Sushi, Coffee and Golf

June 14, 2007
Two days ago we went to a Sushi Restaurant with the Sadowitz’s and the Pena’s. The Sushi Chiefs were in the middle of the restaurant surrounded by a conveyor belt. The chiefs would prepare sushi on different colored plates, which would determine the price of the Sushi. We were seated around the conveyor belt and could choose whatever we wanted to eat as it scampered on by. Sometimes the conveyor belt would cause you to make an unwise decision under pressure. For example, one time I snatched up a tasty looking Okra dish before gaining all the information that it was coated in a slimy fermented soy bean juice. However, other times I had enough information to let things pass…such as the fresh, raw horse meat. Chris tried to pressure me into it but I just couldn’t bring myself to eat Mr. Ed. (Especially a raw Mr. Ed).

The other day I met a Japanese woman named Tomo in the Coffee Shop. She is an interesting person for two reasons: 1) She is well traveled 2) She is a Japanese woman who has read the WHOLE Bible.
She told me that she enjoyed reading the Bible but could not believe/trust (same word in Japanese) that Jesus is the Son of God. I asked her why not! She sited the example of Jesus healing the guards ear after Peter had cut it off and the example of Jesus calming the typhoon as stories that made her laugh because they were so unbelievable to her. She told me that the ideology put forth in John Lennon’s song “Imagine” summed up her beliefs. How sad! I believe she is still searching though. At this point in the conversation we were interrupted by more people coming into the shop before I had a chance to challenge her view of Jesus and His ability to demonstrate power over creation. But the Lord knows what He is doing. She has plans to come back to the Coffee Shop and I’m praying that we will be able to continue our conversation.

You may have noticed that so far it has been only women who have been coming into the coffee shop. This is probably because the men work so hard at their jobs and hobbies. Chris was telling me that the Japanese will often pick one sport/hobby and dedicate their lives to the perfection of this one thing. What a contrast to Americans who are often jacks of all trades and a master of none. A common sport in Japan that the Japanese men will dedicate their lives to is Golf. So, the missionaries here have found that one place they can connect with Japanese men is on the Golf Course. So, yesterday I went Golfing with Chris Sadowitz and Christian Pena. You might remember me writing earlier that Christian Pena is an American who is playing on the Japanese version of the PGA. The Japanese tour is probably the third best pro golf tour in the world behind the PGA and the European tour. We also met up with a Japanese man who was about my age who is on the Australian Pro golf tour. So, needles to say, I was out of my league. But so was Chris Sadowitz so I wasn’t too lonely. We played a game called “High Low”. We split up into two teams (me and Pena vs. Chris and the Japanese guy). On each hole there was a possibility of scoring two points. One point went to the team with a player with the lowest score (always one of the two pros). The other point went to the lowest team score for that hole. So, what happened a lot is that both of the pros would tie for the lowest individual score which meant that no point was awarded. Then it would be a shootout between Chris and I to see which team could get the lowest score. We ended up in a tie at the end of 18. I got a few tips from Pena on how to improve my game, which was much appreciated.
The golf course was amazingly beautiful even though the mountains were cloudy and foggy. It did pour down rain on us for 3 or 4 holes which is not too bad during rainy season I am told. The service and amenities were also amazing. If you are interested in golf, you might want to ask me about this when I get back.
Most importantly Chris and Christian were able to continue to witness to the Japanese man (I have already forgotten his name…Japanese names are hard to remember because they are so different). I heard him asking some really good questions about life which gave open doors to talk about Jesus.
Today, Michelle will be speaking at MAPS (Mothers And Pre Schoolers). She has much to share but little time to do so with taking care of Toby. Hopefully, she will be able to do so soon.