Baptisms!

Baptisms are so exciting! On earth, and in Heaven, there is rejoicing that another soul has been won for God's Kingdom!! Recently in my church, New Life International Church, we had two young adults get baptized! Praise God, he is alive and at work in the hearts of Asian people!

The first to be baptized was Cho Kun.

"kun" is a Japanese term of endearment used for boys, like saying "little Cho." He came to Japan from China one year ago to attend Eiwa University, the same campus where our church meets. Adeng, my boyfriend, was and is instrumental in bringing Chinese students to church, and helping meet their needs as they arrive from China. Last year Adeng had a gyoza party, and invited many new Chinese students to attend. Many of these students also started coming to our church, and are still attending! Cho was the first to give his life to Christ, and we already see evidence of God's hand at work, helping others strenthen their faith too! Hallelujah!

This is Cho Kun and a friend making gyoza (Chinese dumplings) last year, upon arrival.

The second to be baptized was my dear friend Priscilla Chau.

She is from Hong Kong, and came to Japan one year ago to study Japanese at a language school. Priscilla has had God working in her heart for many years, but didn't commit her life to Christ until she started coming to church in Japan, and was encouraged to take the next step. Now Priscilla and I meet once a week for devotions and prayer, to help her build a stronger faith and get in the habit of reading God's word and praying. She is also a member of our Thursday night English Bible study group (which always ends up being bilingual= awesome!!)

Below, from right, Ewah, Priscilla, and me, at my apartment for Bible study!

Please join me in prayer for our new brother Cho Kun, and sister Priscilla, as they begin their new walk with Jesus.

Bible study girls below, from left, Ramona (Jamaica), Bethany (Washington state), Joy (Iowa), Ewah (Hong Kong), Chaung (S. Korea), Kari (Hong Kong).

*I mentioned our Thursday night Bible study. There are 6-8 girls who attend regularly, and we have a blast studying, praying, laughing, crying, and eating together. Our home countries include: Jamaica, Hong Kong, Mongolia, S. Korea, & America. This group has helped each one of us girls as we are all living in Japan, away from our families, and striving to survive in a foreign culture. God is working in each of our lives, and sharing his blessings has been powerful!

Recently, we Americans introduced Mexican tacos to our Hong Kong friends. They really liked them! What fun to share our cultures through food :)

~Spring in Nippon~

Winter has finally subsided and spring is slowly creeping into Japan. Spring brings the most beautiful of landscapes in this country. Spring (in Japanese "haru") means that all the plum (ume), peach (momo), and cherry (sakura) trees bloom, and the whole countryside becomes one big pink puff! It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. The pink flowers, above, are peach blossoms. The cherry blossom in Japan carries a very significant meaning to Japanese people. I will quote (indirectly) from a book, because the author puts it so well ....


"Cherry blossoms are a very important part of Japanese spirit. They do not fade or wither like other flowers. At the height of beauty, they drop. You see birth, beauty, death. Sakura season is the end and beginning of the Japanese school season. The Japanese fiscal season. Everything. "
~ From "Moon Over Tokyo" by Siri L. Mitchell.


Interesting, isn't it? One great tradition that comes with Sakura (cherry blossom) season is called "hanami" which literally means "flower watching." Offices, schools, families, you name it, will have hanami parties where they picnic and relax all day underneath the cherry trees, just enjoying the blossoms, and the magical shower of flower petals when the breeze blows. These parties are so popular, that some businesses will stake out or rent a "spot" in a park, even the year before. Then they'll send the man on the bottom of the totem pole to go lay blue tarps and sit in their site, very early in the morning, on the day of the party. The Japanese are serious about their sakura. I hope to attend a party this year, however I live amongst peach orchards. They're only a stroll away, and for free. Nice!


As the season for school change rapidly approaches, I'm preparing for change too. Next year I will not teach with my teaching partner, and dear friend, Sachimi Sensei. She will be moving. I'm not sure what my "post" will be next school year; the BOE could change my schedule to teach at other schools. Actually, every teacher faces this same possibility for change. Can you imagine-you are a 3rd grade teacher this year, but in one weeks' time (last week of March) you could receive news that you're being transferred to another school, maybe 45 minutes away, and you'll be moved to 1st grade. You have one week to prepare. Good luck! ... YIKES! But that's just the way it works here. I've never heard a Japanese teacher complain about it.



Here are some cute pictures from school recess. My girls are SO talented at the unicycle. It is my goal to unicycle in Japan before I leave!

Here, the boys are making paper flowers (yes BOYS making FLOWERS!), Preparing for the 6th grade graduation ceremony. The students all prepare to send the 6th graders off by decorating the gym, preparing performances and cards ... you name it, they do it! They are so awesome!

TACO anyone?

TACO! TACO! TACO!
I just said three different words in two different languages, spelled three different ways... allow me to explain.
A TACO to most of you is a crunchy or soft shell, inside of which is meat, lettuce, cheese, salsa, and what have you. Sounds delish. I could go for some serious Taco Bell right now... But in Japan, a TACO is certainly NOT a taco, for several reasons. First of all, Mexican restaurants are seriously lacking in this country- which is surprising because of the surplus of rice and veggies we grow.
Secondly, in Japanese the word TACO takes on two other meanings than that delightful Mexican wrap.
In Japanese TACO, spelled with this kanji-蛸- means OCTOPUS. If you want TACO sushi, you don't want a taco on top of sushi rice, you want OCTOPUS sushi- not my favorite.
In Japanese, TACO, spelled with this kanji- 凧- also means "kite," as in "let's go fly a kite" with Mary Poppins.
This week I've had run-ins with both of the Japanese TACOs, as I'm teaching a sushi lesson to the 5th graders, and the 2nd graders are flying kites! Kite flying after the new year is a Japanese tradition. Eating sushi is just Japanese. I'm in the right place for TACOs... but I could still go for a Taco Bell run...
So there you have it:
TACO=Mexican cuisine
TACO=Octopus, 蛸
TACO= Kite, 凧

TACO! TACO! TACO!

Christmas Party #2

Christmas Party #2 kicked off on December 26th at 9:45am!

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.

Playing with the party poppers: ribbon exploded all over my apartment!

Trying on my hats, scarves, and gloves I received for Christmas!

It's not a girls' party without mani's and pedi's!

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...><>...

Chinese Christmas, in an American's apt., in Japan

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Its been a while since I've blogged, and I have a lot to share. I'll work my way from the present, backwards.

For Christmas this year I hosted two parties in my apartment. The first was on Christmas day, and 8 Chinese college students came over. Adeng, of course, was my co-host.

These were students who have been coming to the Chinese Bible study Adeng started, and are either new believers, or interested "pre-believers!" We had a great time! They sang Christmas songs in Chinese, just beautiful. Then we ordered Pizza, from "Pizza-La" on the first floor of my apartment building. We cleaned up 2 larges and 3 mediums, two pans of brownies, and an immeasurable amount of chocolate!

Have you ever heard of the game "telephone charades?" Well we played, and since it's a charades game; no speaking, only passing of actions, I could play too! I laughed so hard, harder than I have for a long time! It was wonderful. Below, he's acting out "whining."

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!

At the beginning and end of the party we (ok, they!) sang Christmas carols in Chinese. Here's a sample of "Joy to the World." If you understand Chinese, I'm sure this will be very meaningful. If you don't, please enjoy the beauty of an unknown language praising the Known, True God!

Merry Christmas!

Fall Baking... and other events!

"There will be a day..." is playing on KLOVE-online, the breeze is blowing my curtains hay-wire, and brown-sugar-cinnamon scent hangs in the air. It's fall, it's Sunday, and that means it's time to bake!

Last week I made Starbucks recipe for pumpkin spice scones. Twice! Yea, they were that good. And of course I shared the goodness, because that is the joy of this craft- giving it away. But baking takes a few unexpected twists and turns here in Japan. The mass plethra of ingredients found in American super-markets are not so readily available here. So I emprovise, and usually end up making something comletely from scratch. The taste is always worth it! Here we have step-by-step (minus a few steps cuz I forgot to take pics!) pumpkin and scones:

So, for starters, to make pumpkin scones, I first must purchase a pumpkin and cook it down to mashing consistency...

The Japanese style of cooking pumpkin, and other veggies, is to mix some sugar, soy sauce, and dashi (fish flakes) with the water, bring to a boil, then simmer. The result is a wonderful taste, sweet, but not too sweet. Hmm... delectable would be the word.

Cook pumpkin until you can stick it with a chopstick and it does not crack or break apart.

Then it becomes usable for pumpkin pie, scones, cheesecake, or just eating it plain. Delish!

Scones in the making...

Look at that beautiful color of pumpkin, cream, and egg whisked together. (I may have even licked this spoon too. lol)
Voila! The finished product. hungry?? (I'm so mean!)

Among the missing items in my "super-market" in Japan, is granola bars. So what do I do? I make them myself!! This isn't necessarily cheap, as a small box of oats is almost $4. However, from my experience this afternoon, homemade granola bars are well worth the extra effort, extra nutrition, and extra cost. (I licked my spoons clean, and can't wait to dig into the bars!). *That's just another perk of making and baking your own goods- you get to lick everything (but don't tell your friends you did!) Dad, you'd be proud. This recipe contains NO high-fructose corn syrup, rather brown sugar, honey, and butter. I dare you to try this one! ;) I can't take all the credit for this either. I found the recipe online (see below) and adjusted it to my tastes and ingredients. I used flax seed instead of wheat germ, and dried bananas instead of sunflower seeds.

I tend to be a distastrous in the kitchen, although my end products always turn out great. For example, today I made granola bars, which required wax paper in the dish, so the bars don't stick. I openen my wax paper, and to my horror, I had about 5 inches left! EEK! I ran to my [2] neighbors, but neither were home. Hmm... would aluminum foil work? Yep! I'll make it work! Haha. One time I completely burnt the crust of a cheesecake, in my lovely little convection oven. I was mad and poured it into the trash bag. It was still really hot so it burnt through the trash bag and got all over the floor!! (the bag was hanging on the door handle.... yea my flat is teeny.) I've done all sorts of ridiculous things like that. You'll be happy to know, though, that the cheesecake story ended happily with a perfect pumpkin swirl cheesecake, enjoyed after a huge bowl of chili (this party is in my first or second blog, last year). So I like baking. As far as cooking... I'm a little terrified. I would love to learn to make these amazing chinese dumplings that Adeng's mom made for us. Chinese food is a future goal to accomplish.

Speaking of Chinese, Adeng, his sister, some friends, and I went to YOKOHAMA and China Town this week, as it was a week long holiday! They found this store where I could try on a Chinese dress and take pictures, and they insisted that I do it! I was so embarrassed... at first. Then I just decided that they wanted to do something nice and fun; make a memory, of sorts. So I went along with it, and it was actually pretty fun. I like hamming it up for pictures, but amongst hundreds of tourists, it was awkward. We got some good shots though! ;) Adeng's sister is adament that when we go to China I can get fitted and have the perfect sized dress. cool!

Recipe sources:

Starbucks pumpkin spice scones: http://www.recipezaar.com/Starbucks-Pumpkin-Scones-214051

Granola bars: http://www.joyfulabode.com/2008/04/11/homemade-granola-bar-recipe-no-high-fructose-corn-syrup-in-these-bars/

UNDOKAI

*(oon-dough-kah-ee)* Means "sports day." Saturday was sports day for all three of my schools, but me being one person, I could only attend one of them! I joined Kusakabe's sports day, and this year I was given much more to do and help with. I felt like a real part of the group this year; very accepted, possibly needed, and able to encourage and communicate!

I was on the yellow team, so I marched in with them for opening ceremony, stretching, and later became the one of the cheerleaders in impelling our team to victory! We were definitely the loudest team, and we WON sports day!! (all the games' points added together, and we had the most points!) I was jazzed! This year, I was invited to join the 3rd and 4th graders in their traditional Japanese dance. I had never practiced this dance before, I did it cold turkey, eyeing the little girl in front of me. the crown apparently thought it was hilarious that a [big] American girl was doing these Japanese moves, because there were certainly laughs and comments from the peanut gallery. :) I didn't mind though, because I enjoyed myself SO much, and I'm so thankful for my generous teachers who gave me this experience.

The Dance...

This pose struck the crowd as funny...

below, we are "fishing," pulling nets into our boats, like Peter and Andrew in the Bible.



This part was really hard, I had no idea what to do, I just followed as best I could!

The finish! I can't get quite as low as them!

Here we have the 5-6th grades doing their gymnastics routine. Pretty amazing.

Below, the surfing pose. :)

**************************************************************

Sunday, Sept. 20, I had my own UNDOKAI, and ran my first ever 1/2 marathon! (to be honest, it was only 18.4K, 1600m short of a 20K-half marathon). Nevertheless, I praise the Lord that he carried me through this rugged race through the mountains. Angela Rasmussen, a friend and teacher here, and I have been planning on running this race since June, so she joined me on today's trek. The whole race was on roads, but on steep and winding, narrow mountain roads. I plugged my earphones in, cranked the Christian music, and made a worship service of this marathon. The Lord's presence and His surrounding creation reminded me that HE was/is worthy of the best performance I can give. That motivated me up the last couple hills, and past a few more girls, whom I challenged and passed! Woo!

I came in 14th out of 243 women, and 192nd out of 1273 people overall. Angela also met her time goal and was very pleased with the race, despite the incredible challenge it turned out to be. She and I came back to my "flat" (my new word for my apt, because it sounds so much cooler!), we took showers, and then dined at a lovely little cafe in downtown Yamanashi Shi; http://www.ael-market.com/. Sadly, CAMERA wo WASURECHATA!! (I forgot my camera at lunch!) but our Yamanashi-peach-mint parfaits were the perfect icing on the cake of this day. YATTA!!! (WE DID IT!!)

Pre-race...

My new running skirt and gear. New gear gives new motivation. Yay!

Sweaty, sun-burned, and satisfied with a successful finish!!


Did you know that kiwi grows on vines, a lot like grapes?! I never would have known that, unless I lived here. Cool!

I wanted to pick it and eat it, but it wasn't mine, so I just touched it. LOL.

A pic of our parfaits at lunch, uploaded from the cafe's website. Delish!

Thanks Lord, for your gifts of health, running, and surrounding creation of people and nature!