Chiba!

Well, since last time there is oodles of stuff I could write about! I will do my best to give you a sample of what our last week looked like. Friday was the last day of school for the kids in Gunma, so the preschool had a festival in the evening. The kids were all dressed in the traditional Japanese outfit and they did a little presentation celebrating the end of the school for the summer. The bus that picked Sharon up every morning (that reminded me of bubble gum) took her to a school that also resembled Candyland. You have no idea how excited I was to be there! It was the first big outing we had been to while in Japan, so it was cool to me to be able to see so many people. And the kids were absolutely adorable! And I got to play on the playground! They don't have the "kid friendly" American plastics; it's the real fun stuff. :)

Joy's wish while here was to see a farm. So Saturday the 20th, a friend from church took us up to the mountains several hours away, and we pull into Green Ikaho Ranch. There's American country music playing when we get out of the car, we get though the gate, and about five minutes in I wonder how long we're going to stay. Walking past a petting zoo, I know it's gonna be a test of patience. But I was enjoying the view, as I had really wanted to go up into the mountains. The man who took us (who knew a little bit of English) knew cows were special to us, so he payed for all of us to learn how to milk a cow.... It was very comical to me watching them teach people even if it was in Japanese. I about busted laughing. Another event at the farm was a sheep dog show. Now that was awesome. We're sitting in the grandstand sipping milk when it starts with the shepherd calling out to his dog in English. I thought I was just hearing things, but no, here in front of me is a red skinned guy running up to the stands with his dog. So English, yeah, whatever. I don't think I was relieved of any possible culture shock. It was his accent. He was from New Zealand! He speaks Japanese, too (and it sounds amazing with his accent), but used a lot of English talking to the crowd, which was nice because we knew what was going on then! Things here are so different than the states. After the show, they opened the gate so everyone could get in there with the sheep and roam the field. And they handed out bags so you could collect wool (u-pick lol) from the sheep he sheared as part of the show. We talked to him for awhile, all three of us enjoying the opportunity to use slang and talk about the hillbilly lifestyle that the Japanese I'm sure don't know exists.

After the farm tour, we head to a place nearby where a lady is an English tutor. These four kids are going to Australia this week with their school class, and we got to talk to them so they could practice their English. I'm not sure how much of a help we were... Aussies don't speak like Americans. But I had a blast anyway. These kids were hilarious!!! The kid in the blue shirt has the same birthday as me, too. Happy birthday tomorrow, Kyosuke! :)

The food is so good, too. Other exotic meats we've tried this week include (but are not limited to) squid and raw fish, both of which are tasty. In the picture Joy is eating mini sardines. They don't have much flavor. They look disgusting in the picture. I was surprised I didn't get grossed out just looking at them, but you could only see the eyes when you look real close.

I've played my violin more places than I can count, and I am about sick of hauling it around and playing for everybody I meet. This place above was fun, though! The effects of the atmosphere was a night to remember, with a cool breeze blowing in through the screen behind me. It was so easy to drift away with the music to dreamland. I decided every musician needs to experience performing internationally.

Sunday we took the train with our host family to Chiba. It was a long afternoon transferring several times in the Tokyo subway. We walked so much my legs were turning to jelly. One switch put us in the most crowded subway ride I'd ever seen. How do I explain it? It was so squished I couldn't reach any of the handholds. We were so tight I could feel the hair on the legs of the guy standing next to me. I guess that's all part of experiencing a Tokyo Sunday afternoon. Oh, and I finally got to see some Japanese fashion! For those of you who heard how different the rural style is, the city folk do dress with style, though it's still very different than America.

Here in Chiba a group of us went to the mall for dinner one night and we got to walk around for a half hour. That isn't much time if you're going to shop in a triple-story mall, but hey! It was enough that we could browse through the doorways and just hang out!

The reason for our stay in Chiba was for a three day VBS for the kids here. We met up with about seven other Americans who also were there to help. The goal was to teach the kids about Jesus and teach them English at the same time. We all had a blast teaching them songs and bible verses in English. Yesterday was the last day, and each group put on a mini presentation of what they learned during the week. I helped teach the sixth graders, and we recited two verses and sang the song "Head and Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" at full speed. That was a song we taught them at group activity time! :) 

Last night we went to a sushi bar to eat. It was pretty awesome. Your food gets delivered to you on a conveyor belt! You can either special order or grab something as it goes past. It's the perfect way to sample different sushis. And they have a hot water faucet at every table so you can make your own tea!

After the sushi dinner, a vanload of us take a late-night drive into Tokyo. The house where we are staying right now in Chiba also hosted three Korean teenagers. They wanted to see Tokyo before they flew back, and Joy and I hadn't seen the city yet, either. I love road trips! We laughed so hard. There were so many nationalities and languages in our van load of eight, we were requested by our [Korean] driver, Mr. Tark (owner of the house where we're staying), to talk and sing to keep him awake. The talking was already happening, and in that one hour drive into the city there was Korean, English, Spanish, German and Japanese flying around the car! I hear the Korean culture is spur of the moment. I love it! We are all about dead tired from the past three full days working with the kids, and what do we do? Take a late night tour of Tokyo! I'm so glad to have adventure! The stores were all closed, but we walked the streets and peeked through windows. And did I mention the skyline? It was breathtaking. You can't be in Tokyo and not go out at night. I could come back as a photographer and get some amazing shots. It was 1:30am when we got back to the house, we were all half asleep, except for those who were all asleep, but I wouldn't have traded the night for anything. I'm going to miss the random funness when we head back to Gunma!

Japan!

Greetings from Kiryu, Japan! Today marks the fifth day of our 5-week stay, the jet lag has worn off, and we have already enjoyed many memorable moments. 

Yesterday lunch we met with an English teacher who lives down the road from us. It was our first experience in a restaurant here, so Keiko, the teacher, ordered a number of different dishes for us to try. I was excited when they brought us salad, because I finally had the opportunity to try octopus! Yes, there was octopus and shrimp on the salad. I liked the taste of it, but it is chewy, so beware if you try putting too big a piece into your mouth.... Chew well before attempting to swallow. :) We also got to try miso soup and tempura. Both were delicious! How I'm going to leave the country the same weight I entered I don't know. 

After the meal, we went to Keiko's studio where she teaches her English classes. She teaches conversational style, and that lesson was all hands on practicing! We talked with the students, told them about our life in America, and they told us about their families and what they like to spend their time doing. We had so much fun talking with them. It surprised me how well they could speak my language! Some of them have travelled half way across the globe, and were proud to tell us of their trips to North America. Sounds like the favorite destinations have been trips to New York and Canada. They were very surprised to hear that we live only 1.5 hours from the Canadian border, and also that we have never set foot in New York City. :) 

(Ryuzo, Namiko, Masako, me, Joy, Teruko)

Apparently they enjoyed their time, too, because they invited Joy and me out to eat at a Chinese Ramen restaurant in town that evening. And of course that brought a new challenge.... They sit us down at the table and show us the menu, which of course we can't read. Thankfully it had pictures for everything (why aren't all menus like that?), so they could point to them and ask if we wanted to try it. They ordered whatever they thought we might like. I ate way more than I thought I could hold. After tasting several different dishes, they bring out our Ramen. If you have ever ordered Ramen, you know it doesn't come in just a bowl. It's like a mixing bowl amount... and the lady next to me said we each got our own bowl all to ourselves. Here our new friends had eaten their fill and they expect my sister and me to have room for a very large portion of Ramen on top of what we already ate. I did manage to finish. (Whew!) It was very kind of them to treat us to dinner, and I loved how the waitress stood nearby watching as we conversed in English. The cool part about the whole evening was before digging in, I bow my head to pray. When I finished, Teruko, who sat next to me, started telling us how they do it in Japan. Christianity is basically non-existent over here, and what she meant was Buddhists pray with their hands like this. Then she says Catholics do it like this (she crosses her heart), and then there we are with a wide-open door before us, and we get to tell them that in America, we as Christians pray like this. We ask if we can pray like we do in America, and yes, they wanted us to, so there in the middle of the restaurant we get to pray out loud. It was amazing. Being the new people from another country they were ready to hear anything we had to say. They know the word Christian, and they know that name belongs to us. Though they may not know exactly what it means to be a Christian, I think they can recognize Christ's love in our actions.

   

This morning we had a new challenge to take on. Kyunghee, the wife of our host family, was going to be away for the morning but she had a shopping list. So she gave it to us and off we went to try to find our groceries. It was fun! But, believe it or not... we tried avoiding people because we really didn't want to be asked anything.... We don't know enough Japanese to get around on our own. 

   

That is a small recap of a few highlights from the last two days. Right now I am spending the afternoon sitting in my muggy bedroom with my camera, journal, and bible close by. I think it's time for me to get a glass of water over here, too. No way! Seriously, As I type here I get a hand-delivery of some ice water and a Popsicle. Someone was reading my mind. :)

... Esther