Spring Flowers in April!

After a really long, cold winter, spring has finally come!  April has been a really refreshing time compared to the winter.  Winter was a bit rough, as I was really tired from all the moving, transitioning, and adjusting.  But with it getting warmer, sunnier, and the pace slowing down a little.. I can finally take it all in.

April is the beginning of a new school year, and several classes have moved around.  A number of students quit.  Several students graduated to higher level classes, and a few new faces have popped up. Due to these changes, I have several gaps in my work schedule.  This really lightens my load since I have a lot of time to prepare for my classes.  I also finally got internet after several months of borrowing the church's library connection.  Now I can work at home and I don't have to go back and forth all the time.  I also was able to buy a bunch of teacher's guides to the student textbooks I've been using.  They've really helped since I don't have to think so hard of new ideas all the time.

Since the first several months of me being here have been mostly about trying to learn the job: English teaching, I haven't had much time to reflect on what I can do here for God.  Things are slowly coming through.  I'm praying for a few opportunities that are still in the planning process.  I'm hoping things work out and waiting to see how things unfold.

Overall, April has been a refreshing month.  But the best thing of all... FLOWERS!

Fileo had a Hanami (Cherry Blossom Picnic) but when we go to the park, there were no cherry blossoms.  But we still had a good time.  We had sandwiches and played games with balloons.

  

 Afterwards we stood in line for some ice cream.

For Saturday Night Class we had Hanami at night in Tsutsujigaoka Park.  There were lanterns, lots of food vendors, and of course cherry blossoms everywhere.  Definitely a fun English Class!

Yoko, Atsuko & Sayaka huddling under a blanket.  It was so cold that night that it snowed the next morning!

The park was really nice at night with all the lights and cherry blossom trees!

 

Winter in Ayashi (January ~ March 2013)

I first came to Ayashi at the end of January.  And BOY was there a lot of snow!

Yoko had to clean the snow off her car.

But everyone in Ayashi Christ Church is very friendly.  I started meeting and teaching the students shortly after arriving in Sendai.

For Valentine's Day, we made chocolate truffles with the children.

And they turned me into a mummy.

I also got to eat LOTS OF OKONOMIYAKI!  Some of the Saturday night students and I enjoyed a day of hot springs in the beautiful snowy mountains and a fun dinner at an okonomiyaki shop.  

Sayaka and Yoko are about to flip their okonomiyaki!

The young adults at the church also had their own okonomiyaki night.  We made our own okonomiyaki and it was probably the best one I've ever tasted.  Nothing like homemade!  It was also Aaron's first time trying it and he loved it.

 

The finished product: oishiiii!

The staff at Ayashi Christ Church have been very supportive.  When I got tired, they gave me a break.  Pastor Hisashi and Junko took me to an art museum, where we saw an old tea ceremony house.  

Another nice thing about being in Japan is getting to see Aaron again. We only see each other once a week, but we try to make it count.  Every weekend with him becomes a fun adventure.

We're on top of Parco near Sendai Station.

And we found a dragonball Colonel Sanders.

At the end of March for Spring Break, Aaron and I went to Seoul, South Korea.  It was only for two days, but it was still a nice vacation.  I'll put more about that trip in the Around the World section on this blog.

And finally, for EASTER we helped the staff practice for their Easter Service Performance.  Aaron and I weren't able to attend, but it was fun watching them practice.