From the previous post, I was bored. I cured my boredom by playing with fire. And by fire, I mean milk.
When I came to Japan in high school, I could drink milk and eat ice cream and it was no problem. I returned back to the US to find that sour cream and cheesy products were no longer friends with my digestive system. So I deemed myself lactose intolerant since then. I've had many..."accidents" involving various dairy products through the years, some of which have resulted in late night phone calls to friends as I moaned in pain about the poor life choice involved with eating sour cream.
But I've always said that since I could drink milk when I was in Japan in high school, it must be the milk that made me lactose intolerant. Well, Hokkaido has more cows than people, and they have the freshest, creamiest, smoothest, etc. dairy products in all of Japan. I told my boss the first day of work that I was lactose intolerant, so when they brought "soft cream" (a.k.a. "soft serve") to the office for our afternoon snack, he thought I was going to die; and it ran through my mind a few times as I licked my fantastic soft cream. Surprisingly, I was fine. So I tried it again a week later. Still no effect. Fantastic! Soft cream is delicious and smooth and fresh and just plain awesome.
So tonight came the real test. Drink milk. Just plain milk. I bought a tiny carton; it really should be called a juice box for milk. It's tiny. But I didn't want to chance it going any bigger. So I sat at the kitchen table and stared at it for awhile. It was like life-or-death in a little red carton starting at me. I drank it. All of it. And then I sat in silence. Waiting. Nothing happened. I walked to the store and back, and I was still fine. Two hours later, my digestive system seems to still be intact and no signs of the gurgles!
Now there are two options. I am either: 1) cured of my lactose intolerance and can eat/drink fantastic Hokkaido dairy products or 2) playing Russian roulette and will soon have a terrible dairy product encounter at the most inconvenient time. I'm hoping it's the first option, but I will continue to test this new "Japanese dairy product" theory until it's foolproof before I take it on the road.
When I started this post, it related to the topic of sin in my head, but now I don't know where that thought went. Maybe I should drink more milk...
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Boredom
Okay, so I'm bored. I have been bored all week. Actually, I've been bored since I got internet at home. Surprising, right? You think I could spend hours and hours just doing random stuff on the internet, and I have. It's a complete waste of time. It's killing brain cells as we speak. Before I had internet at home, I had to be creative with how I communicated and how to spend my time at home. Now I find myself sitting on the floor of my living room waiting for someone to come online and talk to me. A sad existence if I do say so myself. It's not that I have more to do, I just sit and wait on the floor. Perhaps it was better when I didn't have internet, and I was less bored.
In other news, I found a "new" car yesterday. I'll put up pictures when it's actually mine and in the driveway. It's definitely not amazing, but it'll last me the time that I'm here and I (hopefully) won't have to worry about it blowing up every time I drive to town. Finding a "new" car this quickly and for the price I was asking is a blessing. I am blessed to have the car I have now, but I can rejoice in the fact that a "new" car is on its way!
So in celebration of my new purchase, my friends took me to this restaurant in Nijibetsu (a sub-town about 25km northeast). They said they only go on special occasions, such as their wedding anniversary. I was confused as to why we were going on a seemingly random Saturday, but they said buying a car was a big deal and that was reason enough to celebrate with a nice meal. This place is in the middle of nowhere (like everything else out here), but it was amazing. Amazing food, amazing service, amazing atmosphere. I think I've found my new hideout during the winter!
In other news, I found a "new" car yesterday. I'll put up pictures when it's actually mine and in the driveway. It's definitely not amazing, but it'll last me the time that I'm here and I (hopefully) won't have to worry about it blowing up every time I drive to town. Finding a "new" car this quickly and for the price I was asking is a blessing. I am blessed to have the car I have now, but I can rejoice in the fact that a "new" car is on its way!
So in celebration of my new purchase, my friends took me to this restaurant in Nijibetsu (a sub-town about 25km northeast). They said they only go on special occasions, such as their wedding anniversary. I was confused as to why we were going on a seemingly random Saturday, but they said buying a car was a big deal and that was reason enough to celebrate with a nice meal. This place is in the middle of nowhere (like everything else out here), but it was amazing. Amazing food, amazing service, amazing atmosphere. I think I've found my new hideout during the winter!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Who lives in a place like this?
This was the sight I caught while biking to teach my adult English conversation class on the other side of the river. I just stopped and whipped out my camera. Because, really, who lives in a place like this? This is just spectacular.
On a side note, after class was over, this lovely older woman in my class asked me how I was adjusting to life in Shibecha. I told her I was getting used to it and getting better at finding things. She asked me if I was lonely. I was almost laughed when she asked that. I mean, I guess I had been living here in Siberia for a month now with no friends in a close vicinity. I didn't have internet at my house for a month and I didn't have a cell phone or anyone's numbers for a good chunk of time. And yet, I don't think I've ever really been lonely or felt alone. I guess that in and of itself is a blessing. It is quite isolating out here if you really think about it. But God has been good and He's been faithful. And I wish I knew how to say that in Japanese and/or simple English. That I have a God who promised to never leave me, who promised to go before to Siberia, who promised to hold my hand. No, lovely older woman in my English conversation class, I am not lonely. My Best Friend has been here all along.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday = Trash Day
Okay, so the title says it. Monday is trash day. And back in LA, trash day was cool because you could get rid of all your junk one on day and have an empty trashcan sitting in your garage ready to be filled up again. I would love to say that Japanese trash days are just as cool as LA trash days, but alas, they are not.
I have a chart on my refrigerator that breaks the trash into SEVEN different categories. And it seems pretty simple at first: burnable, non-burnable, recyclable, fresh food, big stuff, and some other categories I can't read/have been too lazy to translate. So I put my burnable garbage in the red bag. Non-burnable garbage goes in the blue bag. Fresh food garbage goes in the yellow bag. But recyclable is a PAIN. You'd think that if they wanted me to recycle, they would make it plain and simple.
They tell us not to make comparisons between Japan and LA (or wherever we originated from), but I can't help but not. In LA, we have a single recycle bin where everything recyclable goes. There is no sorting of recyclables. My Japanese recyclables are broken down into 13 sub-categories! 13 sub-categories! I didn't even know that there were that many types of recyclables! I have to "bind my newspapers" but those are separate from my "bound magazines" and my "bound cardboard." I have to cut open the juice cartons and make them lie flat and bind them as well. Plastic food containers go in their own plastic bag. Plastic drink bottles need to have their wrapper and lid removed in order to be recycled; and these also get their own plastic bag. I haven't covered most of them, but you get the idea. It's a ridiculous ordeal on Sunday night to get ready for trash day.
And I was getting frustrated last night sorting my recyclables for this morning, and I was talking to God about the whole thing--how stupid it is that I have to let my recyclables pile up in my living room and then spend an hour sorting them into different bags. Basically, I just wanted to be lazy and throw them in one bag outside. And then, it dawned on me.
I'm sorting garbage. I'm sorting through all the stuff I've deemed as useless through the week that I've let pile up on the floor of my living room. All the stuff that's stinking up my house because it's been a week since I've been able to throw it out. And how when I let Jesus in my life, He takes out all the garbage that I've let pile up in my life. He takes it all. I don't have to sort my garbage for Him to take it. He doesn't bring it back if I didn't sort it right. He said He would take all of it. He would give me a new life, a clean life, a clean slate to start over (2 Corinthians 5:17). But I have to let Him take it; I have to let Him take my garbage. I have the choice to let Him take my garbage and fill my life with His awesomeness or to hang on to the garbage and let it keep stinking up my life.
John the Baptist proclaimed, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29b ESV). He came to take away my garbage! And He doesn't ask me to sort it out before He takes it. He doesn't even condemn me for having so much garbage for Him to take away (John 3:17). He stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20). He WANTS to take my garbage and fill my house, my life with His fragrance! I can't even begin to imagine what my life would be like if I let Jesus take ALL of my garbage and replace the stench, the hurt, the wounds, the anger, the bitterness that has filled my house, my heart, my soul, my life for all these years with His sweet fragrance, His unending love, His amazing grace.
Sometimes I don't think the hardest part of giving Jesus my garbage is initially giving Him my garbage. Sometimes I think my house, my life is empty without it. If I don't have 3 months of newspapers and 15 juice cartons and an uncountable amount of plastic drink bottles stacked next to my refrigerator on floor, it looks and feels empty, different. But how crazy would it be if I ran down the street chasing the trash truck begging to have my garbage back to fill the "empty" space on my floor? But I do that all the time with the garbage I give to Jesus. He takes it out of my life and fills it with great things, better things, but that space on the floor next to the refrigerator seems empty, seems different, and I'm so used to having junk and garbage piling up that I desperately long for it to come back. And I miss out or I'll trade all the good things that He gave me to replace my garbage (Colossians 3:5-17). It sounds ridiculous, but it's true. And I find myself doing it more often than not.
You know what else is crazy? Recyclables are "trash" that get remade into something useful. Usually it's in a totally different form than what the original product was. But there's no way I could change plastic drink bottles into...playground equipment. It's not possible for me to do that on my own ( 1) I don't have that many bottles and 2) I have no idea how to make playground equipment out of plastic drink bottles). I have to give the trash man my plastic drink bottles and trust that He'll take them and make something really cool out of them. The garbage, the junk, the recyclables I give to Jesus can be transformed into something...good (Romans 8:28). But I have to trust Him to take it and transform it. I can't do it on my own. No way, no how I'm going to turn my junk, my garbage, my past into something good, beautiful, inspiring. Only Jesus can do that.
The best part about trash day is that I'm not ashamed to let people come to my house. I'm not worried about them seeing hideously out-of-control stacks of newspapers and juice cartons spewed across my living room. I'm not worried about the crazy stench I had from rotting banana peels and moldy tofu squares. And it's the same when I let Jesus take the garbage out of my life. I'm not ashamed to let people in my life and to share with them the blessings that He's given me to replace my garbage. They won't see all the pain and hurt I let have a hold on my life for so long. They won't smell the nasty stench I had from holding grudges for years. I let Jesus take my garbage and give me a new life. I let Him fill me with the sweet fragrance of His love and grace and mercy and forgiveness. And I'm excited to let people see that.
And maybe the most comforting part of all of this is that I know I'm not the only one with garbage (physically and spiritually). We all have garbage in our houses and in our lives. It's just a matter of what we do with it all.
Maybe it's time to take the garbage out. Think about it.
I have a chart on my refrigerator that breaks the trash into SEVEN different categories. And it seems pretty simple at first: burnable, non-burnable, recyclable, fresh food, big stuff, and some other categories I can't read/have been too lazy to translate. So I put my burnable garbage in the red bag. Non-burnable garbage goes in the blue bag. Fresh food garbage goes in the yellow bag. But recyclable is a PAIN. You'd think that if they wanted me to recycle, they would make it plain and simple.
They tell us not to make comparisons between Japan and LA (or wherever we originated from), but I can't help but not. In LA, we have a single recycle bin where everything recyclable goes. There is no sorting of recyclables. My Japanese recyclables are broken down into 13 sub-categories! 13 sub-categories! I didn't even know that there were that many types of recyclables! I have to "bind my newspapers" but those are separate from my "bound magazines" and my "bound cardboard." I have to cut open the juice cartons and make them lie flat and bind them as well. Plastic food containers go in their own plastic bag. Plastic drink bottles need to have their wrapper and lid removed in order to be recycled; and these also get their own plastic bag. I haven't covered most of them, but you get the idea. It's a ridiculous ordeal on Sunday night to get ready for trash day.
And I was getting frustrated last night sorting my recyclables for this morning, and I was talking to God about the whole thing--how stupid it is that I have to let my recyclables pile up in my living room and then spend an hour sorting them into different bags. Basically, I just wanted to be lazy and throw them in one bag outside. And then, it dawned on me.
I'm sorting garbage. I'm sorting through all the stuff I've deemed as useless through the week that I've let pile up on the floor of my living room. All the stuff that's stinking up my house because it's been a week since I've been able to throw it out. And how when I let Jesus in my life, He takes out all the garbage that I've let pile up in my life. He takes it all. I don't have to sort my garbage for Him to take it. He doesn't bring it back if I didn't sort it right. He said He would take all of it. He would give me a new life, a clean life, a clean slate to start over (2 Corinthians 5:17). But I have to let Him take it; I have to let Him take my garbage. I have the choice to let Him take my garbage and fill my life with His awesomeness or to hang on to the garbage and let it keep stinking up my life.
John the Baptist proclaimed, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29b ESV). He came to take away my garbage! And He doesn't ask me to sort it out before He takes it. He doesn't even condemn me for having so much garbage for Him to take away (John 3:17). He stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20). He WANTS to take my garbage and fill my house, my life with His fragrance! I can't even begin to imagine what my life would be like if I let Jesus take ALL of my garbage and replace the stench, the hurt, the wounds, the anger, the bitterness that has filled my house, my heart, my soul, my life for all these years with His sweet fragrance, His unending love, His amazing grace.
Sometimes I don't think the hardest part of giving Jesus my garbage is initially giving Him my garbage. Sometimes I think my house, my life is empty without it. If I don't have 3 months of newspapers and 15 juice cartons and an uncountable amount of plastic drink bottles stacked next to my refrigerator on floor, it looks and feels empty, different. But how crazy would it be if I ran down the street chasing the trash truck begging to have my garbage back to fill the "empty" space on my floor? But I do that all the time with the garbage I give to Jesus. He takes it out of my life and fills it with great things, better things, but that space on the floor next to the refrigerator seems empty, seems different, and I'm so used to having junk and garbage piling up that I desperately long for it to come back. And I miss out or I'll trade all the good things that He gave me to replace my garbage (Colossians 3:5-17). It sounds ridiculous, but it's true. And I find myself doing it more often than not.
You know what else is crazy? Recyclables are "trash" that get remade into something useful. Usually it's in a totally different form than what the original product was. But there's no way I could change plastic drink bottles into...playground equipment. It's not possible for me to do that on my own ( 1) I don't have that many bottles and 2) I have no idea how to make playground equipment out of plastic drink bottles). I have to give the trash man my plastic drink bottles and trust that He'll take them and make something really cool out of them. The garbage, the junk, the recyclables I give to Jesus can be transformed into something...good (Romans 8:28). But I have to trust Him to take it and transform it. I can't do it on my own. No way, no how I'm going to turn my junk, my garbage, my past into something good, beautiful, inspiring. Only Jesus can do that.
The best part about trash day is that I'm not ashamed to let people come to my house. I'm not worried about them seeing hideously out-of-control stacks of newspapers and juice cartons spewed across my living room. I'm not worried about the crazy stench I had from rotting banana peels and moldy tofu squares. And it's the same when I let Jesus take the garbage out of my life. I'm not ashamed to let people in my life and to share with them the blessings that He's given me to replace my garbage. They won't see all the pain and hurt I let have a hold on my life for so long. They won't smell the nasty stench I had from holding grudges for years. I let Jesus take my garbage and give me a new life. I let Him fill me with the sweet fragrance of His love and grace and mercy and forgiveness. And I'm excited to let people see that.
And maybe the most comforting part of all of this is that I know I'm not the only one with garbage (physically and spiritually). We all have garbage in our houses and in our lives. It's just a matter of what we do with it all.
Maybe it's time to take the garbage out. Think about it.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Facebook Status
This morning I updated my Facebook status (I can do that now with internet at home...woohoo!).
It read, "Kari 'deals' Yahiro is going to go find a church today...and even if I don't, I got at least 2 hours to blast worship music in my car :D Today is going to be a good day :)"
Can I just say that God is good? I blasted worship music in my car with the windows down driving through the most beautiful scenery imaginable for about 3 hours. I went to not one but TWO churches today. And I got FREE food from both! Praise God for free food!
So the crazy part about the first church was that it was in the town. And all I had was an address. Japanese address are ridiculous and make no sense. So basically I was just going to drive into the city and drive to JUSCO and then ask for directions. I also had no idea what time the church service started, but I figured churches probably start at either 9 or 10. So I decided I would leave my house at 9 and hopefully find the church by 9:45. I drove in a GIANT circle around the town for an hour and a half. But church didn't start until 10:30, so I got there almost on time. Praise God for maps, nice people at 7-11 and Toys'R'Us, a fully charged iPod to blast music, and a late starting service!
"Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:23-26 (ESV)
It read, "Kari 'deals' Yahiro is going to go find a church today...and even if I don't, I got at least 2 hours to blast worship music in my car :D Today is going to be a good day :)"
Can I just say that God is good? I blasted worship music in my car with the windows down driving through the most beautiful scenery imaginable for about 3 hours. I went to not one but TWO churches today. And I got FREE food from both! Praise God for free food!
So the crazy part about the first church was that it was in the town. And all I had was an address. Japanese address are ridiculous and make no sense. So basically I was just going to drive into the city and drive to JUSCO and then ask for directions. I also had no idea what time the church service started, but I figured churches probably start at either 9 or 10. So I decided I would leave my house at 9 and hopefully find the church by 9:45. I drove in a GIANT circle around the town for an hour and a half. But church didn't start until 10:30, so I got there almost on time. Praise God for maps, nice people at 7-11 and Toys'R'Us, a fully charged iPod to blast music, and a late starting service!
"Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:23-26 (ESV)
Friday, August 20, 2010
Language Barriers
I am posting this from my house! Praise the Lord I finally have internet in my own home! But this isn't to say that there weren't many trials along the way.
I showed back up at work on Thursday after a nice couple of days in the city of Sapporo. On my desk is an envelope from the internet company. My boss tells me to just fill it all in and I should be good to go. No problem, right? Wrong. If you've ever watched me try to fill out forms in English, you know it's trouble. I'm just bad at filling in the blanks. I always second guess my answer (I don't know why because usually the question is "Where were you born?" and I never know what to write down). Anyways, try doing it in all Japanese after you've been speaking English for 4 straight days. My brain was not functioning in Japanese mode at all. It took me about 4.5 hours to fill in the 20 blanks on my internet form. Good to go, right?
I came home for lunch and had this nifty little CD and a paper with a whole bunch of numbers and crazy looking log-on names. I just popped the CD in and assumed it would be a piece of cake and I'd be on Facebook in no time. Wrong again. The CD was all in Japanese (obviously I live in Japan). So I made it through the first couple of set-up pages and then I got stuck. There was no "NEXT" button on the bottom of the page and it said something about a security setting. Talk about bummer. I was SO CLOSE! Needless to say, I returned to the office somewhat distraught and somewhat relieved.
Relieved? Yeah, I've complained a lot about being bored after work and whatnot, but it has been nice with no internet. It just makes life a little more difficult but I've definitely had a chance to spend more time with God than I ever imagined. God and I had a long discussion about whether or not He wanted me to have internet at my house. I was pretty sure at this point that His answer was "No, not now, maybe later."
Anyways, I decided I would come home from work and try it again. But again, it failed. So I was resolved to ask my boss to come and help me. The day before he told me would if I needed help. But I came to work this morning and no boss. All morning. I went to lunch and came back and he still wasn't there. So I asked the cool guy behind me if he knew how to do it. He called the helpline for me and then we drove to my house and he sat on the floor trying to get the CD to work.
This is where the crazy language barrier comes up. My problem was that I couldn't read the characters on the CD. His problem was that he couldn't read my computer. So we sat on my floor for a good 45 minutes looking things up in our dictionaries trying to get the CD to work and the internet to load. We ended up calling the helpline again and they told us we didn't need the CD. But the internet is finally working and it's fantastic and PRAISE THE LORD FOR TECHNOLOGY!
I showed back up at work on Thursday after a nice couple of days in the city of Sapporo. On my desk is an envelope from the internet company. My boss tells me to just fill it all in and I should be good to go. No problem, right? Wrong. If you've ever watched me try to fill out forms in English, you know it's trouble. I'm just bad at filling in the blanks. I always second guess my answer (I don't know why because usually the question is "Where were you born?" and I never know what to write down). Anyways, try doing it in all Japanese after you've been speaking English for 4 straight days. My brain was not functioning in Japanese mode at all. It took me about 4.5 hours to fill in the 20 blanks on my internet form. Good to go, right?
I came home for lunch and had this nifty little CD and a paper with a whole bunch of numbers and crazy looking log-on names. I just popped the CD in and assumed it would be a piece of cake and I'd be on Facebook in no time. Wrong again. The CD was all in Japanese (obviously I live in Japan). So I made it through the first couple of set-up pages and then I got stuck. There was no "NEXT" button on the bottom of the page and it said something about a security setting. Talk about bummer. I was SO CLOSE! Needless to say, I returned to the office somewhat distraught and somewhat relieved.
Relieved? Yeah, I've complained a lot about being bored after work and whatnot, but it has been nice with no internet. It just makes life a little more difficult but I've definitely had a chance to spend more time with God than I ever imagined. God and I had a long discussion about whether or not He wanted me to have internet at my house. I was pretty sure at this point that His answer was "No, not now, maybe later."
Anyways, I decided I would come home from work and try it again. But again, it failed. So I was resolved to ask my boss to come and help me. The day before he told me would if I needed help. But I came to work this morning and no boss. All morning. I went to lunch and came back and he still wasn't there. So I asked the cool guy behind me if he knew how to do it. He called the helpline for me and then we drove to my house and he sat on the floor trying to get the CD to work.
This is where the crazy language barrier comes up. My problem was that I couldn't read the characters on the CD. His problem was that he couldn't read my computer. So we sat on my floor for a good 45 minutes looking things up in our dictionaries trying to get the CD to work and the internet to load. We ended up calling the helpline again and they told us we didn't need the CD. But the internet is finally working and it's fantastic and PRAISE THE LORD FOR TECHNOLOGY!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Civilization is fantastic!
Well, I'm currently in Sapporo. It is the only major city on the island of Hokkaido and it definitely took me a long time to get here yesterday. I left my house at 8:30am and arrived at the hotel around 3:30pm. It was a long train ride, but a beautiful train ride, the same one I took on my way to Shibecha a little over 3 weeks ago. It's the first time I've been to Sapporo, but it's a nice-sized city. It's not overwhelmingly large like Tokyo (or "ubertropolis" as they call it) but it's definitely larger than Kushiro (the town 40 minutes south of me).
I have internet in the hotel, and my own room, so I've been able to Skype people...WOOHOO! It's kind of amazing.
My friends and I found an import store yesterday. I bought the most expensive tortillas ever. No joke. It almost defeats the point of eating/making Mexican food. I bought 10 flour tortillas for about $5 (flour tortillas...$5!!!)! That's $0.50 for a tortilla (and that could change with the exchange rate!). Taco Wednesdays at Tacos El Unico have tacos for $0.75...and those have meat! These will probably be the expensive tacos I will ever make/eat.
On a brighter note, it is nice to see other females. I have desperately longed for some female companionship the last 3 weeks, and it's been nice just to share meals with other native English-speaking females. I've gotten used to hanging out with the two male JETs from Shiranuka, but there's nothing like going out with a bunch of the girls and just laughing.
I think my sorority definitely forced me to appreciate female friendship...and I think I took it for granted. I miss having sisters around. But I think what I miss the most is intentional and deep conversations. Fellowship. Real fellowship. I miss sisters caring about the answer to the question, "How are you?". I miss sisters hugging me just because they can and they know it'll encourage me (no matter how much I'm grimacing at the time). I miss sisters to pray with me and to pray for me. But I especially miss sisters to sit with me in silence. I miss having sisters who are comfortable with the uncomfortable silence. I miss sisters to worship God with me.
God definitely blessed me with that sisterhood and the chance to experience intense fellowship while I was in college. And I think I put God in second place compared to the relationships He had blessed me with. So now I have a chance to intimately meet God again and to let Him be King again. I've been called to a season of just me-and-God. And it's been awesome. Don't get me wrong--I miss my sisters, I miss my friends, I miss my family. But none of that even come close to how much I've missed my Jesus.
I have internet in the hotel, and my own room, so I've been able to Skype people...WOOHOO! It's kind of amazing.
My friends and I found an import store yesterday. I bought the most expensive tortillas ever. No joke. It almost defeats the point of eating/making Mexican food. I bought 10 flour tortillas for about $5 (flour tortillas...$5!!!)! That's $0.50 for a tortilla (and that could change with the exchange rate!). Taco Wednesdays at Tacos El Unico have tacos for $0.75...and those have meat! These will probably be the expensive tacos I will ever make/eat.
On a brighter note, it is nice to see other females. I have desperately longed for some female companionship the last 3 weeks, and it's been nice just to share meals with other native English-speaking females. I've gotten used to hanging out with the two male JETs from Shiranuka, but there's nothing like going out with a bunch of the girls and just laughing.
I think my sorority definitely forced me to appreciate female friendship...and I think I took it for granted. I miss having sisters around. But I think what I miss the most is intentional and deep conversations. Fellowship. Real fellowship. I miss sisters caring about the answer to the question, "How are you?". I miss sisters hugging me just because they can and they know it'll encourage me (no matter how much I'm grimacing at the time). I miss sisters to pray with me and to pray for me. But I especially miss sisters to sit with me in silence. I miss having sisters who are comfortable with the uncomfortable silence. I miss sisters to worship God with me.
God definitely blessed me with that sisterhood and the chance to experience intense fellowship while I was in college. And I think I put God in second place compared to the relationships He had blessed me with. So now I have a chance to intimately meet God again and to let Him be King again. I've been called to a season of just me-and-God. And it's been awesome. Don't get me wrong--I miss my sisters, I miss my friends, I miss my family. But none of that even come close to how much I've missed my Jesus.
Friday, August 13, 2010
The day after the storm...
I must say, typhoons are quite strange...and they invoke strange behavior in people. Experienced my first typhoon in Hokkaido (experienced one in Saitama back in HS). Everyone in the office jumped up and yelled, "TYPHOON!" and stopped working to watch as the rain beat everything outside to a pulp. It was like we were underneath a waterfall. I had never seen so much water falling at out of the sky at once. It was quite a sight to witness.
But the day after a typhoon, that's a whole different story. It was AMAZING from the moment I woke up. The sun comes up around 4am, so, needless to say, when I wake up, I can look out and see the potential weather forecast for the day. Today just looked awesome!
On my lunch break, I went for a bike ride around town (mainly so I could go to the bridge and take some photos). I'll tell you right now that those clouds are real. I just took those pictures maybe 20 minutes ago (as I sit at my desk all sweaty).
So this is Shibecha the day after the storm...
And while it was typhoon-ing (I don't think that's a real word) last night, I decided not to be a bum and watch Japanese TV. Instead, I picked up the guitar that was left by my predecessor. I only know the D chord which doesn't get you very far. Since there's no internet at home, I can't even look up how to play other chords. I also don't know how to strum. But I managed to figure out how to pluck "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)" after about an hour and a half. My left middle finger is still tender, but I found something new to do when I get home from work!
But the day after a typhoon, that's a whole different story. It was AMAZING from the moment I woke up. The sun comes up around 4am, so, needless to say, when I wake up, I can look out and see the potential weather forecast for the day. Today just looked awesome!
On my lunch break, I went for a bike ride around town (mainly so I could go to the bridge and take some photos). I'll tell you right now that those clouds are real. I just took those pictures maybe 20 minutes ago (as I sit at my desk all sweaty).
So this is Shibecha the day after the storm...
And while it was typhoon-ing (I don't think that's a real word) last night, I decided not to be a bum and watch Japanese TV. Instead, I picked up the guitar that was left by my predecessor. I only know the D chord which doesn't get you very far. Since there's no internet at home, I can't even look up how to play other chords. I also don't know how to strum. But I managed to figure out how to pluck "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)" after about an hour and a half. My left middle finger is still tender, but I found something new to do when I get home from work!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Emotion Explosion and a Typhoon
The title says it all. Emotion explosion and a typhoon. I feel like I don’t even need to write a blog entry about it, but since I have yet another 7-hour day of sitting at my desk studying Japanese, I think I will.
First off, it was raining yesterday. Lots of rain. After I walked home for lunch, I had to change my pants and jacket (and I even had an umbrella). This is no ordinary rain. This is that sideways rain where, even if you have an umbrella, it’s rendered utterly useless because the rain doesn’t fall vertically like it should. Gravity is weaksauce compared to this sideways rain. So yeah, it was a rainy day. I usually like rainy days, but it made me feel…alone. Maybe because it made me not want to go out anywhere (not that I have many places aside from the homestore and supermarket to go to). So after work, I sat at home. I sat at my kitchen table and did NOTHING. I just sat there staring into space. And then burst into tears. I emotion explosioned ALL OVER my kitchen table. It was bad. But I pulled it together, made some ochazuke, took a shower, and then listened to some country music and lay on the floor. I went to my room for Bible time and emotion explosioned AGAIN!
The second emotion explosion was much better than the first. Because even though I was an emotional mess, God was still there, and I recognized Him. Even though I was emotional exploding all over the place and into Bible time, He was still there. In the midst of all the tears streaming down my face, I still felt His presence. And He held me. And I cried. He held me so close last night as I sobbed. In Isaiah, He promised me He would hold me in His righteous right hand; last night He didn’t back down on His promise. He promised He would be there to comfort me; last night He didn’t back down on His promise. He promised He would never leave me; last night He didn’t back down on His promise. I thanked Him for never changing and never going back on His promises. I thanked Him for all the people I had left back in the US, for all the relationships He blessed me with through the years. I thanked Him for being my Best Friend, not just God. I learned to praise Him in the storm.
But there is a second half to the title of this blog entry. There is a typhoon coming. I have never heard so much rain fall. Last night, I had one of those dreams where I was falling (some of you know what I’m talking about). I couldn’t go back to sleep after that. I listened to the rain falling outside my window. It sounded like my heater was on in the other room (but it wasn't), and buckets of water were being thrown at my window. It was insane! But around 5 am the rain stopped and now it’s just chilly and humid (didn’t know it could happen but that’s the current conditions). So apparently we won’t be having any fireworks tonight, but that’s okay. It’d probably be freezing anyways.
I was startled by my cell phone going off around 6:30 this morning only to find an encouraging email sent to my phone. I still have yet to figure out how to use the crazy thing, but it’s nice to be startled/surprised by things like that. God is still good and He is still God…emotion explosions and typhoons and all.
First off, it was raining yesterday. Lots of rain. After I walked home for lunch, I had to change my pants and jacket (and I even had an umbrella). This is no ordinary rain. This is that sideways rain where, even if you have an umbrella, it’s rendered utterly useless because the rain doesn’t fall vertically like it should. Gravity is weaksauce compared to this sideways rain. So yeah, it was a rainy day. I usually like rainy days, but it made me feel…alone. Maybe because it made me not want to go out anywhere (not that I have many places aside from the homestore and supermarket to go to). So after work, I sat at home. I sat at my kitchen table and did NOTHING. I just sat there staring into space. And then burst into tears. I emotion explosioned ALL OVER my kitchen table. It was bad. But I pulled it together, made some ochazuke, took a shower, and then listened to some country music and lay on the floor. I went to my room for Bible time and emotion explosioned AGAIN!
The second emotion explosion was much better than the first. Because even though I was an emotional mess, God was still there, and I recognized Him. Even though I was emotional exploding all over the place and into Bible time, He was still there. In the midst of all the tears streaming down my face, I still felt His presence. And He held me. And I cried. He held me so close last night as I sobbed. In Isaiah, He promised me He would hold me in His righteous right hand; last night He didn’t back down on His promise. He promised He would be there to comfort me; last night He didn’t back down on His promise. He promised He would never leave me; last night He didn’t back down on His promise. I thanked Him for never changing and never going back on His promises. I thanked Him for all the people I had left back in the US, for all the relationships He blessed me with through the years. I thanked Him for being my Best Friend, not just God. I learned to praise Him in the storm.
But there is a second half to the title of this blog entry. There is a typhoon coming. I have never heard so much rain fall. Last night, I had one of those dreams where I was falling (some of you know what I’m talking about). I couldn’t go back to sleep after that. I listened to the rain falling outside my window. It sounded like my heater was on in the other room (but it wasn't), and buckets of water were being thrown at my window. It was insane! But around 5 am the rain stopped and now it’s just chilly and humid (didn’t know it could happen but that’s the current conditions). So apparently we won’t be having any fireworks tonight, but that’s okay. It’d probably be freezing anyways.
I was startled by my cell phone going off around 6:30 this morning only to find an encouraging email sent to my phone. I still have yet to figure out how to use the crazy thing, but it’s nice to be startled/surprised by things like that. God is still good and He is still God…emotion explosions and typhoons and all.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Slow return back to reality
I finally have a cell phone. I also finally got a bank account. No ATM card, but a bank account is a good start. Cell phone is a good start. Except I can't figure out how to use it. But it's better than nothing. On a plus side, my phone has an earthquake warning. So I guess on top of everything shaking, my phone will yell at me. Good to know.
No internet at home yet. Had an interesting weekend down in Kushiro at the Minato Matsuri. Can't wait to post some pictures.
No internet at home yet. Had an interesting weekend down in Kushiro at the Minato Matsuri. Can't wait to post some pictures.
Friday, August 6, 2010
It’s hot.
It’s 32C outside and everyone is sitting in the office complaining. Apparently when it’s hot, we sit at our desks and complain how hot it is. Good times.
My boss took me for a drive yesterday and today. He took me to all the different schools I need to visit and every possible combination. Basically, we spent a long time in the car. It was AMAZING…for multiple reasons.
1) The car has air conditioning.
2) My boss is a ninja in a business clothes (pictures will come when I have internet at home). But he ran up 100 steep wood stick steps in dress shoes and ran down, while I managed to eat it wearing my Dunks.
3) The clouds were fabulous.
4) I had sunglasses.
5) There were no cars and no buildings for good stretches of road.
6) I SAW MY FIRST TANCHO!
If you don’t know what a tancho is, you’re like the rest of the population. It’s the magical Japanese crane that was thought to be extinct for a good period of time. But they found a whole bunch in this marsh nearby (when I say “nearby” I mean it’s within a 50km radius). My boss took me up the 100 steep wood stick steps to a platform that overlooks to Kottaro Marsh. Lo and behold, a single tancho was chilling in the marsh. I took a picture (also will come when I have internet at home) but it seriously looks like a little white dot in a giant field of green.
Wikipedia probably has better pictures.
On a side note, there is a giant dragonfly flying around our office. That’s it for now. Off the internet for the weekend…WOOT!
My boss took me for a drive yesterday and today. He took me to all the different schools I need to visit and every possible combination. Basically, we spent a long time in the car. It was AMAZING…for multiple reasons.
1) The car has air conditioning.
2) My boss is a ninja in a business clothes (pictures will come when I have internet at home). But he ran up 100 steep wood stick steps in dress shoes and ran down, while I managed to eat it wearing my Dunks.
3) The clouds were fabulous.
4) I had sunglasses.
5) There were no cars and no buildings for good stretches of road.
6) I SAW MY FIRST TANCHO!
If you don’t know what a tancho is, you’re like the rest of the population. It’s the magical Japanese crane that was thought to be extinct for a good period of time. But they found a whole bunch in this marsh nearby (when I say “nearby” I mean it’s within a 50km radius). My boss took me up the 100 steep wood stick steps to a platform that overlooks to Kottaro Marsh. Lo and behold, a single tancho was chilling in the marsh. I took a picture (also will come when I have internet at home) but it seriously looks like a little white dot in a giant field of green.
Wikipedia probably has better pictures.
On a side note, there is a giant dragonfly flying around our office. That’s it for now. Off the internet for the weekend…WOOT!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Bazooka Blasts at Breakfast
Yeah, it’s a lame title for a blog post, but it’s true.
Every morning this week I’ve been eating breakfast and around 8:00, these crazy noises shake my little house. I know my house is a little old, so I figured it was my neighbors throwing stuff off their roof or a giant truck rumbling down the street.
But my neighbors are like 80 years old and definitely can’t throw stuff off their roof. And even if they did, it’s like an 8 foot fall into soil. It would not shake my house.
Also, my house is a good 15 feet away from the street. And it’s elevated on a dirt hill which would dampen the truck rumbling. Giant trucks in Japan are also…tiny. It would not shake my house.
I went to work this morning and the crazy noises were happening at work. The windows kept shaking. It sounded like someone was slamming file cabinet drawers. Giant file cabinet drawers against the side of the office building. I thought maybe it was the buses parked behind the building, but I looked and the buses were all parked and no one was around. Strange. But no one else seemed phased by the giant file cabinet drawer slamming, so I wasn’t going to bring it up.
My boss took me for a drive and I asked him in the car what the crazy sounds were (I deemed it a seemingly stupid question and not worthy to be asked in front of all my coworkers).
“Oh…Loud noise in morning? Sometime army use bazooka in morning for summertime. It’s okay. You safe.”
So now I know (and you know) that I have bazooka blasts at breakfast. But, according to my boss, I am safe.
Every morning this week I’ve been eating breakfast and around 8:00, these crazy noises shake my little house. I know my house is a little old, so I figured it was my neighbors throwing stuff off their roof or a giant truck rumbling down the street.
But my neighbors are like 80 years old and definitely can’t throw stuff off their roof. And even if they did, it’s like an 8 foot fall into soil. It would not shake my house.
Also, my house is a good 15 feet away from the street. And it’s elevated on a dirt hill which would dampen the truck rumbling. Giant trucks in Japan are also…tiny. It would not shake my house.
I went to work this morning and the crazy noises were happening at work. The windows kept shaking. It sounded like someone was slamming file cabinet drawers. Giant file cabinet drawers against the side of the office building. I thought maybe it was the buses parked behind the building, but I looked and the buses were all parked and no one was around. Strange. But no one else seemed phased by the giant file cabinet drawer slamming, so I wasn’t going to bring it up.
My boss took me for a drive and I asked him in the car what the crazy sounds were (I deemed it a seemingly stupid question and not worthy to be asked in front of all my coworkers).
“Oh…Loud noise in morning? Sometime army use bazooka in morning for summertime. It’s okay. You safe.”
So now I know (and you know) that I have bazooka blasts at breakfast. But, according to my boss, I am safe.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Sleep
Last night was the first full night of rest I’ve had since arriving in Japan. I haven’t been waking up due to nightmares; I’m just disoriented on time. And the mattress is hard. I went to the store to see if they had mattress toppers, but apparently, Japanese people like sleeping on hard surfaces. They also don’t have sheets…or fluffy pillows.
I’m trying to have a routine to help me get to sleep at relatively the same time every night. I am definitely in my bed by 10, sometimes earlier. I read 3 chapters from my Bible in English and then in Japanese. I journal some and then attempt to write a poem. Then the iPod goes on and shuffles my “Sleep” playlist.
It has definitely been lonely going to sleep in my house. It still feels like someone else’s house. It still smells like someone else’s house. Hopefully that changes soon. My routine has been thrown off. I’m used to coming home and talking with the roomies and hanging out and doing Bible time and then crawling in bed with my pillows and sheets. And then usually I get some texts while I drift off to sleep clinging to Pickles. At least I still have Pickles and Bible reading time. But it’s strange to go to sleep in a house all alone after sharing a room for the last 4 years. It’s strange to come home and have no one to talk to.
But I’ve learned to let God talk to me while I fall asleep at night. I have learned to talk to Him when I get home from work and have nothing to do until bedtime. I talk to Him while I clean the house and clean the dishes and get frustrated when the water heater doesn’t work. I ask Him to fix the water heater when it beeps and yells at me in Japanese and I can’t take a hot shower (He fixed that one and I got a hot shower like 5 minutes later). God is becoming my best English-speaking friend. I’ve even practiced my Japanese on Him…and He bears it. God is still God…even in Shibecha.
I’m trying to have a routine to help me get to sleep at relatively the same time every night. I am definitely in my bed by 10, sometimes earlier. I read 3 chapters from my Bible in English and then in Japanese. I journal some and then attempt to write a poem. Then the iPod goes on and shuffles my “Sleep” playlist.
It has definitely been lonely going to sleep in my house. It still feels like someone else’s house. It still smells like someone else’s house. Hopefully that changes soon. My routine has been thrown off. I’m used to coming home and talking with the roomies and hanging out and doing Bible time and then crawling in bed with my pillows and sheets. And then usually I get some texts while I drift off to sleep clinging to Pickles. At least I still have Pickles and Bible reading time. But it’s strange to go to sleep in a house all alone after sharing a room for the last 4 years. It’s strange to come home and have no one to talk to.
But I’ve learned to let God talk to me while I fall asleep at night. I have learned to talk to Him when I get home from work and have nothing to do until bedtime. I talk to Him while I clean the house and clean the dishes and get frustrated when the water heater doesn’t work. I ask Him to fix the water heater when it beeps and yells at me in Japanese and I can’t take a hot shower (He fixed that one and I got a hot shower like 5 minutes later). God is becoming my best English-speaking friend. I’ve even practiced my Japanese on Him…and He bears it. God is still God…even in Shibecha.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
BEST OFFICE DAY EVER
This has been the most eventful day I’ve had since coming here. Lots has happened, and I’ll fill it in later. But today is WAY COOLER than everything that’s happened in the last few days.
I JUST SAW MY FIRST BEAR.
My boss told me in broken English, “Come. Bear. Die.” I guess how you interpret that statement can have varying results. However, I followed him. I figured out from the Japanese that a hunter had killed the bear. So we walked across the street to the city government building parking lot. There was a bear in the back of a government truck. Pretty gnarly. Definitely smelled bad. But exciting.
Also, my boss and I had returned to the office from lunch break to discover we were the only two people in the office. He’s sitting at the computer across from my typing away. Again, in broken English, “Please show this video now.” No idea what he said until I heard “My Heart Will Go On.” So I walk around to his computer to see this video playing. I almost peed in my pants. My boss is the COOLEST head honcho ever.
I JUST SAW MY FIRST BEAR.
My boss told me in broken English, “Come. Bear. Die.” I guess how you interpret that statement can have varying results. However, I followed him. I figured out from the Japanese that a hunter had killed the bear. So we walked across the street to the city government building parking lot. There was a bear in the back of a government truck. Pretty gnarly. Definitely smelled bad. But exciting.
Also, my boss and I had returned to the office from lunch break to discover we were the only two people in the office. He’s sitting at the computer across from my typing away. Again, in broken English, “Please show this video now.” No idea what he said until I heard “My Heart Will Go On.” So I walk around to his computer to see this video playing. I almost peed in my pants. My boss is the COOLEST head honcho ever.
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