First Trip Downtown...

Of Course, Starbucks, a wonderful and beautiful reminder of home.














This is what is seen the windows. People here call retro-80's style. It is very different.
Beautful cabbage flowers. Don't know why they are so popular except that they are very cold-resistent. Not a great shot but there is the idea.

This was my second bus trip. Thought I would share. It costs 380 yen one way to ride to the train.

Look at these pretties!!!!

I just like these flowers. They are everywhere on the both campuses! I thought I would share....

We had a Welcome Party on Wednesday night for all the new teachers. Julia - right - is new but she is third generation missionary, more Japanese than American. She will be teaching K5 this year. Lydia, her aunt by adoption, is already teaching K5 and will be training Julia. Very fun loving girls!









The man wearing the blazer is Daniel Fanger, principle, the man looking at the camera is John Herringan - teacher & Uncle to Julia, the man wearing green is Jacob, national teacher. The man wearing a red shirt is Samuel, the man in charge of friend's club.













This was the bowling party which occured prior to the Welcome Party. I did just as bad in Japan bowling as I did in the U.S. Difference was that I couldn't read anything to let me know how bad I was doing! I think I bowled an 89 as the highest. Fun times!














A number of staff gathered. The woman on the piano bench in the far back right corner, wearing lavender, is Grace. She is the sister of Daniel and Esther, and Eunice, and Judith. They all grew up with their parents working a mission and developing the school. Grace is going to be training me. Esther is my supervisor on the Takamori campus, in charge of Immersion Friend's Club. Judith is in charge of the Maruyama Friend's Club. I know it's techinical and not really applicable to the pix but figured it would give you a better perspective when I talk about people. : )

This is my apartment building. My apartment is the one on the first floor, corner unit, right side. I am so thankful I am on the first floor. It has the window door and a bay window - lots of light!















Below is my first Japanese meal and the folks who cooked it for me. It is some kind of Ramon noodle dish. You order by going to this little kiosk machine where you would insert your money. Then it would give you a ticket and you would hand it to one of these ladies. They would give it to the chef and then call your ticket number when it was ready. Problem with that is that I don't speak Japanese ticket numbers. So they eyeballed me and I went up to the counter, pointed to the dishes (there were five different dishes ready), looked at them in a confused manner, and then pointed back at the dishes. They showed me mine. It wasn't the taste I was expecting but it wasn't bad either. It was just that at that time, roughly 10 p.m., I wasn't interested in eating. We had such a long flight! I just wanted to sleep. However, I lived the best I could in the moment given.


















This is a Japanese vending machine at the airport. They have these things everywhere. We were driving along the back roads, fields on everyside, and all of a sudden there was a vending machine. It was so out of place but it made sense. If people are thirsty, while working their fields, what better way to supply relief than a beverage vending machine?













Below, we were on the bus ready to take off for our 6 hour ride to Sendai. The seats are made for little Japanese children. Two per seat was tight quarters. However, we packed up our luggage and settled down for our petite ride. It was not so bad. I had to get an extra coat from someone to shield me from the frigid outside walls, but once that was taken care of, I slep very nicely.

Some Pictures...

Above is my apartment. The first look at it when I came in on Sunday night. It is small but cute and it was thoughtfully supplied with staples for getting started.


This is the toilet at the airport. It comes with some nice features such as a seat warmer, music, flush sounds, and a personal cleanser option. It was so funny to look at!

I had the opportunity to sit in the dugout of the Seattle Mariners. I am talking on the Bull Pen phone. The Sales Manager asked me if I had recieved a call and asked him who would call me? I was just pretending! It was pretty amazing to see where the players worked out, locker rooms, Diamond Club and Presidential View Room.

1st Day

We arrived two hours after we were originally scheduled. The delay had been explained by the pilot as a 4 minute repair. Two hours later we took off. I was okay with it because I took a nap. I was blessed in having no one directly next to me and so took their portion of the seat to repose a bit. It was a nice nap. Well needed. We arrived in Narita around 8 p.m. and took off for Sendai after collecting luggage, taking a potty break, getting a drink, going through customs. It took awhile to take off for Sendai. The toilets were so funny looking. They have little control panels on the right side of the seat with buttons. They offer a cleansing spray jet, music, seat warmer, and something else I didn't know about. Very interesting little toilets

The bus was a children's bus with little seats and little leg room but it made no difference to us because about an hour later we were all asleep. We stopped for dinner at this rest area. The rest area is so different from anything you would see in the U.S. This reminded me of a grocery story with a small dinner in the back. We selected our meals from the neatly displayed faux food in the front of the building. Then after deciding what to eat, we went inside to a ticket machine. The ticket machine had all the selections available and after paying for something would disburse a two-part stub. Then we took the stub to the cooks and waited for them to call our number. Problem with that number calling system was that they didn't actually call numbers and it was all in Japanese. So, I went up, in my typical fashion, and pointed to my ticket and them pointed to the five bowls of food, then pointed to my ticket again and looked confused. This worked. They handed me my dinner and I sat down to a delicious, if very different, bowl of Ramon noodles.

We arrived in Sendai around 2:30 a.m. and were taken to the apartments. Fortunately, my apartment is on the first floor. They were very gracious in providing for us the apartments. They are fully furnished. Well stocked kitchens. Shampoo and Conditioner in the bathroom. Very thoughtfully put together. I appreciated it. I have a bay window on one side of the room and a balcony door on the other wall. I love having a lot of light.

Some of the school leaders took us to a Japanese buffet restaurant for lunch. The tables each had grills in the center for us to grill our meat on. I chose typical meats, such as pork, chicken, beef. Very delicious. Then I decided to be adventurous and tried squid. To my surprise, it was very, very good. I dipped it in some good sauce and ate it up. The texture surprised me. It wasn't like I thought it would be and was very appealing.

We toured the campuses. Both campuses are gorgeous. They are very well thought out and interactive for the students. The Takamori campus, where I will be working, has a barn on it and 30 foot slides. There are little pools of water that fill up in the summer time, the kids love playing in them. The classrooms are well stocked with teaching supplies and very organized. Everyone we have met so far seem nice and inviting. The original teachers seem very pleased we are here.

First impressions are good. I know this is going to be a beautiful adventure. Now, I just have to get over this jet-lag. : )

My Seattle Tour - Tuesday Feb 3

We went into Seattle to get out visa's applications submitted. We left for the consulate around 9:30 a.m. and were done with everything around 10:15 a.m. Then Paula, James, and myself were set loose upon the city and left to our own devices. We went to the Market Place, the original 1812 Starbucks, and the Space Needle. All of this tour was done on foot. Needless to say, our feet were done by 3 p.m. But treck on we did and so I share some pictures.

I go....

Today is the second to last day in the United States. It is a sombering thought but, also, an exciting one, too. The contradiction is noted. I am learning more about this little program I am apart of now. It seems that it is bigger than anything I had ever thought of doing or thought to be apart of. I know that is vague but at this moment I feel like I am on the cusp of something really incredible. Going to Japan is incredible. What if I like it so much that I want to stay? That would be crazy. But, what if that is where I will finally fit in? Again, crazy. They have no hope in their culture. 100 high school/junior high students die every day from suicide. That is crazy. They need Jesus. They need Hope. They need Light. I do not go to Japan for myself alone. I go to Japan because someone else needs to learn of Jesus and I am the one who has been appointed to tell them. I go because I have been sent. I go because anything less is disobedience and death.