Last weekend could be summed up in two really descriptive words…new stuff, or new things. Actually there are probably tons of words that are better then those, but I think I’d rather describe my new experiences in whole, rather then waist them on a few words.
A few of my friends here at the church, Manami Sato, Haruka, and Hisashi, who happen to be some students of mine, and happen to also be around the same age as me invited me along to Matsushima. What is, or who is, or where is Matsushima you might ask? Well, let me tell you. It’s about an hour and a half or two hours drive north east of Ayashi. I don’t know if it’s named after anyone famous, or what the meaning of the word is. If I had to make up a definition for the name, I would write that it means beautiful clear blue water scattered with little islands with steep rock faces…or something like that. Check out my pictures. Well, I don’t have them up right now because my computer is having mental problems. Anywho, getting back on track. Next weekend, the young adults have a camp/retreat shindig at the church, one of the days we are going to Matsushima, so we went to check out the beach. We went to this one private beach way out in the boonies. We took some TINEY roads, then finally came to a beautiful sandy beach with a small island out about 100 yards that you can swim too.
The water was surprisingly warm. Im used to the Pacific ocean on the west coast of America, and its way colder on that side of the ocean. Matsuhimas water was even warmer then Catalina Island, or anything thing that I’ve swam in SoCal. Instead of really heavy driftwood longs, there is drift bamboo, which is sweet for making forts…cause its Way lighter. When we go back, I think I’m going to try and build a raft…I’ll let you know how that goes.
Monday is my day off, and again, I was invited to get cultured. This time Tomoari and I took the train downtown and met our friends Haruka and Manami Suzuki at the train station. We went to the bookstore because I needed to buy a bunch of textbooks for my classes, so we got those all ordered. Next they showed me a couple of small grocery stores that sells imported foods from America…Like peanut butter. I thought it was kind of funny because they were excited to show me all this American food, but when we walked in, I didn’t really recognize anything other then Skippy peanut butter, and the various El Paso Mexican food. But all being that aside, I was really happy they showed me, because even though there was a bunch of stuff that I didn’t recognize, its good to know where I can get familiar food. Oh one last important bit of info that I gathered there. They sell Timtams! Yeah, soooo I’ll probs be introducing Timtam slams once it gets a bit cooler.
After our little shopping experience, we were back on our mission to go do some Karaoki. This was the main part of our trip down there, and to be honest, I wasn’t too excited to go do it. Once we got there, I quickly found out that Karaoki in Japan is much different then how it is in North America. We walked up to this counter, which looked like something you would find at a fantasia or castle fun park when you pay for mini golf or something. Only here, you pay for a private room, then they give you a mug. You get a mug because when you turn around, you can help yourself to all you can drink soft drinks, slurpies, tea, and soft serve ice cream. Once we filled our mugs, we were off to room 47.
Our room had a “L” shaped booth with a tale. There was a large LCD TV, and you have these wireless remote things that you order your songs on…quite cool. You also get a menu cause you can order food. So we ordered some fries. After, three and a half hrs of Karaoki, and many mugs of various drinks we left, walked back to the train station where we were meeting the other Manami, Manami Sato, the same one from Saturday at Matsushima.
For dinner, they were treating me to a famous Sendai meal, cow tongue. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I figured that it would be a cool experience. When we got to the restaurant, there was only seating right up at the bar, right in front of the cooks. Normally this would be a cool seat because its kind of fun to watch them chop up and prepare the meals. But since I’ve never had cow tongue, it was the worst seat because if I didn’t like it, or if it made me gag, I can’t really hide it from the cook because he would practically be breathing on my food.
But, when the food came, it looked very appetizing. The cow tongue shared the plate with some cucumbers, then, we had a bowl of rice and then a bowl of soup…which I learned was some sort of cow tail meat broth. I tried to tongue and it was not bad at all. It was a little tougher then other cuts of a cow, but the texture was not bad, and it was very well seasoned. So, cow tongue is not bad at all. I’d recommend it to any meet lover. Everything was very tasty, even the soup. But, I didn’t really care fore the little chucks of tail meat.
After dinner, we went and did the Japanese photo booth thing, I guess its really big there. I figured that out because went down some hall way and there were like 10 huge booths, but it was pretty cool. Then after that we hopped in the car and drove up this hill that’s just outside of the city. It is a place that has a beautiful view of the skyline, but since it was dark, it was hard to get a good picture. So perhaps someday I’ll go back and take some pics for yall.
The weekend was sweet, and I loved how each day just had something completely new. Something I’ve never done before, and don’t think I would ever to if I wasn’t here.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Kris Sensei
Last week was my first week where I was in front of students, teaching English. It was really good, but not in the sense that I did such a great job. It was really good because I finally was able to see what level all of my students were at. Also, it was the first week of many weeks where I can start ironing out all of the wrinkles in how I present material, move from one activity to the next, and most importantly, feeling comfortable with the students, and having them feel comfortable with me.
Before I get too far into this post, let me quickly paint a picture of what my class looks like, because it may not be what you imagine. First off, although I may be a teacher, the setting is more or less like a tutoring session. I am not standing in front of a classroom with 25 kids sitting there, passing notes around, chatting with their neighbor or anything like that. We all sit around a large table, where I have from 2 students—6 students, depending on the class.
I have 5 different classes that are in Elementary school. There are 4 different levels of the “Lets Go” curriculum that I use with them; each class is at a different level. Two of my classes are in Jr. High where I use a more age appropriate book called Get Real. One high school class, they use the 2nd book of Get Real. One young adult class, their ages range from 18-30, we use the same material as high school. Then I have 3 adult classes, two of these classes are advanced, so I come up with my own material. One of the ladies classes is beginner, so there is an age appropriate textbook I use with them. Those are all of my classes right now, but in three weeks we will be adding another adult class on Saturday nights, bumping my class count to 13 a week.
Its not a bad schedule at all, in fact, now that I’m in the second week, I feel much more comfortable, and can manage my time a bit better. Right now lesson planning takes up a good chunk of time because I need to plan about 10 different lessons a week, and each class is a little different. Luckily, there are lots of different activities I can do with the kids to keep the hr long class interesting. My finding is that it is easier to plan the children’s classes then the adult classes. But when it comes to teaching, time goes by so much faster in the adult classes, which is probably because they understand more of what I am saying. In the beginner classes, I get a lot of blank looks, like they don’t understand…which is the worst! It really challenges me to simplify what I am doing, a lot of the time, simpler then I know how right now.
The first week, Junko came to all of my classes which relived a lot of the pressure. It allowed the mothers observing the class to have a language buffer, someone they could talk to and ask questions. It also was less intimidating for the student, knowing that they weren’t stuck in a room with a foreigner who doesn’t speak their language. I tried to break the ice and suck up by writing, “My name is Kris” on the board in Japanese, it actually worked pretty good (Watashi no namae wa kurisu desu. I can even write it in hiragana…so, bonus points).
Last week ended well, and so far this week has picked up right where I left off, so I’m thankful for that. There is still lots to learn, but what I have learned thus far has been a lot of fun!
Before I get too far into this post, let me quickly paint a picture of what my class looks like, because it may not be what you imagine. First off, although I may be a teacher, the setting is more or less like a tutoring session. I am not standing in front of a classroom with 25 kids sitting there, passing notes around, chatting with their neighbor or anything like that. We all sit around a large table, where I have from 2 students—6 students, depending on the class.
I have 5 different classes that are in Elementary school. There are 4 different levels of the “Lets Go” curriculum that I use with them; each class is at a different level. Two of my classes are in Jr. High where I use a more age appropriate book called Get Real. One high school class, they use the 2nd book of Get Real. One young adult class, their ages range from 18-30, we use the same material as high school. Then I have 3 adult classes, two of these classes are advanced, so I come up with my own material. One of the ladies classes is beginner, so there is an age appropriate textbook I use with them. Those are all of my classes right now, but in three weeks we will be adding another adult class on Saturday nights, bumping my class count to 13 a week.
Its not a bad schedule at all, in fact, now that I’m in the second week, I feel much more comfortable, and can manage my time a bit better. Right now lesson planning takes up a good chunk of time because I need to plan about 10 different lessons a week, and each class is a little different. Luckily, there are lots of different activities I can do with the kids to keep the hr long class interesting. My finding is that it is easier to plan the children’s classes then the adult classes. But when it comes to teaching, time goes by so much faster in the adult classes, which is probably because they understand more of what I am saying. In the beginner classes, I get a lot of blank looks, like they don’t understand…which is the worst! It really challenges me to simplify what I am doing, a lot of the time, simpler then I know how right now.
The first week, Junko came to all of my classes which relived a lot of the pressure. It allowed the mothers observing the class to have a language buffer, someone they could talk to and ask questions. It also was less intimidating for the student, knowing that they weren’t stuck in a room with a foreigner who doesn’t speak their language. I tried to break the ice and suck up by writing, “My name is Kris” on the board in Japanese, it actually worked pretty good (Watashi no namae wa kurisu desu. I can even write it in hiragana…so, bonus points).
Last week ended well, and so far this week has picked up right where I left off, so I’m thankful for that. There is still lots to learn, but what I have learned thus far has been a lot of fun!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Standing in the Spotlight
Those of you that know me, you know that I do not like to be the center of attention. Ironically, the past few weeks have been just the opposite. I feel like I have learned a lot by being in the spotlight, and it has really humbled me in what I am doing here.
It all started a few weeks ago when I was commissioned and my church in Lynnwood, Grace Lutheran Church. Pastor Dan then proceeded in sharing a sermon that was directed specifically to me. It was not embarrassing, but set the bar for what I was going to be doing abroad. A couple of weeks went by and I was walking around Japan.
Now, I’m 6’2” which a pretty average height for Edmonds, WA; here I stick out like a sore thumb! I’m about a head taller then most men, and at least two heads taller then most women, and I need to duck through most doorways. I’ve been in a couple of restaurants, and no joke, it looks like we are sitting at a child’s table. The tables are a few inches lower, making the chairs shorter then normal. When I walk around, I see a lot of eyes lookin at me.
Sasaki Sensei (pastor Hisashi Sasaki) and I have had many conversations over the days leading up to Sunday, where I was able to share with him why I decided to come out to Japan. I told him that it is where I felt God was and is calling me. The only reason why this English teaching Job sounded appealing is because I get to do more then teach a foreign language. I get to be a light in the lives of Japanese people, in a nation that is searching for Truth. The church and I are both excited to see how God will use me with my student’s. This past Sunday, there was a welcoming service at the church where I work, and now attend. It was pretty amazing! Sasaki Sensei shared that I was called by God to come to Japan and save His people, just like Moses was told by got to set his people free, so part of the scripture reading was from exodus, the part where Moses was told by God to go to Egypt and save the Israelites. I don’t want to put myself up there with Moses by ANY means, just clearing that up. It was during and after that sermon that I really hit me as to why I am here. I have known that I wanted to be here to be a light to those around me, but the first day of classes is just around the corner, and the opportunity to start reaching and witnessing to people is drawing near.
This was another bar set before me, another challenge to live by everyday. The only why that I believe to live each day is by faith, and seeking direction from God. Faith and guidance that God will lead me though each struggle, valley or bump along the road. I have faith that He will give me strength to make it through each day. I feel blest to have so much prayer support coming from many different directions. Friends in Canada, friends in Washington, my family, Grace Lutheran Church, and now the seminary Church. Thank you so much for all of your prayers!
It all started a few weeks ago when I was commissioned and my church in Lynnwood, Grace Lutheran Church. Pastor Dan then proceeded in sharing a sermon that was directed specifically to me. It was not embarrassing, but set the bar for what I was going to be doing abroad. A couple of weeks went by and I was walking around Japan.
Now, I’m 6’2” which a pretty average height for Edmonds, WA; here I stick out like a sore thumb! I’m about a head taller then most men, and at least two heads taller then most women, and I need to duck through most doorways. I’ve been in a couple of restaurants, and no joke, it looks like we are sitting at a child’s table. The tables are a few inches lower, making the chairs shorter then normal. When I walk around, I see a lot of eyes lookin at me.
Sasaki Sensei (pastor Hisashi Sasaki) and I have had many conversations over the days leading up to Sunday, where I was able to share with him why I decided to come out to Japan. I told him that it is where I felt God was and is calling me. The only reason why this English teaching Job sounded appealing is because I get to do more then teach a foreign language. I get to be a light in the lives of Japanese people, in a nation that is searching for Truth. The church and I are both excited to see how God will use me with my student’s. This past Sunday, there was a welcoming service at the church where I work, and now attend. It was pretty amazing! Sasaki Sensei shared that I was called by God to come to Japan and save His people, just like Moses was told by got to set his people free, so part of the scripture reading was from exodus, the part where Moses was told by God to go to Egypt and save the Israelites. I don’t want to put myself up there with Moses by ANY means, just clearing that up. It was during and after that sermon that I really hit me as to why I am here. I have known that I wanted to be here to be a light to those around me, but the first day of classes is just around the corner, and the opportunity to start reaching and witnessing to people is drawing near.
This was another bar set before me, another challenge to live by everyday. The only why that I believe to live each day is by faith, and seeking direction from God. Faith and guidance that God will lead me though each struggle, valley or bump along the road. I have faith that He will give me strength to make it through each day. I feel blest to have so much prayer support coming from many different directions. Friends in Canada, friends in Washington, my family, Grace Lutheran Church, and now the seminary Church. Thank you so much for all of your prayers!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Move In Day
Its been more then two months since I can walk though a door and call it my home. From moving out of my apartment at Trinity, into the house in Walnut grove, to briefly moving into my parents house in Edmonds, to arriving in Japan and dropping my bags in a temporary apartment, then going up to Takanosu for a week, I finally am settled in my apartment where I’ll be living this next year!
This past Saturday I came back from Takanosu, and with some help from people in the church, all of my stuff, along with all of the English class stuff were put in my new apartment. I won’t go into much detail about how the apartment looks because it would be easier to look at pictures. The good news is that it feels bigger then I was originally anticipating. It has a high ceiling because I get a little loft, which is awesome because I can store lots of stuff up there and keep most of my floor space open. My kitchen comes with one gas burner, a fridge, microwave, and a little toaster oven. I also get a washing machine, as well as a toilet closet and a shower. So, it pretty much anything a young single guy needs. The place is pretty much like a small studio apartment, but like I said, its great to have a place to call home.
Its about a 30 second walk away from where I’ll be working, so an easy commute. Its also right on the edge of a valley where a riving runs through, so when I walk out my door, I’m refreshed by the rich green vegetation and the sound of the river.
This past Saturday I came back from Takanosu, and with some help from people in the church, all of my stuff, along with all of the English class stuff were put in my new apartment. I won’t go into much detail about how the apartment looks because it would be easier to look at pictures. The good news is that it feels bigger then I was originally anticipating. It has a high ceiling because I get a little loft, which is awesome because I can store lots of stuff up there and keep most of my floor space open. My kitchen comes with one gas burner, a fridge, microwave, and a little toaster oven. I also get a washing machine, as well as a toilet closet and a shower. So, it pretty much anything a young single guy needs. The place is pretty much like a small studio apartment, but like I said, its great to have a place to call home.
Its about a 30 second walk away from where I’ll be working, so an easy commute. Its also right on the edge of a valley where a riving runs through, so when I walk out my door, I’m refreshed by the rich green vegetation and the sound of the river.
Monday, July 19, 2010
July 19: Training Week
Well, that past few days, actually, the last week has been a whirlwind! A couple of days ago I arrived safely back at home in Ayashi, after a fun-filled week of learning how to be an English teacher. Arnie and Bonita Noraas took me under their wing last week, where I was able to learn a lot about Japan, the struggles of churches and Christianity, how to teach English, and were able share some of Japans beautiful countryside.
Bonita wrote her masters thesis on how to teach untrained teachers to teach English in northern Japan, so it appears I have the perfect person teaching me. She did such a great job at getting me through all the material in just four days. She described it as a shinkansen training week. (Bullet train training week). Every day started with breakfast at 8:00am, and then we started working at 9:00. We worked hard till noon, then they would take me out for lunch, either to an authentic Japanese restaurant, or we would pack a lunch and take me to some beautiful scenic place. After lunch we would work hard till dinnertime. On Wednesday and Thursday, Bonita had three classes each evening, so I was able to observe, which was very important. On Thursday, she let me teach a section of one of her classes. It was good she let me do it, cause it started off pretty rough, so those first few min I learned a lot of what I shouldn’t do.
It was during this training week that I realized how hard and stretching teaching will be. Mainly referring to the children’s classes. Imagine how you can maintain control over a class where you cannot communicate with language, only gestures, tone of voice and facial expressions. And once you have control, how are you going to keep them interested in what you are trying to teach them. Every instruction needs to be broken down into its simplest way possible, and transitions between each activity need to be seamless, so that you don’t loose your students. These were the thoughts that started running through my mind.
Since those first bits of anxiety, I’ve calmed down a bunch! The class sizes are not those of a regular public school. These English conversation classes are an after school program at our church as a form of outreach, so each class has between four to six students, and they want to learn. That is not to say that each kid will be an angel, and I won’t have to worry about control over my class, I’ll still have to be on top of lesson preps, and explaining everything in simple terms. I think that going through all the material and different curriculums with Bonita prepared me pretty good for the first week of classes. This coming week will teach me a lot, and I’ll have time to tweak and adjust how I move through the material.
July 20th is my first day of teaching, each class is an hour long, and they are only once a week. But I have thirteen different classes, all different ages, grades, or skill in English. So it should be another exciting week.
Bonita wrote her masters thesis on how to teach untrained teachers to teach English in northern Japan, so it appears I have the perfect person teaching me. She did such a great job at getting me through all the material in just four days. She described it as a shinkansen training week. (Bullet train training week). Every day started with breakfast at 8:00am, and then we started working at 9:00. We worked hard till noon, then they would take me out for lunch, either to an authentic Japanese restaurant, or we would pack a lunch and take me to some beautiful scenic place. After lunch we would work hard till dinnertime. On Wednesday and Thursday, Bonita had three classes each evening, so I was able to observe, which was very important. On Thursday, she let me teach a section of one of her classes. It was good she let me do it, cause it started off pretty rough, so those first few min I learned a lot of what I shouldn’t do.
It was during this training week that I realized how hard and stretching teaching will be. Mainly referring to the children’s classes. Imagine how you can maintain control over a class where you cannot communicate with language, only gestures, tone of voice and facial expressions. And once you have control, how are you going to keep them interested in what you are trying to teach them. Every instruction needs to be broken down into its simplest way possible, and transitions between each activity need to be seamless, so that you don’t loose your students. These were the thoughts that started running through my mind.
Since those first bits of anxiety, I’ve calmed down a bunch! The class sizes are not those of a regular public school. These English conversation classes are an after school program at our church as a form of outreach, so each class has between four to six students, and they want to learn. That is not to say that each kid will be an angel, and I won’t have to worry about control over my class, I’ll still have to be on top of lesson preps, and explaining everything in simple terms. I think that going through all the material and different curriculums with Bonita prepared me pretty good for the first week of classes. This coming week will teach me a lot, and I’ll have time to tweak and adjust how I move through the material.
July 20th is my first day of teaching, each class is an hour long, and they are only once a week. But I have thirteen different classes, all different ages, grades, or skill in English. So it should be another exciting week.
Monday, July 12, 2010
July 10, 2010: Trip to Takenosu
Today was the day where I would be leaving Ayashi, and heading with the Nordaas’ back to their church in Takenasu. It is here where Bonita will be training me to teach English. Soon after waking up, eating breakfast, packing and going on a walk, we were on our way even farther north…a 3 hour drive north. Before leaving town we stopped at this well talked about bakery called Basudei, aka, Birthday Bakery. They are know for having a wide variety of breads, and after you buy your food, they give you a free cup of coffee.
On the way up, we drove over or near by Hagimantai mountain and stopped at a hot spring, known for its mud volcanos. We went on a hike and breathed the scent of the sulfur discharged from rocks and mud. Next, I experienced my first bathhouse at the Goshogake Onsen. Bonita went into the girls side, where Arnie and I went into the guys side. They are segregated because you go into these hot springs completely naked. Me, not really knowing what I was supposed to do, let Arnie take the lead, because I did not want to do anything strange. We walked in and rinsed off before we sat in the first pool. The inside of this onsen was not your ordinary spa with tile floors and walls. It was more like something you would find at a nice five star resort that is attempting to make an authentic bathhouse. The ceiling was very high and at a steep, 40-degree angle. Every thing was made with wood. The first pool was pretty large, about 15X20 feet. At the end there was a wood spout pouring hot water into the pool. After 5 min or so in there, we moved to the mud bath. There, you take mud and wipe it all over you body, and apparently it is supposed to make your skin real nice. Before we went into the steam room, we had to rinse off. There were little wooden stalls, separated with horizontal wood partitions. Each stall had its own little waterfall with hot water pouring down. To get to the seam room, you climb a 5 rung latter walk past 6 steam boxes and into the steam room. This was the worst smelling, hottest steam room I’d ever been in, but boy did it relax me. After sitting in there for a while, we tried out the steam boxes. We got into these by opening wood doors, changing out the old dirty block that the previous person was sitting on, climbed in and closed the doors. Each box is made for one person, one small person at that. I was sitting there and could hardly fit. My torso was too long, I was hunched over because my shoulders were jammed up at the top of the box next to the hole where you had comes out. After a few more soaks in the hot spring, we sat at these stools, filled our buckets with water that we would dump on our self and cleaned up.
Back on the road again, we had about one more hr before we arrived at Takenosu. The countryside of Japan is just beautiful, very lush. The roads curved though different farms, rice fields, and hillsides. For dinner, we stopped at this Ramen restaurant and I had my first real authentic Hot Ramen. I have decided that ramen will be in my diet quite regularly. We made it to the “Dome Church” just in time for the annual firework show in town. We quickly unloaded the car, and then Arnie directed me where I could go to get closer to the festival activities. There was a long line of food stands, and many people dressed up in authentic Japanese garb. The firework show started at 7:30 then went till about 8:45. It was quite slow though. There would be some sort of explanation of the fireworks that were going to be shown, each set of fireworks was about 45 seconds long, but they were lit one at a time. But it was cool being close enough to feel the concussion of the explosion. I left the festival part 15 min after it started and made my way back to the church and joined Bonita and Arnie for the rest of the show. They live close and it was only a 10 min walk across the river.
Towards the end of the show, a few guests came, Eriko, Tomoko and Taiko. Once the grand finale ended, we came inside, ate tea and bread while we chatted for a while. They were excited when they learned that I was Hosmer Sensai’s grandson. My grandfather and grandmother had worked at this church about 3 years ago and worked with these girls.
It was another day full of new cultural experiences, which wore me out, so I was able to sleep real well.
On the way up, we drove over or near by Hagimantai mountain and stopped at a hot spring, known for its mud volcanos. We went on a hike and breathed the scent of the sulfur discharged from rocks and mud. Next, I experienced my first bathhouse at the Goshogake Onsen. Bonita went into the girls side, where Arnie and I went into the guys side. They are segregated because you go into these hot springs completely naked. Me, not really knowing what I was supposed to do, let Arnie take the lead, because I did not want to do anything strange. We walked in and rinsed off before we sat in the first pool. The inside of this onsen was not your ordinary spa with tile floors and walls. It was more like something you would find at a nice five star resort that is attempting to make an authentic bathhouse. The ceiling was very high and at a steep, 40-degree angle. Every thing was made with wood. The first pool was pretty large, about 15X20 feet. At the end there was a wood spout pouring hot water into the pool. After 5 min or so in there, we moved to the mud bath. There, you take mud and wipe it all over you body, and apparently it is supposed to make your skin real nice. Before we went into the steam room, we had to rinse off. There were little wooden stalls, separated with horizontal wood partitions. Each stall had its own little waterfall with hot water pouring down. To get to the seam room, you climb a 5 rung latter walk past 6 steam boxes and into the steam room. This was the worst smelling, hottest steam room I’d ever been in, but boy did it relax me. After sitting in there for a while, we tried out the steam boxes. We got into these by opening wood doors, changing out the old dirty block that the previous person was sitting on, climbed in and closed the doors. Each box is made for one person, one small person at that. I was sitting there and could hardly fit. My torso was too long, I was hunched over because my shoulders were jammed up at the top of the box next to the hole where you had comes out. After a few more soaks in the hot spring, we sat at these stools, filled our buckets with water that we would dump on our self and cleaned up.
Back on the road again, we had about one more hr before we arrived at Takenosu. The countryside of Japan is just beautiful, very lush. The roads curved though different farms, rice fields, and hillsides. For dinner, we stopped at this Ramen restaurant and I had my first real authentic Hot Ramen. I have decided that ramen will be in my diet quite regularly. We made it to the “Dome Church” just in time for the annual firework show in town. We quickly unloaded the car, and then Arnie directed me where I could go to get closer to the festival activities. There was a long line of food stands, and many people dressed up in authentic Japanese garb. The firework show started at 7:30 then went till about 8:45. It was quite slow though. There would be some sort of explanation of the fireworks that were going to be shown, each set of fireworks was about 45 seconds long, but they were lit one at a time. But it was cool being close enough to feel the concussion of the explosion. I left the festival part 15 min after it started and made my way back to the church and joined Bonita and Arnie for the rest of the show. They live close and it was only a 10 min walk across the river.
Towards the end of the show, a few guests came, Eriko, Tomoko and Taiko. Once the grand finale ended, we came inside, ate tea and bread while we chatted for a while. They were excited when they learned that I was Hosmer Sensai’s grandson. My grandfather and grandmother had worked at this church about 3 years ago and worked with these girls.
It was another day full of new cultural experiences, which wore me out, so I was able to sleep real well.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
7/9: First day in Japan
Today I woke up at 7:00am, took a shower and found some cereal and milk Junko had left me, so I ate that for breakfast. It was a nice relaxing and continued to get settled. At 10:00 Juno took me to the city hall to get me registered as an alien, and to get my health insurance set up. The person who helped us knew Junko, introduced me as “Karisu sensai.” The lady knew that there was going to be a new English teacher coming, but was waiting to see who it was before she sent her kids. Apparently, when she learned that it was me, she approved and told Junko that she would send her kids to my class.
The next item on the agenda was to find a bank, and get information on how I could pay bills in America, while I am getting paid in yen. We got the information we needed, and concluded that we should check around to some more banks. That would be the only bank we checked out that day though. Before someone can open a bank account, to sign important documents, you need to have a stamp. I don’t know the real reason, but my assumption is that it is hard to have a unique signature when you write in Hiragana or Katakana. So, I needed a stamp pen. We went to this stamp shop and ordered a stamp.
Before we went back to the seminary, we stopped by the Co-op, and picked up some food for lunch. I was invited to the Sisaki’s (Junko and Hisashi) home for cold Ramen, but we needed to pick up supplies first. When we got back to the seminary, we had a wonderful lunch, with different Juices, cold ramen and, Haagen-daz ice cream for dessert. My findings with Japanese juice, is that it was way better then American juices. They taste all natural and rich in flavor. Following lunch, I though it would be nice to walk around a little bit, and explore the area I am living in. It was very humid and cloudy, but luckily it did not rain at all. I walked across a bridge that crosses a river before the road curves up into the hills. Walking in the other direction, I found it to be much more populated with many houses and apartments. The roads are very narrow, and everything is squeezed together. Just down the road is the middle school. There were tons of kids outside playing baseball in uniforms. One thing that caught my attention was that it was rare to see an overweight kid. This a very different sight compared to what you would find in America, where you would see tons of “Twinkie” stuffing kids.
For dinner, the Sasaki’s invited me, the Nordis family (Bonita and Arnie), and their friends for dinner. Since it looked like it was going to rain, we decided to eat inside the fellowship hall. The food we ate was quite amazing, we ate: Pork, chicken, onions, carrots, potato’s, beef and rice. After we ate we all ended up chatting for quite a long time before I retired back to my room and went to bed.
The next item on the agenda was to find a bank, and get information on how I could pay bills in America, while I am getting paid in yen. We got the information we needed, and concluded that we should check around to some more banks. That would be the only bank we checked out that day though. Before someone can open a bank account, to sign important documents, you need to have a stamp. I don’t know the real reason, but my assumption is that it is hard to have a unique signature when you write in Hiragana or Katakana. So, I needed a stamp pen. We went to this stamp shop and ordered a stamp.
Before we went back to the seminary, we stopped by the Co-op, and picked up some food for lunch. I was invited to the Sisaki’s (Junko and Hisashi) home for cold Ramen, but we needed to pick up supplies first. When we got back to the seminary, we had a wonderful lunch, with different Juices, cold ramen and, Haagen-daz ice cream for dessert. My findings with Japanese juice, is that it was way better then American juices. They taste all natural and rich in flavor. Following lunch, I though it would be nice to walk around a little bit, and explore the area I am living in. It was very humid and cloudy, but luckily it did not rain at all. I walked across a bridge that crosses a river before the road curves up into the hills. Walking in the other direction, I found it to be much more populated with many houses and apartments. The roads are very narrow, and everything is squeezed together. Just down the road is the middle school. There were tons of kids outside playing baseball in uniforms. One thing that caught my attention was that it was rare to see an overweight kid. This a very different sight compared to what you would find in America, where you would see tons of “Twinkie” stuffing kids.
For dinner, the Sasaki’s invited me, the Nordis family (Bonita and Arnie), and their friends for dinner. Since it looked like it was going to rain, we decided to eat inside the fellowship hall. The food we ate was quite amazing, we ate: Pork, chicken, onions, carrots, potato’s, beef and rice. After we ate we all ended up chatting for quite a long time before I retired back to my room and went to bed.
Friday, July 9, 2010
July 7-8, 2010: The trip to Japan
The two hour flight to San Francisco felt quite short because I was able to catch up on some sleep. Going to bed at 1am and trying to wake up at 3am is no easy task, and the though of leaving family and friends loomed over my head as I showered. Once 6am hit, I would be on a eighteen hour journey to a new life.
Saying goodbye was much easier for me then I expected. As I packed my bags with my mom and said goodbye to my dad late into the night before my departure, I did not cry, but the tear-ducts were nice and loaded ready to spill. It was quite a puzzle trying to figure out how to pack for a year, needing to plan ahead for a hot and humid summer, and then have proper clothes for a very cold winter. Eventually I got everything into four bags, each weighing just under 50lbs according to our scale. The goal was to check 3 bags, pay the extra bag fee, and then have two carry-ons.
My first lay over in San Francisco. Since I had 4 hrs to kill at the airport, I figured it would be best use of my time to spend it with one of my good life long friends, Isaiah Masters. He met me there and brought me to his house were we chowed down on a McDonalds breakfast. It was great to briefly catch up, since we wont see each other for at least a year. Usually, his family comes up and visits us in Seattle for one week each year, or our family goes to his families house, so I was glad I got to see him one last time.
If anybody is ever flying to Japan, or has the option of flying with ANA (All Nippon Air), do it! It is an amazing airline, with great service. Boarding was so organized, and as we entered the plane from the jet way, the staff lined up at the door welcoming us with a friendly bow that greeted us. Once we started flying, they started coming around with drinks and meals for everyone…and the drinks kept coming every 10 min. We were served two meals, I can’t remember what the first one was, but we had four different meals to choose from. The second meal we were served chimichangas, which I though was kind of funny.
Once I landed at the Tokyo/Narita airport, it was a race to get to the immigration line. I only had 1hr and 50min to get to my next flight. If there was any portion of the trip I was worried about, it was here. After waiting 45min to get through immigration I still needed to pick up my bags and go through customs, which was really fast, no waiting. The next task was to navigate my way around a new airport with only limited signs I could read. I ended up asking the wrong person for directions. This lady directed me to the 4th floor on the wrong end of the terminal. Once I was re-directed, I booked it back across the terminal only to find another very long, slow moving line. On my boarding pass, it read that boarding starts at 16:30, it was now 16:00. Time passed so fast compared to the progress I made in line. Over the intercom system, they announced that flight 3235 service to Sendai may begin to board. I was still at least 20 min away from the front of the line. Luckily they opened up a counter for my flight, so they could help me. It was now 16:35, and my flight left at 16:50. Once all three bags got checked, I was told that I needed to be at gate C by 16:40…so in like 3 min. I ran up the stairs when I was met by security…what great timing. So took my laptop out of my bag, tore off my jacket, picked it up on the other side of the metal detectors and ran down another hall, down some more stairs, and then onto a bus. I was the last one on, just in time before it pulled out onto the tarmac where it would take us to our small propped plane. The humidity was not on my side either. I was already sweaty from running around the airport, but the bus was hot and sticky, being that it is rainy season. Once I found my seat on the plane, I turned on the cold air and let it dry the beads of sweat running down my face.
One hour passed and we began our decent into Sendai. As I looked out the window, a familiar sight greeted me: trees, sun setting behind mountains and ocean. After I picked up my luggage, Junko san and Hiromitsu welcomed me with hugs. We ate a quick bite in the car as we made our way to the church, where we would be joining a bible study/prayer meeting. I was greeted with a warm welcome when we walked into the meeting. Luckily I was not feeling any jetlag, and was able to stay alert. I sat there for about an hour and a half and struggled to follow along since I do not know a lick of Japanese. But Junko san was so kind and translated what was being talked about. When the meeting ended, I got to meet everyone and begin to learn their names. Everyone helped me move my bags into the apartment where I will be staying for two nights, which was very kind.
After a little unpacking session, I showered and turned on something familiar as I fell asleep, The Office.
Saying goodbye was much easier for me then I expected. As I packed my bags with my mom and said goodbye to my dad late into the night before my departure, I did not cry, but the tear-ducts were nice and loaded ready to spill. It was quite a puzzle trying to figure out how to pack for a year, needing to plan ahead for a hot and humid summer, and then have proper clothes for a very cold winter. Eventually I got everything into four bags, each weighing just under 50lbs according to our scale. The goal was to check 3 bags, pay the extra bag fee, and then have two carry-ons.
My first lay over in San Francisco. Since I had 4 hrs to kill at the airport, I figured it would be best use of my time to spend it with one of my good life long friends, Isaiah Masters. He met me there and brought me to his house were we chowed down on a McDonalds breakfast. It was great to briefly catch up, since we wont see each other for at least a year. Usually, his family comes up and visits us in Seattle for one week each year, or our family goes to his families house, so I was glad I got to see him one last time.
If anybody is ever flying to Japan, or has the option of flying with ANA (All Nippon Air), do it! It is an amazing airline, with great service. Boarding was so organized, and as we entered the plane from the jet way, the staff lined up at the door welcoming us with a friendly bow that greeted us. Once we started flying, they started coming around with drinks and meals for everyone…and the drinks kept coming every 10 min. We were served two meals, I can’t remember what the first one was, but we had four different meals to choose from. The second meal we were served chimichangas, which I though was kind of funny.
Once I landed at the Tokyo/Narita airport, it was a race to get to the immigration line. I only had 1hr and 50min to get to my next flight. If there was any portion of the trip I was worried about, it was here. After waiting 45min to get through immigration I still needed to pick up my bags and go through customs, which was really fast, no waiting. The next task was to navigate my way around a new airport with only limited signs I could read. I ended up asking the wrong person for directions. This lady directed me to the 4th floor on the wrong end of the terminal. Once I was re-directed, I booked it back across the terminal only to find another very long, slow moving line. On my boarding pass, it read that boarding starts at 16:30, it was now 16:00. Time passed so fast compared to the progress I made in line. Over the intercom system, they announced that flight 3235 service to Sendai may begin to board. I was still at least 20 min away from the front of the line. Luckily they opened up a counter for my flight, so they could help me. It was now 16:35, and my flight left at 16:50. Once all three bags got checked, I was told that I needed to be at gate C by 16:40…so in like 3 min. I ran up the stairs when I was met by security…what great timing. So took my laptop out of my bag, tore off my jacket, picked it up on the other side of the metal detectors and ran down another hall, down some more stairs, and then onto a bus. I was the last one on, just in time before it pulled out onto the tarmac where it would take us to our small propped plane. The humidity was not on my side either. I was already sweaty from running around the airport, but the bus was hot and sticky, being that it is rainy season. Once I found my seat on the plane, I turned on the cold air and let it dry the beads of sweat running down my face.
One hour passed and we began our decent into Sendai. As I looked out the window, a familiar sight greeted me: trees, sun setting behind mountains and ocean. After I picked up my luggage, Junko san and Hiromitsu welcomed me with hugs. We ate a quick bite in the car as we made our way to the church, where we would be joining a bible study/prayer meeting. I was greeted with a warm welcome when we walked into the meeting. Luckily I was not feeling any jetlag, and was able to stay alert. I sat there for about an hour and a half and struggled to follow along since I do not know a lick of Japanese. But Junko san was so kind and translated what was being talked about. When the meeting ended, I got to meet everyone and begin to learn their names. Everyone helped me move my bags into the apartment where I will be staying for two nights, which was very kind.
After a little unpacking session, I showered and turned on something familiar as I fell asleep, The Office.
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