I need to learn to do...stuff

Today I was at my favorite school. There are many reasons why it's my favorite, but I'm blessed to have a school I look forward to going to (out of 17, you'd think there'd be at least 1).

Everyone is really nice and my friend sits across from me. She's a legit friend. I've been to her house and ate Japanese BBQ. She's driven me to the airport. We talk on the phone. I have a real friend...and she sits across from me. And she speaks English. WIN!

Today the principal comes up to our desks with a bunch of seed packets. He starts asking me what the plants are called in English.

Principal (Japanese): "What's this?"
Me: "Uhh...green pepper...?"
Principal (Japanese): "What about this?"
Me: "Uhh...Japanese radish."

Principal (Japanese): "What's this then?"
Me: "Uhh...regular radish...?"

Principal (Japanese): "So in American, 'daikon' is called 'Japanese radish'? Strange..."

Me (Japanese): "Well, they don't eat daikon in America."
Principal (Japanese): "Oh, right. Japanese radish...well, it's easy to grow. Here, you can grow some!" (Hands me packet of seeds)

Me (Japanese): "Uhh...I don't know what to do with these..."

Friend (Japanese): "Principal, she eats ramen every day..."
Principal (Japanese): "EVERY DAY?! You can't cook, can you?"

Me (Japanese): "My mom is a very good cook, so I never really needed to learn...and sometimes I go to the market and buy take out!"

Principal (Japanese): "Ah, okay..."

Me (Japanese): "And I can bake stuff! I make muffins and cookies and breads."
Friend (Japanese): "She can't cook, but she can bake...desserts."

Principal (Japanese): "You should learn how to cook..."

Me (Japanese): "I can make food. I just can't think of my own recipe, but I can follow one."

Principal (Japanese): "Well, I'll give you seeds when you learn how to grow things...maybe next year."

Principal takes all of his seeds and goes back to his office.

Me: "How did me not cooking have anything to do with not knowing how to plant?!"

Friend: "Well, I figured if you couldn't get past making ramen, you couldn't get plants to grow."

Me: "Yeah, you're right...but that's still totally unrelated!"

Friend: "But I was right, right? You can't grow things...or cook."

I came home after work determined to finish my garden. I hacked the weeds in my yard on Saturday morning. I bought plants and planters on Saturday afternoon. I was going to plant them on Sunday except that it rained. I would've planted them last night after work but I had things to take care of...and it was ridiculously cold. So I planted them today. To prove that I could do it. Because on Saturday morning while I was whacking weeds, I had multiple conversations like this:

Old lady (Japanese): "Your tulips are beautiful! I wish my garden looked like that!"
Me (Japanese): "Those over there? Those are Pegleg's tulips. They sure are beautiful."
Old lady (Japanese): "Ah, well then, your garden has a long way to go if those are Pegleg's. Good luck...you have a lot of work to do!"

A couple chuckled as they shuffled past. So tonight, I got soil and put my gloves and boots on. I started filling the planters with soil and dug little holes for each of the plants. Then I hear...

Old lady (Japanese): "What do you think you're doing?"

It's the office lady from the local junior high school. Sitting on her bike, stopped in front of my house, watching me.

Me (Japanese): "I got some flowers! See!"

Old lady (Japanese): "Right...well, you have a lot of work to do. Good luck with your flowers..."

I finish planting and put some water on the flowers. I see Pegleg. I motion for him to come over and see my new plants. Surely he'd be proud of my endeavor to have a decent looking yard.

Pegleg (Japanese): "What did you plant?"

Me (Japanese): "Some small flowers and strawberries. And two small trees. Will they die?"
Pegleg (Japanese): "Well, maybe not tonight."

Pegleg knew...

Monday...

Wednesday...

Today...

I love having my front yard full of cardinal and gold!

Pegleg knew I was a Trojan!

FIGHT ON!

Baby Brother

My boss's family lives a block away from me. They've become my family here. He takes good care of me--taking me to the hospital, throwing me a birthday party, shoveling my driveway when I got stuck in my house, etc. I go play UNO at their house after work. I play with baby who likes to drool and spit all over me.

And now their son is in kindergarten/preschool (I'm not sure what it is). So today, I went to teach English at his school. He told me likes school, but today he just stood there the entire time. We sang "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" and he stood there. When we played games, he stood there. Normally, he's a really active, happy little kid. So I didn't know what was going on with him. So at lunch, I sat across from him, and then he perked up a little bit.

I always eat when I'm at their house. So he didn't recognize me standing in front of the class. But he recognized me with a bunch of food in front of me. He started talking and smiling and laughing...back to his normal little self.

But after lunch, the kids go kind of nutso. I blame it on their super cute lunches their moms make. So they proceeded to make "guns" out of plastic block things. Then they started "shooting" me. Pew pew. And so I grabbed a plastic cucumber to "defend" myself. I don't know if it was some sacred plastic cucumber, but the kids started hitting me with their "guns" and kicking me. WHAT THE CRAZIES?!

So my boss's son sees them kicking me and he runs over and stands in between me and them. He starts hitting and kicking them back. I didn't know what to do! Four little boys trying to hit and kick me and one little boy trying to protect me. Then he yelled at them,

"You can't hit my older sister!"

The other boys just looked at us...and then ran away to go attack some other little boy. He turned around and smiled at me. I almost cried.

I graduated a year ago?!

On May 14, 2010, I proudly walked across a stage in front of Doheney Memorial Library, shook hands with the dean of the Leventhal School of Accounting, took a picture with my diploma cover, and walked off stage an alumni.

I learned plenty of fantastic tax laws and financial reporting standards in the accounting school. I learned how to file taxes and balance the books and detect fraud and read statements. I got that (sort of). I learned about vilanelles (Google it) and sestinas (Google that too) and blues poems. I learned about the history of China from a crazy man who looked like Doc Brown from Back to the Future, but he helped me study for the midterm in the cafeteria over lunch. I learned about dialects and cochlear implants in two linguistic classes I was just happy to pass. I learned stress relieving breathing exercises and step aerobic moves from the PE department. I learned how to interpret gang tattoos and the definition of a gang in the school of social work.

But aside from the academics, I learned how to manage my time, balancing a part-time job and a full class load and club activities. I learned how sneak into the cafeteria without having to pay. I learned how to say "no" and turn off my phone and sit in the library. I learned how to make friends and keep friends and be a better friend. I learned how to be a leader and how to be a Christian at the same time. I learned how to comfort and to stand strong. I learned sometimes the best thing is not saying anything, but to sit and just be there. I learned life doesn't go like it's always planned, but God is still in control. I learned how to live in an apartment with 5 amazing women with completely different sleeping habits, eating habits, and cleaning habits. I learned how to love people and let people love me.

But after a year since I graduated and over 9 months of living in Japan, I realized there are some things I didn't learn in college.

1) Kitchen counters don't clean themselves. Who knew?

2) Hardwood floors also need to get vacuumed.

3) Ramen can be eaten every day.

4) Bananas cannot be frozen with the peel on.

5) Everything else can be frozen.

6) Reading can be quite relaxing and enjoyable.

7) Keeping in touch with friends is much more difficult when they are more than 5 minutes away.

8) Spreading yourself too thin still exists after college.

9) Work doesn't have summer vacation.

10) 7-11 is much more than just slurpees.

However, there were some useful things I learned in college that have helped me survive in Japan.

1) Pancakes are totally acceptable as dinner.

2) Happy marriage fried rice on Thursday nights is also totally acceptable.

3) A hot cup of coffee in the morning is a great pick-me-up.

4) Mom is not my alarm clock.

5) Being able to ride a bike in the rain with one hand holding an umbrella is a great talent.

6) Jesus and journaling keep me sane.

7) Don't judge a book by its cover.

8) Exercising is a good stress reliever.

9) Not all friends look or act alike...and that's okay.

10) God is God and I am not.

Saturdays

I know it's Sunday, but this post is about Saturdays.

2 Saturdays ago, I was in Tokyo at Disneyland. I've been to Disneyland in LA quite a few times, but there's nothing quite like Tokyo Disneyland's Winnie the Pooh ride. Also the lines were like 5 minutes long. AMAZING. And we got turkey legs. First taste of turkey in a long time.

1 Saturday ago, I was in Sapporo watching the Lion King musical. The last time I watched the movie was in my 8th grade Spanish class...in Spanish. I watched the musical at the Pantages maybe 10 years ago. It was AMAZING. Even in Japanese. And since the theater was considerably more intimate than the Pantages, everything seemed so much bigger. Still one of my favorite musicals...and I'm blessed to have seen it with great friends!

Yesterday, I was in Akkeshi at an oyster festival. About 15 other English teachers made the trek to Akkeshi from all over our island. We got there with...10 minutes to spare at the oyster festival. I've never really had oysters...and neither had my friend Hussam. So we sat with some veteran oyster eaters who raved about how delicious they were. We watched them eat theirs and then decided we needed to take the plunge. It was like eating a giant warm booger on a shell. We thought maybe it was just that first one we both ate, so we ate a second one. Same taste and texture. Never again. But I can check it off the list!

While Saturdays are usually my day to sit in my PJs and Skype all day, I've had a great couple of weekends exploring and enjoying this lovely country with some lovely friends. Next weekend, we're off to go see some flowers (which are all finally starting to bloom!).

May showers bring June flowers

Well, spring is officially here in Shibecha!

I was told the week after I got home from Golden Week that we weren't going to have a spring because it snowed during Golden Week. It would go from winter into summer. But it's been a little over 2 weeks since the last snowfall (ridiculous), and it's spring.

How do I know?

1) The cherry blossoms have FINALLY bloomed. It's absolutely beautiful to find find giant soft pink trees exploding with flowers on my drive to school each morning.

2) It's warming up. I actually broke a sweat today. And I was dying in my classroom teaching today. It hit 20C today! It felt amazing. Even walking to work this morning it felt warm. It was glorious.

3) Pegleg's flowers are starting to bloom. After the harvest of all the veggies in early November, Pegleg started planting again. I asked him what he was planting, but he said it was a surprise and I would have to watch and wait. So I watched and waited. I watched the garden get covered in meters of snow. How could anything grow? But now the garden in front of our houses is full of tulips that are about to burst into bloom. The daffodils along the edges of the garden have already bloomed and their bright yellow faces bring so much cheer to my otherwise plain front yard.

4) The sun is out when I wake up and when I come home from work. I remember when the sun wasn't up when I would go to work and it would set before I could even get back to the office. What a change! It's amazing!

5) I got caught in a spring storm without an umbrella. Warm rain suddenly pouring down. It's one of my favorite things in the world. I ran through the parking lot wishing I could just run in the rain (but I was at school and I'm sure the teachers and students would've thought I went crazy if they saw me running around in the rain in the parking lot). It's amazing to get caught in spring storms. I just love it!

This morning as I leisurely walked to work soaking in the beauty of a lovely spring morning I thanked God for allowing me to experience seasons. He reminded me in that moment that it was only a season. My homesickness is only a season. My struggles are only a season. Spring is only a season. It will come and it will go. But God? God doesn't change. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And that's more beautiful than blooming cherry blossoms ever could be. Because the blossoms will blow away in maybe a week or two, but He will stay. He will stay through the winter, through the storms, through life and He will carry me Home.

Hiroshima

Wednesday morning we made our way to Hiroshima. We stopped at the hostel and dropped off our bags before heading to Mazda Stadium to catch a Hiroshima Carp baseball game.

I'm not a huge fan of baseball games in America. But in Japan, it's different. And the 7th inning stretch is the weirdest tradition ever. Wheezing balloons. Everywhere.

We lost the game, but I didn't really care. It was fun to be there and enjoy an afternoon of sitting since we had been walking and hiking the last few days. We went out to find an okonomiyaki restaurant for dinner.

We needed a night time adventure. Let's jump on the last ferry to Miyajima! Off we went on a night time adventure to Miyajima Island. I'd been once before when I was in elementary school, but I'd never been at night. I didn't know people could even go at night. But it was quite amazing and a good adventure.

Thursday we got to meet my great uncle Tom and his family. He took us around Hiroshima city which included the Hiroshima Flower Festival and the Peace Memorial Museum. Complete with a trip back to his house for dinner and hanging out.

I haven't seen this side of my family since I came to Hiroshima in elementary school. I didn't remember any of them, except Uncle Tom. But it felt like family. And they all spoke English. It felt like I was at home. Laughing and joking. Asking how life in Japan was. Asking about relatives back home. Hearing stories I'd never heard before. All with an endless supply of food.

Friday morning Uncle Tom's daughter took us back to Miyajima Island. It's a different feel in the day time. We did some walking around the island and ended up at some temple with 500 statues.

Then we hiked up to the Miyajima ropeways to get a good view, except that it was a fairly cloudy day. But we were lucky. When we went back down to the main area, the tide receded and we were able to walk all the way up to the gate!

We had dinner and then said our goodbyes. A short visit with the family, but it's nice to know that family is and always will be family.

Kobe

Tuesday afternoon we arrived in Kobe. We checked into a small hostel and then headed out to explore the city.

We couldn't find much to do in the guidebook, but we did hear about a waterfall. So off we went to find a waterfall.

We got off the train at the station and then had no idea where to go. We followed some high school age looking boys...and magically found the trail. Off we went.

We kept stopping to take pictures of "the" waterfall. It was pretty, but they were small.

We didn't know why people had recommended the waterfall to us (aside from it being written about in Japanese literature). But we kept hiking hoping there'd be something more interesting up ahead. Little did we know...

So we thought maybe there was a trail that led to the top. So we hiked so more...and more...and more. Until we hit this funny looking bridge which we decided we had to cross.

We hiked up another trail...that kept going up and up and up. We thought maybe, just maybe, it would take us to the top of the falls. But we stopped hearing the water after a while. We kept walking and walking and walking. Then suddenly, we saw Kobe.

It was starting to get dark, so we decided to head back to find dinner. After all, the whole point of us stopping in Kobe was to eat dinner. Kobe beef. You'd think in a city known for its beef it'd be pretty simple to find a Kobe beef restaurant. Well, it was...except they were all out of our price range. 100g for 10,000JPY. That'd be like 6 bites of steak for $100! Surely it'd be amazing, but we'd be broke broke broke. We kept saying if we had an expensive but small dinner we could splurge on dessert. But neither of us felt like splurging on dessert if we spent 10,000JPY.

So we found...STEAKLAND. No joke. That's the name of the restaurant. It was almost like Benihana's...without the onion volcano. 150g for 4,800JPY. Probably not as tasty as that other place, but OH MY GOODNESS IT WAS LIKE BUTTER.

But at the end of the day, I felt like Kobe was a teaser. All those tiny waterfalls leading up to the massive waterfall. The breathtaking view of the city. The tastes-like-butter-melts-like-butter steak. TEASERS. Kobe was breathtaking and beautiful and delicious. But it was just a teaser of Heaven. I was reminded of God's power and majesty as I stood at the bottom of that waterfall. But His power and majesty will far surpass a waterfall's. I was reminded of God's coming Kingdom as I looked over the city. But His coming Kingdom will be so much bigger, so much more beautiful than anything I could dream or imagine. I was reminded of God's goodness. But His goodness will taste so much sweeter than a piece of expensive steak. Kobe was a teaser of how great my God is. And a good reminder that the best is yet to come.

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" Psalm 34:8

Kyoto

I could say a lot about Kyoto. We saw a lot in Kyoto. It's probably my favorite city in Japan. There's so many old historical buildings and hidden treasures in this city. We headed out from Nagoya and jumped on a Shinkansen to Kyoto Sunday afternoon.

We started off the trip with having trouble finding the hostel. We seemed to have forgotten to print off the directions from the internet. We had the address, but Japanese addresses are probably the lamest piece of information in the world. We stopped at an information booth in the subway station. They explained all these directions and I walked away nodding and thanking them without a clue as to what they said. But then things they said slowly started appearing.

I don't know where we are, but we're one step closer.

We eventually made it to our hostel. We jumped on a bus and went to Ginkakuji, the Pavilion of the Silver Temple (which isn't actually silver). The actual building isn't all that impressive, but the garden was pretty. We tried to figure out how they built the sand garden in front of the building. It was so tempting to throw something to mess it up, but we didn't. We walked from there along the Philosopher's Path...and we tried to be philosophical but we ended up taking lots of pictures and found a temple at the end of path. We made our way back to Kyoto Station and ate Chinese food in the basement of a department store. Since we live in Japan, it's not really special for us to eat Japanese food. It was more special to eat Chinese food. And it sure was delicious.

The next morning we woke up early and got out the door before 8:30 (impressive, right?). We wanted to find the bamboo forest. Where? Somewhere in Arashiyama, but we had no idea exactly where. We got on a train heading in the right direction. No idea where to go from there. We wandered the streets. Then we stumbled upon Tenryuji. I would've taken a picture inside, except we couldn't. It was a temple with a dragon painted on the ceiling and its eyes follow you. Like the Mona Lisa, except a dragon on a ceiling. However, the garden was breathtaking. Totally unexpectedly stumbled upon the temple and a fantastic chance to see another World Heritage Site.

I don't know where we are, but we're one step closer.

Eventually we found the bamboo forest. It was magnificent. Bamboo was so tall and you could hear the wind flying through the leaves and they gently swayed. It was beautifully peaceful...minus the massive number of students visiting on their school trip.

Then off to Kinkakuji, Pavilion of the Golden Temple (which is actually gold). Also had a beautiful garden. It was probably the most crowded place we went to on our trip. But it was a beautiful day and it was perfect for picture taking. We also were there after lunch, so it was crowded. But we got some good shots and nice chance to wander through the gardens as well.

From Kinkakuji, we went to Fushimi Inari. No one in my office had any idea what I was talking about when I mentioned this place. If you've seen the movie, "Memoirs of a Geisha," you'll know what I'm talking about. At the very beginning of the movie, the girl is running through what seems like an endless maze of red tori gates. Well, we went there. And it is endless. The guidebook we had said it would take 2-3 hours to walk the entire thing. We were ambitious and started off around sunset...and realized it was uphill. Awkwardly spaced steps...for 4 kilometers. We didn't walk all of it (good idea) but we got to see most of them. It was AMAZING. And ridiculous. Just a lot to take in.

Tuesday morning we got up early again and headed out to Kiyomizudera. I take back my earlier statement. This was the most crowded place we went to on our trip. It made me a tad nervous having so many people on an old wooden temple. It wouldn't have bothered me if the temple was like 5 feet off the ground like they usually are. But Kiyomizudera is famous because it seems like you're floating above the forest. We were quite high. We leisurely made our way down the crowded street and found our souvenirs and grabbed a green tea cream puff (delicious!).

By Tuesday afternoon, we were on another train to Kobe!

Nagoya

I woke up early Sunday morning and jumped on a Shinkansen and made my way down to Nagoya. I was meeting up with Alyssa, my traveling partner for the week. We decided to go to church together in Nagoya to start off our trip. Man, such a good idea. We went to a bilingual church called Mustard Seed Christian Church in Nagoya with some of her friends. It has been a long time since I've heard live contemporary worship songs. We didn't sing in all English or in all Japanese. They mixed up the chorus and the verses with English and Japanese. It was amazing. To be able to worship God in two languages at once.

The church service was held in a dance studio. As we sang "God of This City" I looked out the giant windows onto the busy street outside and watched as people walked by the windows clutching their umbrellas trying to stay dry. My heart hurt for Japan.

You're the God of this city

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of the nation

You are

You're the Light in the darkness

You're the Hope to the hopeless

You're the Peace to the restless

You are

There is no one like our God

There is no one like our God

Greater things have yet to come

Greater things are still to be done in this city

Greater things have yet to come

Greater things are still to be done here

The pastor preached on Luke 7:36-50. A sinful woman forgiven. The alabaster jar. She took a risk and Jesus accepted her. The woman knew she needed what Jesus had to offer. If you look at Luke 7:48, it reads, "And he said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.'" The pastor made an interesting point. That phrase, "Your sins are forgiven," is the best news in the world...but only if YOU know you are a sinner. It's nice to know Jesus offers forgiveness, but it's unbelievable news when you understand how bad your own sinfulness is.

It was a short sermon (shorter than what I'm used to), but it was powerful. Just straight up face kicked me. Because it's...old news. Jesus saved me from my sins. Because I have let my soul become numb to the disgusting-ness of my sin, this isn't the best news in the world anymore. But when I wake up in the morning and preach the Gospel to myself before I get out of bed, those 4 words, "Your sins are forgiven," is power. When I sit and take the time to understand the depravity of my sin and how much it hurts God and how much of His wrath I deserve, those 4 words are the best news in the world. That Jesus would take me as I am--messed up, confused, broken, lonely. That He would take me and forgive me.

Amazing love

Tokyo

I spent the night at my teacher's house in Saitama. Early the next morning (just before 8) one of my friends and some of the other kids from church came and picked me up for a picnic. I was wondering who on earth has a picnic at 7:30 in the morning. But we drove for about an hour and a half into and through Tokyo. Then we arrived at some giant magical park. Why did we drive so long, so early for a picnic? Why did we have to sit in Tokyo traffic when we have plenty of parks in Saitama?

Because we were having a giant picnic with other young adult Christians in Tokyo. We got split into 3 teams and had to play games to determine which team got what food to BBQ. Luckily, my team won most of the games, so we had first choice of selecting food items each round. But it was so nice to fellowship with other believers, even though I spent most of the day in Japanese. They wanted to practice English with me and I was totally fine with it. We enjoyed laughing and sharing and praying and BBQing. Some of them invited their non-Christian friends to come and we had the chance to share with them. It was INSANE! So crazy! I wasn't even intending to go to this picnic and I was so blessed by my brothers and sisters who were there. Praise God that His love isn't stopped by language and cultural barriers.

From there I headed to Mitaka to drop my bags off at a friend's apartment. I went back to Shinjuku Station alone to meet up with Matt and Lauren for dinner.

I cannot tell you how great it is to see a familiar face and hear familiar voices. We shared a meal at Pepper Lunch (AMAZING!) and dessert at Beard Papa. I got to hear about their ministry opportunities down in Osaka and what their team got to do during their time in Japan. Such a blessing!

Saitama

I started off my trip in Saitama. Way back in high school, I spent two months at a tiny, tiny Christian school in Saitama. Since I had some time, I figured I would go back and visit. The last time I saw my classmates/teachers was over 5 years ago. I emailed one of the teachers and she said they'd love to have me over and would invite some of the students and people from church. It's amazing how much everyone changed in 5 years. I could hardly recognize most of them. They laughed and told me it was nice to finally be able to communicate. Now they all speak decent English and I can speak decent Japanese. It was a fantastic reunion!

But it was a strange feeling. I lived there for 2 months over 7 years ago. Getting off at the same train station 7 years later was surreal. When I came as a high school student, I was so angry at God for bringing me there. I never expected to be at that station again. Things were so different. And I stood there for a while on the platform after getting off the train.

Grace.

I didn't deserve it after the way I treated God all those years (and even now). I didn't deserve to come back to that station, to those people. But it was a reminder of His grace in my life. A change in my heart that only He could have done.

Golden Week 2011

Well, I made it safely back to my tiny village after spending the last week or so traveling around Japan. I forgot how easy (and expensive) it was to just hop on a train and go somewhere. A brief rundown of where I went.

Friday 4/29: Flew from Hokkaido to Tokyo. Spent the night in Saitama.

Saturday 4/30: Went to a crazy picnic with a bunch of young adult Christians from Tokyo. Spent the night in Mitaka.

Sunday 5/1: Jumped on a Shinkansen and met Alyssa in Nagoya for church. Got on another Shinkansen and went to Kyoto.

Monday 5/2: Explored Kyoto.

Tuesday 5/3: Explored Kyoto for half a day. Jumped on the train to Kobe. Hunted for Kobe beef for two hours.

Wednesday 5/4: Another Shinkansen to Hiroshima. Straight from the station to the Hiroshima Carps baseball game. Night adventure to Miyajima.

Thursday 5/5: Found my great uncle and spent the day exploring the Hiroshima Flower Festival. Enjoyed dinner and spent the night at our family house.

Friday 5/6: Explored Miyajima and Hiroshima with my...aunt and cousin? Fell asleep on a bus.

Saturday 5/7: Woke up in the Tokyo Disney Resort parking lot 12 hours later. Played at Disney all day. Spent the night in Mitaka in an apartment full of girls...felt like undergrad again.

Sunday 5/8: Train and monorail and airplane and car. Finally back home with plenty of laundry and souvenirs.

A whirlwind of a trip. I'll make separate posts about each city I stopped in. A seriously blessed time of traveling and plenty of adventures off the beaten path.