I’m not sure how much time I’m going to have after today (Monday) to blog, so here is a quickie post.
Our team debriefing on Saturday was very good. We were given a couple hours for each person to sit on their own and think about what we have learned about Japan, about missions, and our own spiritual growth during this trip. Then we came together to discuss our experience and prepare our hearts for “reentry” to normal life.
In forty minutes Romi and I will be catching a train to the airport in Tokyo, there to say good-bye to the Kellers, Mariah and Evan. Then we will welcome the teen team from HHBC. We will proceed from there to a hotel near Mount Fujii, which we will attempt to climb on Tuesday. I’m packing my snow parka and taking my oxygen tank, as I understand that the summit is in the upper stratosphere and covered with snow. I fully expect to see a yak or two and maybe some snow bunnies bounding across the snow. I will carefully log all the wildlife I observe for blogification later. On Wednesday the teens will tour Tokyo while Romi and I return by train to the camp in order to buy enough food to feed an army for 10 days and fireworks for 4th of July fun! Hopefully we will also have time to help Mrs. Takahashi clean and set up the camp facilities as well. Then we will welcome the teens to this beautiful setting and put them to work the next day. There is a lot to be done around the camp and also in helping out some nearby churches.
I’m sad to see my team leave, but my heart is here! I’m so excited to be able to help with the Nippon Initiative’s high school trip! I’ve had a wonderful experience in Japan for the last month and I’m can’t wait to see what God has in store for me here in the future.
-Elsbeth
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Dodgin' the Bullet
6/29/07
This week the girls and I have done more traveling than a middle-aged carpetbagger with itchy feet. We took a few days off to see what Stan and Michelle have been up to down in Kyushu. We did most of our traveling via bullet train or “shinkansen,” if you want to get technical. I don’t know how many of you have ever been on a train that reaches speeds over 285 km/h, but it is not fun especially when the jerk in front of you refuses to close his window. I endured three hours of blowing and blasting winds which sent me flailing all over the compartment. I tried to stay in my seat for as long as possible but when we got up to speed the level of lactic acid in my forearms was so great that I lost my death grip and just couldn’t hang on. Most of my hair was blown straight off of my head into the lady’s clam chowder behind me and my cheeks were flapping so hard that they knocked a molar loose and I think I swallowed it. I kindly asked the gentleman in front of me several times to shut his window to which he arrogantly replied, “I have poor temperature regulation and the breeze feels nice, so you can just shut up.” Breeze? I just about lost it when he said that and all of the sudden I had a deep sinful desire to flick the back of his ear very hard and I would have had it not been for a particularly potent gust of wind that knocked me out of my seat and onto a plate of pastries that I had just recently purchased for half-price at the last train portal. That really got my goat but unfortunately the wind was so powerful that I had no choice but to lie pinned to the ground for the remainder of the trip. Needless to say when it was all over, my pastries were in no condition to be consumed but I ate them anyway and I now wish I hadn’t.
Barring the above turbulent tribulation, the trip to see the Mistaks was a success. We were able to hang out at the coffee shop for a while and Stan even whipped up some of his prefecture famous Café Ole. I have to say I’ve never had a drink so uplifting and refreshing. Upon downing the last drop, I couldn’t help but softly sing a song to myself while I reveled in the drink’s invigorating aftertaste. During our time at the coffee shop we were able to talk to some of the customers with whom the Mistaks have developed relationships. Stan and Michelle both have been doing a great job getting to know the people they meet. Most, if not all, of the people they’ve encountered have returned several times over the past month. Along with getting a taste of the coffee shop, no pun intended, we were able to meet the Carr and Sadowitz families who generously had us all over for dinner. Both families told me how they’ve fallen in love with Stan and Michelle and how much of a blessing it’s been to have them in Miyakonojo.
On Monday, the Kellers, Mariah, and I will leave for the U.S. I’m looking forward to returning home but at the same time it will be difficult to leave the friends I’ve made. God has taught me several valuable lessons here in Japan and I can’t wait to share them with the church. Thanks again for all the prayers and Lord willing I’ll see you soon; until then try to keep it real.
This week the girls and I have done more traveling than a middle-aged carpetbagger with itchy feet. We took a few days off to see what Stan and Michelle have been up to down in Kyushu. We did most of our traveling via bullet train or “shinkansen,” if you want to get technical. I don’t know how many of you have ever been on a train that reaches speeds over 285 km/h, but it is not fun especially when the jerk in front of you refuses to close his window. I endured three hours of blowing and blasting winds which sent me flailing all over the compartment. I tried to stay in my seat for as long as possible but when we got up to speed the level of lactic acid in my forearms was so great that I lost my death grip and just couldn’t hang on. Most of my hair was blown straight off of my head into the lady’s clam chowder behind me and my cheeks were flapping so hard that they knocked a molar loose and I think I swallowed it. I kindly asked the gentleman in front of me several times to shut his window to which he arrogantly replied, “I have poor temperature regulation and the breeze feels nice, so you can just shut up.” Breeze? I just about lost it when he said that and all of the sudden I had a deep sinful desire to flick the back of his ear very hard and I would have had it not been for a particularly potent gust of wind that knocked me out of my seat and onto a plate of pastries that I had just recently purchased for half-price at the last train portal. That really got my goat but unfortunately the wind was so powerful that I had no choice but to lie pinned to the ground for the remainder of the trip. Needless to say when it was all over, my pastries were in no condition to be consumed but I ate them anyway and I now wish I hadn’t.
Barring the above turbulent tribulation, the trip to see the Mistaks was a success. We were able to hang out at the coffee shop for a while and Stan even whipped up some of his prefecture famous Café Ole. I have to say I’ve never had a drink so uplifting and refreshing. Upon downing the last drop, I couldn’t help but softly sing a song to myself while I reveled in the drink’s invigorating aftertaste. During our time at the coffee shop we were able to talk to some of the customers with whom the Mistaks have developed relationships. Stan and Michelle both have been doing a great job getting to know the people they meet. Most, if not all, of the people they’ve encountered have returned several times over the past month. Along with getting a taste of the coffee shop, no pun intended, we were able to meet the Carr and Sadowitz families who generously had us all over for dinner. Both families told me how they’ve fallen in love with Stan and Michelle and how much of a blessing it’s been to have them in Miyakonojo.
On Monday, the Kellers, Mariah, and I will leave for the U.S. I’m looking forward to returning home but at the same time it will be difficult to leave the friends I’ve made. God has taught me several valuable lessons here in Japan and I can’t wait to share them with the church. Thanks again for all the prayers and Lord willing I’ll see you soon; until then try to keep it real.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
A Mistak Update
It has been a long time since I have blogged. So, I hope you can make it to the bottom of this entry.
We have settled into a routine here of working in the coffee shop. We spend most of our time there because the shop is open from 11am to 7pm Monday through Saturday. The coffee shop has a pretty good flow of people who come in for english conversation, and we have started developing relationships with those who come often. Last night we had a Japanese couple over for dinner that we met through the coffee shop. We also invited Jessica and Dan Sadowitz over to help us translate, which was very helpful. Michelle made chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and rice. Ikuko brought over a really good stew with meat, potatoes, and carrots. She also brought a tuna fish salad with spinich in it that was very tasty. And for dessert we had a Miykonojo specialty dessert that they brought with some hot tea. We enjoyed showing each other pictures and showing them where we lived in America on a map. They were kind enough to bring Toby a modern kimono styled outfit for a toddler. We will have Toby wear it when we get back in the states. It will knock you out!
Saturday was Toby's birthday. He is now officially 2 years old. However, if you ask Toby, "How old are you?" He will still loudly proclaim that he is "ONE!" But we are working on that. All of the missionaries' children that have befriended Toby here went out of their way to make Toby feel special on his birthday. They all brought him little presents and made him cards. I know that this made a big impression on Toby. Yesterday I realized that Toby was being really quite, which usually means that he is getting into trouble. So, I went to investigate, and he was just sitting in his room studing the birthday cards that his friends gave him. I wish you could have seen the look of concentration on his face!The Sadowitz's were kind enough to take us to Miyazaki to help us celebrate Toby's birthday. We went to a large mall there. We all got some coffee drinks from Gloria Jeans. Then, we took Toby to a huge play land in the Jusco.
I bought several T-shirts at the mall that have english on them that doesn't make any sense. English on your clothing is way "cool" over here. It doesn't matter what the words actually mean. Sometimes this can be quite funny. For example, I bought a shirt that says "CUT DIRT not budge an inch abbreviate". My other shirt says "usual, genuine, agency, whip along, odds, headway, candor, bask, PROPICIOUS MOMENT, piece of luck!"I was talking with our friend Nahoko in the coffee shop about this, and she said that when she travels she sees the same thing with Japanese Kanji. The funniest instance of this that she saw was a on a big, muscular, tough english man that she met in England. He had a Kanji tatooed on his neck because it looked cool, and he didn't know what it meant. She died laughing when she saw it becuase the Kanji meant "little sister".
We have been able to call our families with Skype. I found out that I can call my Mother-in-law's cell phone from Japan with my computer for a little over 2 cents a minute. Isn't that amazing! I couldn't believe it. I think she was a little surprised too because when we told her who it was that was calling her, she responded with, "Who is this!" Like we were someone just pretending to be her daughter and son-in-law.
Tom Carr was kind enough to share the pulpit with me. So, yesterday I preached from John 12 at their church here. I had two main points: 1) Mary didn't hold onto what she had until it was too late. What a better way to use her expensive perfume than on the Lord. 2) I talked about how Jesus is worthy of this kind of worship. I used this to talk about a lot of the things that Pastor Randy has taught me about Jesus' exaltation. I obviously preached in Enlgish, and a young Japanese woman named Izumi translated for me. From what I could tell she did a great job. I think I probably sounded better in Japanese than I did in English. I told the Church that this was my first time preaching in my socks and that I liked it very much.
This week Evan, Elsbeth and Mariah are coming to visit us for a few days. We are looking forward to seeing them and showing them around Miyakonojo a little.
In closing I have been compiling a list a of things that make me go Hmmmmm about Japan because they are the exact opposite of how we do them in America. I will share a few of them with you now. Pastor Doug trained us to say that things are different and not weird. Once the culture shock wears off a little, these things are interesting and fun to observe.
1. Japanese drive on the different side of the road (we drive on the "right" side). I have gotten used to this, but I still try to get in the wrong door as a passenger. Tom Carr has taught me to pretend that I am doing a safety inspection of the tires when this happens.
2. I have heard that screws work differently here. Think "Righty loosey, Lefty tighty." However, I have yet to experience this phenomenon.
3. Books start at a different end. Sometimes you might wonder why everyone else is in Revelation when you're supposed to be studying Genesis!
4. When talking about themselves Japanese people don't point to their chest but to their nose. Don't worry they are not trying to tell you that you have a booger hanging out of your nose.
5. Typhoons are really the same thing as Hurricanes the name is just different. So, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I know this because I learned about it from a reliable source: Wikipedia!
That's all for now! Congradulations on making it to the bottom.
We have settled into a routine here of working in the coffee shop. We spend most of our time there because the shop is open from 11am to 7pm Monday through Saturday. The coffee shop has a pretty good flow of people who come in for english conversation, and we have started developing relationships with those who come often. Last night we had a Japanese couple over for dinner that we met through the coffee shop. We also invited Jessica and Dan Sadowitz over to help us translate, which was very helpful. Michelle made chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and rice. Ikuko brought over a really good stew with meat, potatoes, and carrots. She also brought a tuna fish salad with spinich in it that was very tasty. And for dessert we had a Miykonojo specialty dessert that they brought with some hot tea. We enjoyed showing each other pictures and showing them where we lived in America on a map. They were kind enough to bring Toby a modern kimono styled outfit for a toddler. We will have Toby wear it when we get back in the states. It will knock you out!
Saturday was Toby's birthday. He is now officially 2 years old. However, if you ask Toby, "How old are you?" He will still loudly proclaim that he is "ONE!" But we are working on that. All of the missionaries' children that have befriended Toby here went out of their way to make Toby feel special on his birthday. They all brought him little presents and made him cards. I know that this made a big impression on Toby. Yesterday I realized that Toby was being really quite, which usually means that he is getting into trouble. So, I went to investigate, and he was just sitting in his room studing the birthday cards that his friends gave him. I wish you could have seen the look of concentration on his face!The Sadowitz's were kind enough to take us to Miyazaki to help us celebrate Toby's birthday. We went to a large mall there. We all got some coffee drinks from Gloria Jeans. Then, we took Toby to a huge play land in the Jusco.
I bought several T-shirts at the mall that have english on them that doesn't make any sense. English on your clothing is way "cool" over here. It doesn't matter what the words actually mean. Sometimes this can be quite funny. For example, I bought a shirt that says "CUT DIRT not budge an inch abbreviate". My other shirt says "usual, genuine, agency, whip along, odds, headway, candor, bask, PROPICIOUS MOMENT, piece of luck!"I was talking with our friend Nahoko in the coffee shop about this, and she said that when she travels she sees the same thing with Japanese Kanji. The funniest instance of this that she saw was a on a big, muscular, tough english man that she met in England. He had a Kanji tatooed on his neck because it looked cool, and he didn't know what it meant. She died laughing when she saw it becuase the Kanji meant "little sister".
We have been able to call our families with Skype. I found out that I can call my Mother-in-law's cell phone from Japan with my computer for a little over 2 cents a minute. Isn't that amazing! I couldn't believe it. I think she was a little surprised too because when we told her who it was that was calling her, she responded with, "Who is this!" Like we were someone just pretending to be her daughter and son-in-law.
Tom Carr was kind enough to share the pulpit with me. So, yesterday I preached from John 12 at their church here. I had two main points: 1) Mary didn't hold onto what she had until it was too late. What a better way to use her expensive perfume than on the Lord. 2) I talked about how Jesus is worthy of this kind of worship. I used this to talk about a lot of the things that Pastor Randy has taught me about Jesus' exaltation. I obviously preached in Enlgish, and a young Japanese woman named Izumi translated for me. From what I could tell she did a great job. I think I probably sounded better in Japanese than I did in English. I told the Church that this was my first time preaching in my socks and that I liked it very much.
This week Evan, Elsbeth and Mariah are coming to visit us for a few days. We are looking forward to seeing them and showing them around Miyakonojo a little.
In closing I have been compiling a list a of things that make me go Hmmmmm about Japan because they are the exact opposite of how we do them in America. I will share a few of them with you now. Pastor Doug trained us to say that things are different and not weird. Once the culture shock wears off a little, these things are interesting and fun to observe.
1. Japanese drive on the different side of the road (we drive on the "right" side). I have gotten used to this, but I still try to get in the wrong door as a passenger. Tom Carr has taught me to pretend that I am doing a safety inspection of the tires when this happens.
2. I have heard that screws work differently here. Think "Righty loosey, Lefty tighty." However, I have yet to experience this phenomenon.
3. Books start at a different end. Sometimes you might wonder why everyone else is in Revelation when you're supposed to be studying Genesis!
4. When talking about themselves Japanese people don't point to their chest but to their nose. Don't worry they are not trying to tell you that you have a booger hanging out of your nose.
5. Typhoons are really the same thing as Hurricanes the name is just different. So, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I know this because I learned about it from a reliable source: Wikipedia!
That's all for now! Congradulations on making it to the bottom.
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