Old Faces and New Faces

After 4 months of being in Sendai, I FINALLY got to visit PCC ~ my former church.  Finally saw Taka and Frances and got to meet their baby!  They had just announced their pregnancy when I left Japan 3 years ago.  Now, he's a big boy walking and talking.  After church service on Sunday, Aaron and I rushed over to PCC as fast as we could.  They were having an English Cafe.  There we met lots of people from other countries, many MeySen teachers, some ALTs, and of course, Japanese people.

We played "I have never..." And I knocked Aaron out.

English Cafe: sipping drinks, eating snacks, and meeting new people!

Taka and Renma saying hi!

 I met a girl who is a first year ALT in Sendai.  We chatted about JET, our schools, and the people we knew in common.  Thanks to my successor's successor who got drunk, arrested, and fired, my school is now notorious amongst the ALT community.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay long and left after an hour.  I enjoyed it so much, it was like coming home.  It was so great to finally see Taka and Frances again.  Aaron and I are hoping to come back again the next time they have an English Cafe (every 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month).

I-Hate-Kids-Why-Did-I-Become-a-Teacher?!

For this whole week I've been in a "I-hate-kids-why-did-I-become-a-teacher!" mood.  I've been struggling to find the joy in teaching children.  I genuinely like teaching English to adults.  They want to be there and they are eager to learn.  They also have a desire to converse with you.  Most adults have had at least some exposure to English, either from 20 years ago in high school or from watching lots of movies.  Children on the other hand... most of them are there because their parents want them to learn English.  It's just more school to them and if they had a choice, they'd rather play all day than listen to an hour of English.  It's also a struggle since they are learning English from scratch.  Plus, I am most definitely an introvert and dislike noise.  And, well, kids are noisy.

Over time I've been able to grow with some of the kids and get more comfortable with them.  Out of all the elementary classes, I enjoy my Tuesday class the best.  Probably because that one is the quietest and matches my personality.  I definitely do much better with the older kids, from 6th grade on.  Junior high is surprisingly the easiest to teach.

High school was one of my most difficult classes early on because they had a specific type of comprehension and conversation skills.  They were also very awkward and shy.  But after a few months, they have warmed up and are much less awkward.  I think I'm also getting more confident with the textbook.  We've incorporated Boggle into our lessons, which has been a great success.  They love that game and it makes class a lot more fun.  It's been so much more fun that now I am thinking of continuing the previous teacher's idea of a fun night/ministry.  Half of the high school students are currently on an American tour, which is a sort of reverse missions trip.  They go to America and they get ministered to.  With that going on right now, and after they met Aaron, I'm thinking of continuing the ministry to them in some way.  Not sure how yet.  Possibly one fun night a month thing.

However, as for the children.  In one of my classes, there is one particular girl that had been giving me a lot of attitude.  She's rather inconsistent about it as well, which makes it more difficult.  I've tried different approaches on her.  Being stern.  Being friendly.  Giving special praises.  So on.  But last Sunday, when I said hi to her, she ignored me.  To my face.  That was the last straw and I was determined to talk to this little girl face to face.  I first spoke to Junko about it since I would need a translator.  However, when that day came, I found out that Junko had already spoken to her on my behalf.  Well, I was disappointed that I didn't get the chance to speak to the child directly, but the child listened fortunately.  She was even playful with me on the playground and we danced together (briefly).  There was also an incident on the playground when her sister began to cry.  The other girls continued to play, but her sister stayed by her side.  It was quite sweet and it helped me to see that she's really a good girl.

Thursday class consistently been my most rowdy class.  Probably coming in and starting exhausted was not a good way to kick off this class.  However, since the begin of the new school year in April and a recent scolding, they have been very good.  I've gotten used to their energy and personalities.  Today, we even had a new student and it went very well.

So with this improvement does this mean I like kids?  I know God is telling me to build relationships with these kids.  And thankfully, that is unfolding now.  Hopefully, as I continue to teach them and get to know them, I will come to see them as not (in the words of my grandpa) "gunfunnit kids!" but as real people.  Maybe once that happens, this job will start to be rewarding.

Attempted Girl's Day Out

On Saturday I had a Girl's Day Out with Yoko.  We started at 11:30 am and headed to downtown Sendai.  This weekend was Aoba Matsuri, where people perform a sparrow dance using fans down the covered street area.  This was Yoko's first time seeing the festival despite living in Sendai for most of her life.  This was my second.  It was very colorful and festive.  Several groups had little kids performing with them and it was very cute.

 

Once in Sendai, Yoko and I went to get some lunch.  Because of the festival it was really crowded.  We waited for some time before getting seated at a soba restaurant.  It had a nice feel and the soba was pretty good.  Although, lately I've had so much soba that I'm starting to lose the taste for it.

After soba, Yoko and I went shopping.  I probably shoulda told her in advance that I hate shopping.  But I thought it was a good opportunity since I had to get some girly essentials: shoes, make-up, and bras.  The shoes were the easiest to find.  I bought a pair of bright blue crocs.  The selection was very limited (Made me miss the croc stores in America) and the color isn't really me, but I'm glad to get a pair of really comfy shoes.  It'll serve me well when Aaron and I head to Bali for the summer.

Not far from the shoe store was a lingerie store.  This was a very unenjoyable experience.  I didn't know my size since the sizes in Japan are very different from American sizes.  So I headed to a fitting room where one of the store clerks measured me.  After telling me my size, I noticed a conversion chart on the wall that converted American sizes into Japanese sizes.  Well, the size the lady told me was different from what the chart said.  When I told the sales lady what size I should have been, she brushed me off saying that her measurement was correct.  She then handed me several bras in her suggested size  that didn't fit.  Everything was all wrong.  Band was too loose, cups too small.  Worst of all, they push and squeeze everything together in order to create the illusion of cleavage.  It's incredibly uncomfortable, puts all the stress on the straps which digs into the shoulders, and creates a ridiculous-looking profile.  Literally like what you see in an anime.  Gravity defying, pointy, and desperately fake.  It was just embarrassing.  I tried several times to tell the woman that she was giving me the wrong size and she kept telling me that it was the correct size.  Finally, Yoko came to my rescue and I showed her the chart.  She then told the sales lady what I had been telling her the whole time, and what do you know?  She listens to her.  Racist!  She finally gives me the right size and hey, it fits!  Well, sorta.  It still feels like it's trying to remove my breasts from the rest of my body.  And it still has that horrible fake and obvious profile that makes me look like a cartoon character.  But all the other options were far worse.  I settled for the best one I could find.  The one that created the smoothest profile and without the bowties, fuzzies, lace, ruffles, etc.  (No wonder all the shirts in Japan are so flowy.)  But the one I got still has some sorta dangly sheer cloth and rhinestones on the straps.  I really didn't wanna spend my money on that, but I felt so bad since Yoko was being so patient and helpful.  $40 down the drain and I'm not sure how often I'll wear that.  Next time I'm in America, I'm heading straight to Victoria's Secret.  I'm thinking of ordering online...

My Plan B is to check out the H&M over here.  Praying to God that it's still American style...

After buying that torture device, Yoko and I headed to Daiei.  There we got ourselves some manicures. It was very cheap, under $10.  And I got what I paid for.  The girl didn't do much.  She didn't wash or massage my hands.  Didn't push back my cuticles, which I'm actually ok with since that's very painful.  But she filed them into a round shape, painted them and stuck some decals onto them.  Unfortunately, they don't paint on the flowers and rhinestones like the little Vietnamese ladies do in America.  They just stick on stickers.  It didn't come out as great as I would have liked.  The sticker messed up the polish.  And it took a very long time to fully dry (almost 3 hours).  Most of my nails got ruined throughout the day as I had to keep reaching into my purse to pull out my wallet.

That's what they look like.  That's the hand that didn't get too messed up.

Yoko got a similar manicure with the same kind of flowers, but with pink polish.  Hers turned out very cute.  I think she's much more used to getting manicures than I am since hers were undamaged.  During the middle of our manicures, there was a pretty good sized earthquake.  Everything shook for quite a long time.  But nothing fell over.  It was a nice bit of excitement with no danger.

After manicures, we headed to a drug store where I bought a few things.  Mascara and eyelash curler refills.  I tried on some new lipstick shades but nothing looked right.  So we just headed out the door.

We spent the next hour looking for a place to have dessert.  But everywhere we went was either closed or too busy or too far away.  Yoko also had a dentist appointment that she had to make.  We ended up scratching dessert, much to my disappointment.  And that was the end of our girl time.  That wasn't really my idea of fun or getting to know her.  Mainly because I hate shopping.  But I don't know.  Maybe she likes shopping.  Maybe she enjoyed it and had a good time.  Let's hope.

But overall, it was a nice girly day that I needed and it was a good chance to hang out with Yoko.

I Can't Get No Satisfaction

I can't quite put my finger on it... but I don't feel satisfied.  And I don't know why.

I've been here for about 4 months.  I've kinda gotten into a groove when it comes to teaching.  It's gotten easier and I've found a routine that works for my schedule so I'm not so tired.  But I'm still not getting that joy from working here.

I've tried to figure out why.  The church here is extremely conservative for my tastes, but I still like the community.  I like this church.  I like the people.  And I knew coming here that I wouldn't be getting drenched under a waterfall and that I would be working instead.  But at the same time... spiritually, I don't feel as nourished.  And it's much harder to nourish myself.  I'm finding myself going through the motions.  I haven't quite figured out my place here as a minister.

And that's a question that I have yet to answer.  What am I doing here?  Teaching English.  Is that it?  There has to be more.  But I don't know what.  Is it a matter of timing?  Do I still need to keep working at it before I know what it is?  Do I just do something, anything, regardless of timing?  This is what I really want to know.

Deep down in my heart I want to minister full time.  Lately, I've been thinking about going into seminary.  I like teaching English, and that's a great way to minister.  But out of all the hours I spend teaching English, I only get to talk about God for about 40 minutes throughout the whole week.  I want more than that.

I've also talked to Aaron about worship.  I feel that he and I are in the same boat, same place spiritually.  Very dry.  Unmotivated.  Something's missing.  Aaron is a great worshipper.  That's his gift.  That's who he is.  But lately he says he has no motivation to worship and he no longer worships.  That's very disheartening.  But the sad truth is, that also applies to me too.  I don't worship anymore.  Worship here is all in hymns.  In Japanese.  That's something that I still haven't adjusted to.  Hymns on a Sunday morning make me want to sleep.  Not get up and glorify God.  I have a desire to return to my artwork.  I just need to get some supplies that I need.  I know that I have to figure something out so that I can worship God in my way.

I've been reading the word, getting into Scripture daily... but I still feel dry.

Aaron prayed and got a word for me.  Diversity.  He said that the problem for me right now is that there is no diversity.  He said I'm a green puzzle piece in a black-and-white puzzle board.  So what do I need?  Or what do I do with that?  IDK.

Lots of questions.  No answers yet.

God's Fingerprints in Japan

Tonight at Bible Study, Pastor Hisashi started talking about the traditional Japanese tea ceremony and how it links to Christianity.  He explained it in detail and taught the women's Bible Study this earlier today.  I already knew about this connection because there was a research conducted in Hawaii several years ago about this.  I shared this with Junko and she was surprised.

The church and ministry in Hawaii (Aloha Ke Akua Ministries) did this study and they released two documentary DVDs.  The DVDs are about finding God in traditional Japanese culture, so that Japanese people can identify with God as a Japanese God and not a foreign God introduced by westerners.  The DVDs are called "God's Fingerprints in Japan."

I used to own them but I didn't bring them with me to Japan.  (Doh!)  But luckily and thankfully, Aaron has a copy of them with him.  But I also managed to find links of the videos online.  I wish I could put the videos on this blog site, but I couldn't figure it out.  So instead, the links are below.  Both are very interesting!

God's Fingerprints in Japan (Part 1)

God's Fingerprints in Japan (Part 2)

And the website to the ministry's site is here: Aloha Ke Akua Ministries

Golden Week in Tohoku ~ Days 3 & 4: Yamagata

Sunday & Monday, May 5th-6th (Children's Day)

On Sunday, Aaron and I met on the train headed towards Yamagata.  From Ayashi, it's about an hour train ride.  Once again it was super crowded due to the holiday.  But about halfway through enough people got off so that we could finally sit down.  While on the train we annoyed the other passengers by playing a new game I downloaded onto my app.  It's called Head's Up.  It was actually created by the Ellen Degeneres Show and it was made to be like all the games she plays on her shows.  Since Aaron and I have recently gotten into Ellen, we tried out the game for the first time.  And it was very addicting.  We laughed like crazy on the train, and Aaron got pretty loud.  So I'm definitely sure we annoyed the other passengers.  But overall the train ride was very nice.  We passed by lots of greenery: mountains, trees, waterfalls, rice fields...

Since we've both already been to Zao and Yamadera, we decided to check out the city.  When we got there, there really wasn't much there.  We were very surprised at how much smaller it was than Sendai.  But it was also a very nice change and very quiet and peaceful.

 

We spent the first few hours walking around the city, checking it out and finding a place to have lunch. We ended up spending a small fortune on sukiyaki and a gyudon.  After walking around for a while, we checked into the hotel, which was right across from the station.  The rooms were very nice and comfy.  It'd been a while since I slept on a real bed, so I definitely enjoyed it!  Plus, it also came with a nice tub that you could lay back it, unlike the itty bitty one that I haven't even attempted to squeeze into in my apartment.  I shoulda took pictures.

Aaron and I were tired from the adventures from the few days before, so we both spent the afternoon taking naps.  On our nice comfy, real beds.  When we got up, we went exploring some more.  We both pretty starving.  We wanted to get something quick, so we looked around the area that we thought would have nice food courts, but couldn't find anything decent.  Finally, we passed by a sign on top of the bus station (very weird).  It said Yonezawa beef.  The week before, someone at our church told us we should try Yonezawa beef when in Yamagata, so we did.

When we found the hidden restaurant, it was really small.  Only a few tables.  It was yakiniku style, but man was the beef good.  We ended up getting two orders.  And paying something like $130.  Crazy!  But worth it.  Especially after living in Japan for so long, it was the best part of our vacation!  We could finally enjoy MEAT!

 

After being so stuffed, we walked back to the hotel and ended the night by playing more of Ellen's game.  Aaron's description of a platypus was especially funny: "It's a reptile.  Well, it's an amphibian too.  And it has a beak."  Um... what?

We also checked out a children's science museum.  It was pretty cool and we pushed a lot of buttons.  We found a giant mouse trap like contraption.

 

And Aaron played with bubbles.

Look at that big kid with all those little kids!

Unfortunately, we didn't get to do all the things we wanted to do.  We wanted to check out a park and I wanted to check out some hiking trails and waterfalls, but things didn't quite work out.  It started to rain in the middle of the afternoon and we had to go home early.  We also got into a big fight.  Somehow that always happens on the last day of our vacation.  But the good news is, we found some giant grapes.  I had to take a rest on it.  Aaron just got hungry. 

Overall, the best thing about this trip was probably the beef.  We'll probably go back in a month from now.  Just for the beef.  Mmm... meat.  And also discovering a new game with Aaron was fun as well.

The end.  Can't wait for next Golden Week!

Golden Week in Tohoku ~ Day 2: Ishinomaki!

Saturday, May 4th (Greenery Day)

On Saturday, Aaron, Manami, and I drove to Ishinomaki to visit Dean and Linda Bengtson (missionaries planting a church in Ishinomaki).  It was about an hour drive and we got there to see Dean and a bunch of older neighbors planting some flowers at their community center.  Ishinomaki was badly hit two years ago, and much still has to be done.  There are a line of houses that have to be taken out.  Even the building we were in, we could see some damage.  The area was very quiet, in an almost eerie way.

Freshly planted flowers on Greenery Day.

Inside the building, we helped to prepare for the day.  Dean and Linda were hosting a gospel concert.  A woman came to play the piano/keyboards, and sing several songs.  It was all in Japanese, but she did a great job.  She played many common songs that the Japanese people knew and she tied it all together with her testimony.  It was a great way for the people to understand her story and how God works.

Shizu playing for the crowd.

Preparing for the day took some time.  While there, we met two girls from Thailand with the best names: Air and Pair!  We had a great time getting to know them, chatting with them about Thailand, and so on.  Together we made coffee and around plates of sugary sweets.  Seriously, every type of sweet you could think of: chocolate, brownies, cookies, donuts, and homemade mochi.  Lotsa sugar!

Manami, Pair, Air & Aaron on our lunch break.

So many goodies!

After the concert was all over, we cleaned up and headed over to the Bengtsons house.  It was just around the corner.  It was a nice change.  From the outside, it was your average Japanese house.  Inside, it was like stepping into an American home.  Big, fluffy couch and all.  It was pretty refreshing. We all gathered on the big sofa and had some girl talk.  Poor Aaron was outnumbered.  But Joshua and Dean later showed up.  We eventually broke up and headed our separate directions.  The Bengtsons went to get dinner and Manami, Aaron and I headed back to Sendai.

Me with Manami, Pair & Air.

By the time we got back it was already around 8:00pm.  We were pooped!

Everyone in Ishinomaki.

Golden Week in Tohoku ~ Day 1: Matsushima!

This year, Golden Week (a string of holidays all in one week) fell on the weekend.  Friday through Monday.  Aaron and I tried to plan a weekend in Hiroshima, but that didn't work out.  Instead, we spent the holidays going around Tohoku.

Friday, May 3th (Constitution Memorial Day)

Aaron and I started the day early by meeting at Sendai Station, getting some McDonald's breakfast, and hopping a train to Matsushima Bay.  The train was super crowded since it was a holiday.  But after about an hour, we reached our destination.

This was my 4th time in Matsushima.  But it was Aaron's first, and everyone in Sendai should visit Matsushima at least once.

Aaron had to use the bathroom, but the only bathrooms we could find had squatty potties.  So we searched the town looking for a western-style toilet.  We finally found one at the tourist center near the ferry.  After our rest stop, we tried to go into the main temple, but when we got there it was closed for renovation.  Actually, it still seemed that much of the touristy areas were under reconstruction from the tsunami that hit two years ago.

Instead, we took a side street and found Entsuin (another small temple).  It was still open.  There was a large line at the entrance to buy tickets to get in.  But when I looked past the gate, people were walking out freely and there was no one to take the tickets once inside the temple grounds.  So we just walked through.  That's technically stealing, but we played the gaijin card on that one.  Plus, I don't like the idea of giving my money to a temple.  And no one paid attention anyways.

  

So we walked in and there were many beautiful gardens.  We saw a rock garden where Aaron turned into the Karate Kid, and I imitated a monk (key word: imitated).  We also saw lots of woodsy paths, gravesites (not as pretty), flowers, fountains, and caves.  Too bad I didn't take more pictures.

 

After Entsuin, we had some time to kill before our ferry ride, so we checked out Godaido.  It's a little island with some cool red bridges.  We spent some time taking pictures in front of the ocean and little islands.  And of Aaron being a dork on the red bridge.

Godaido

Dork on a bridge.

 Then it was ferry time.  It was about 50 minutes long and it took us in a big loop around the bay.  I don't remember how many islands there are in the bay, but there's a lot.  Some of em are big with people actually living on them.  Some are tiny with only one or a few trees.  Some are shaped really funny.  And some are just boring.  We also saw tons of oyster nets as Matsushima is known for it's oysters.

Some island that I don't remember the name to.  Aaron was still awake for this one.

About 20 minutes into the boat ride, Aaron was out like a light.  It was pretty amusing to see all these excited tourists snapping pictures at the windows of the boat, and there's Aaron.  Snoring.  Pretty hilarious.  He slept for about 30 minutes.  When we docked again, he remarked, "That was a good boat ride."  And an expensive nap!  $14!

After the boat ride, we were really hungry.  We didn't know any good places around the area and every place looked the same.  We decided to ask the lady at the tourist center for any suggestions.  She referred us to a pamphlet which looked really great.  It had lots of different dishes and it looked pretty exciting.  So we walked a ways, about 5-10 minutes to find this place.  When we got there it wasn't a restaurant at all, but more of a fish market.  On the top floor there was a space where people sat on picnic type tables and ate their seafood dishes.  Aaron and I both ordered maguro bowls.  It looked so good in the picture and the price was not too cheap, so we assumed we were in for something good.  But nope!  It was cut all wrong.  It turned out to be pretty horrible.  Probably the worst maguro I've ever had.  Ever.  Including in Arizona and Hawaii.  

On the way to the restaurant/fish market, we found this guy!

We felt pretty disgusted and cheated after this meal.  So we decided we needed to make up for it by getting some ice cream.  We found an ice cream shop that had a big crowd, figured it must be good.  Aaron ordered vanilla, I ordered pear flavor.  Well, the pear flavor wasn't what I expected.  It tasted more like Melona than pear, and I really had my heart set on pear.  Aaron didn't like his vanilla either.  It didn't taste like vanilla at all, but milk.  So of course, we switched cones and we were happy.  I enjoyed his vanilla and he enjoyed my pear.

After our terrible lunch experience, we had had enough of Matsushima (especially considering many things were still closed).  So we headed back to Sendai.  The bad maguro also gave us a bad taste in our mouths for seafood.  I'd decided that I wanted western food after that for a long time.  So we headed to Tirols (and Italian place) and had some delicious bread, pasta, and salad.  As authentic as you can probably get in Sendai.  

And that was the end of Day 1 of Golden Week.