock-paper-scissors." But then it turned into the Chinese version, the name of which I'm uncertain. It was sweet!