Japanese Appreciation Day with Nobuko!

This past Sunday was a nice day in Japan. After church service Aaron and I met up with Nobuko. I haven't seen Nobuko in a while and Aaron has never hung out with her before.  It was really nice.

She invited us into her home and gave us a very educational tour of her house.  It was an old house (she said 40 yrs old) and taught us about the design and structure of it.  She explained that it was measured in tatami.  Each tatami was the measurement of the average Japanese person's body length back in the old days.  That's pretty crazy considering the tatami is only about 5 ft long.  She also told us about how they ventilated their houses in the summer.  Nobuko even shared her own family history with us.  Telling us about her husband's father and her own father, showing us their old collections of books they had inherited.  It was really great, like going into a museum but we were learning about Japan AND our friend at the same time.  It was pretty fascinating to learn this from her inside her own home.  Aaron especially loved it.  It made us feel very welcomed and appreciate Japan for its culture.

After drinking green tea and eating dango in Nobuko's old tea room, she drove us over to the Jougi shrine.  Aaron had never been there before (I had been twice before).  It was really nice of her and she really insisted.  It turned out to be a very far drive.  We were afraid of getting stuck in traffic on the way back, it we had a great adventure through the rice fields.

At the gate.

I made a joke on facebook/instagram about this entrance being the gate to hell, since there are demon statues on both sides.  From an outsider's perspective that's definitely what it looks like.  We didn't really care because we were glad to experience Japan outside of the city.

This is what it looked like once past the gate.

Inside there were lots of shrines, buildings, an old tree shrine, lots of gardens, ponds, koi.  It was very serene.  Aaron was mostly impressed by a pagoda that had been built hundreds of years ago without any bolts or nails.

 

Afterwards, we rushed back to Nobuko's home for dinner.  There, Toru (Nobuko's husband) had prepared a wonderful feast.  It included yakitori (which was my favorite), greek salad, potato salad, seared fish, clams, and melon for dessert.  This was Aaron's first homemade Japanese meal in Japan!  He loved it.

Two of their friends were also invited.  Manabu and Yumi Sasaki.  It had been years since I had last seen them and it was really great to finally see them again.  I was excited that Aaron finally got to meet them.  Aaron was very surprised by how energetic and talkative Yumi was, but it was extremely entertaining.  He also seemed to really get along with Manabu.  The men kept trying to get Aaron drunk (at least, that's what I think), but he only had a few drinks since we had Night Service back at the church to attend to.

Here we are with our big meal and the men.  (Manabu and Toru)

We were really sad when we had to leave, but those party people were still at it when Night Service was over!  So, we decide to surprise them and head back.  We stayed pretty late.  Lol.  This was the closest thing I've had to a real party since coming to Japan and it was with a bunch of old people!  But both Aaron and I had a great time and being with them made us really remember how much we love Japan and Japanese people.  We really hope we get to do this again some time soon!

The Jennifer Weekend

This past weekend my ALT successor, Jennifer Craven, came back to Sendai for a week.  I had never met her before as she came to Sendai after I left to replace me at my former ALT job.  Well, she left last year to work in Australia for a year.  That year is over, so she's now returning home but not before making a pit stop in Sendai to say hello.

This was my first time meeting her in person.  I've only ever emailed her or left messages via facebook. It's been nice to get to know her.  She's a very nice person and we, along with the Ayashi gang, got to hang out over this weekend.

I was very surprised to see her pop into church with Shiina-san, my old tea-lady and friend from Osawa chu gakko.  Nobuko also stopped by to see both me and Jennifer.  It was nice to see all of them since I haven't seen them in a while.  After church the Fileo group went on an afternoon outing.

Everyone from that service: it was a big turnout!

First we went to the Nikka Whisky Factory.  It was out in the boonies.  They showed us all the different buildings they used to make whiskey.  Then they had free tastings.  And NO ONE tasted the free whiskey.  We all went for the orange juice instead.  It almost seems like waste.

After the whiskey factory, we went for a short hike up a steep mountain.  It was only a few minutes long, but the steps were Japanese sized (very small and steep and covered with moss), so I found myself stepping very carefully.  It was the most I've used my leg muscles in over a year.  Pretty sad.

                 

About halfway through, Jennifer had to stop since she had recently injured her foot.  She and Manami went back while the rest of us continued upwards.  At the top we found a cave that the monks used to pray in.  The view was nice and very woodsy.  When we got back to the bottom we cruised for a bit before heading out for some...

Me and Jennifer.

... GELATO! 

I got banana chocolat (pronounced with a French accent!)

Somehow our drivers found this little red house in the middle of nowhere.  It was a great little gelato place called "Buddy."  The lady there was so cute in her little blue apron.  She served all of us and gave us water and chatted with Manami.  It turns out she doesn't live in the little red house.  She actually lives in Ochiai, right next to Ayashi!

 

The cute gelato lady in her blue apron.

Here we all are eating our gelato!

The next night Manami, Haruka, Jennifer and I had a BBQ at Haruka's house.  Manami wanted a Hawaiian style BBQ.  That was pretty hard to do in Japan.  Well, we tried, but the truth is it was nothing like a Hawaiian BBQ.  We had cheeseburgers (made from ground pork, because there was no ground beef at the supermarket), cheddar cheese filled sausages for hot dogs, potato salad, potato chips, and corn on the cob.  And apple juice. 

For some reason, they trusted me to do the BBQing.  Like I have any idea how to bbq!  Usually I'm sitting on my butt while the guys are doing the grilling.  But we had no guys around, so I was put in charge of cooking the sausages... fortunately Haruka and Jennifer took care of the burgers.

 

Afterwards we were so stuffed!  But Manami wanted to make smores!  In order to make room in our stomachs we went for a walk across the bridge.

After a impromptu race from light post to light post (which I definitely lost), we headed back.  I had room for only one smore.  It's impossible to find graham crackers in Japan, so we had to use saltine crackers instead... it was interesting.  After one, I was done.

And that was the end of my Jennifer-filled escapades.

Some Negatives and a Positive

Last night I had another "I-hate-kids-why-did-I-come-here" moment.  After a rough class I vented to Aaron.  Ate ramen, and a lot of cookies.  And played really embarrassing girly games on my iPhone.  I know there's a lesson in here somewhere.  I am very aware that this is really God preparing me and building some sort of skill or character trait in me that I will need some time in the future for some greater purpose.  At least, I sure hope so.  I know I have bigger ambitions, especially in ministry.  And well, if I can't handle a few little kids... how am I supposed to handle other challenges that come my way?

I have no answers.  I know that this is a journey.  I'm not at any destination and the point is not to get to a destination.  But to just focus on the journey.  That is what I am doing.  But sometimes I do have moments where I think, "Get me off of this ship!"

And a really REALLY disgusting story.  I don't know why, but last night and all of today I had some serious digestive problems.  And I pretty much shit my pants twice.  Not kidding.  The only other time I've ever shit my pants was when I was four and there was no toilet anywhere in sight.  So... yeah, that's disgusting.

Fortunately, one of my private lessons postponed till tomorrow.  So I got spend most of the day resting. I took some medicine, that didn't really help.  Then I tried some ice cream.  I don't know why, but it was calling to me.  And finally, I felt better.  I love ice cream.  It always does the job.  When I'm in a bad mood, it's there for me.  After a hard day, I really should've turned to it first.  It's certainly always there at a certain time of the month, and now I know... it will settle my stomach when nothing else will.

Other disappointing news: one of my girls quit my Thursday class.  I'm really sad about this because we just got a new boy student.  I was really happy that this class was growing.  It went from 3 to 4 to 5 students in just two months.  But now it's down to 4 again.  Fortunately, this class is still going well even without her.  Also, two of my adult students quit my Friday class.  The English Program already doesn't have enough students.  So it's very discouraging that more students are dropping out.  A positive note is a girl joined my junior high class on Tuesday night.  I'm a little concerned for her because she comes in with a 7th grade speaking level and the other students are at an 8th grade level right now.  I hope she will not feel discouraged by the difficulty of the course.

I spoke to Junko about trying to advertise somehow.  Their means is by passing out flyers around the neighborhood and through Junko's piano lessons.  But I feel we need to do more than that.  Hopefully this will create a chance to outreach in a fun way.  I guess, while some students are dropping out, there is still hope, since we are gaining a few new students slowly.  Let's hope this grows even more.

Aaron's Day Off (Finally!)

Aaron and I finally shared a day off in common together!  This past Monday we were both free.  So what did we do?  We walked around downtown Sendai aimlessly.

Well, first, we both slept in.  Aaron was especially tired from a very long and hard work week.  But we both arrived in downtown Sendai by 12:30-1ish.  The first thing we did was grab some grub at our favorite sushi restaurant:  Umai Sushikan.  We both enjoyed our favorite order: aburi toro salmon.  Which is seared salmon on top of rice.  We followed that up with the regular orders of maguro (tuna).  I also tried some ama ebi (sweet shrimp).  Since living in Japan the last time, my taste for shrimp has gone out the window.  However, I remembered liking ama ebi in the past so I thought I'd try it again.  The result:  I still don't like shrimp.  Even if it's sweet.  I especially hated the texture and had to wash it down with coke afterwards.

But I made another discovery.  I tried something called the "crazy toro salmon."  What is it?  Well, it's a lot like the aburi toro salmon.  Seared salmon on top of rice, but this time coated in lots salt and PEPPER!  I love pepper.  And this is now my FAVORITE thing to get.  Must.  Get.  This.  Every.  Time.

Afterwards, we still weren't completely full but we were racking up quite a bill, so we got outta there.  We headed to H&M to finish my quest for decent fitting bras.  Once inside, it was nice to see some semi-American/western styled clothing for very cheap.  Definitely much more fashionable than Uni-Qlo, which is where I usually shop.  Unfortunately, no bras.  Pooh.  But the trip was not in vain.  Aaron found a pair of boxers and socks for very cheap and they were very nice.  The bad news is: I'm stuck wearing very uncomfortable/painful, useless Japanese bras that don't offer any coverage.

Inside a Japanese McDonald's.

Afterwards, we had a lot of time to kill, so we walked around looking for a Baskin Robbins.  Couldn't find it.  Instead, we ended up at a McDonalds.  Ordered a large fries and ice cream.  Unfortunately, I didn't care for their ice cream.  So sad... the one thing about McD's that I love: their soft serve.  But here, it's very milky and not so sweet.  Very disappointing.

After snacking and regretting it, we remembered we wanted to check out the International Center.  

We have been wanting to make some new Japanese friends.  Unfortunately, our schedules and jobs have prevented us from really doing this.  But this was our chance to look up people who were wanting to make some international friends.  We both took down some names and email addresses of some ppl.  We both emailed them, and so far, I've gotten a reply back!  Hopefully, things will work out for us.

We left the International Center hoping to catch a bus back, unfortunately, it was rush hour.  Every bus that came by (every 5 min) was jam packed with ppl.  We ended up walking the rest of the way, which was really not that bad anyway.  Once at Sendai Station, we hoped on a train bound for Yamagata.

Again, it was rush hour and we found ourselves standing for the first 20 minutes of the train ride.  But we were able to sit for the last remaining hour.  Now that it's summer and warm, everything is green.  And Yamagata is a very beautiful prefecture.  Along the way, we saw this very beautiful sunset overlooking the green rice fields.

This was taken from the train window.  It woulda been even more beautiful outside!

Once in Yamagata, we got what we came for.  Yamagata beef!  Oh yes... The place we went to before as all booked up, but we found a place next door that was cheaper.  It wasn't as good as the last place, but still amazingly good.  We ate so much that we ended up regretting afterwards.  But now that I've had a few days to recover, I'm ready for more!

We took the last train back to Sendai and I got back home at around 11pm.  It was a long day.  I was tired.  But it was really great to spend the whole day with Aaron for once.

Am I in Thailand?!

Two Mondays ago, Manami and I met up with our Thai friends - Air and Pair - for a Thai night together.  We met downtown at a Thai restaurant called BanThai Lanna.  It was owned by a Thai lady living in Sendai, and the waiter was also a young Thai guy who studied at the Tohoku University.  He spoke English as well as some Japanese and Thai.

 

The place was decked out in everything Thai.  Wooden frame ways, intricate drapes, and lots of Buddhist idols and symbols.  It was like stepping into Thailand for a few hours!  Manami even forgot that she was in Japan!


I had never eaten really authentic Thai food before.  The most I've eaten was Pad Thai from Bangkok Chef in Honolulu.  This was also Manami's first experience eating Thai food EVER.  She seemed pretty nervous about it.  I was also a little nervous that it would be crazy spicy.  But everything was just right.  Of course, Air and Pair are experts when it comes to Thai food.  They ordered all the best stuff.

The first course was deep fried chicken wrapped in some kind of leaves.  The next course was a soup that had lots of coconut milk, chicken, spices, and cilantro.  The third course was another soup that was very similar to curry.  A little spicy, and green colored.  The fourth dish was classic pad thai.  It was the best pad thai I've ever had!  Surprisingly a lot sweeter than the others I've had in the past.  This was definitely my favorite dish.  The main course was rice, with chicken, mixed veggies, and a fried egg on top.

Soooo yummy!

Manami and I both took lots of pictures of every dish that came out.

Me taking pictures.  Pair enjoying her food!

The owner of the restaurant was so kind, she gave us complimentary dessert.  Watermelon (big and juicy) from Kumamoto.  Then she gave us another free dessert!  It was sweet rice, sweet potato, and coconut milk.  It was delicious!

Air and Pair were like at home.  They talked with the owner and waiter for a very long time.  It seemed that we would never get out of there.  After saying goodbye about 3 or 4 times, we finally left.

Us with Air and Pair.

At last, Manami and I dropped off Air and Pair at their apartment.  Sadly, this was our last time with them.  They both went back to Thailand.  We had another long goodbye in Manami's car.  And lots of attempts at taking our last pictures together.

Thanks to Manami's keitai and fb!

It was a great, fun night out.  Here's hoping and praying to seeing these two lovely ladies again.  I'm definitely making a pit stop to Thailand to visit them in the future one day.  Can't wait!