SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA :: March 28 ~ 31, 2013

Rooftops, palaces, and marketplaces.  We enjoyed the amazingly cheap and super spicy Korean food.  As well as the gorgeous intricately designed historical buildings.  We found cool little shops, really expensive Starbucks coffee, and visited the now famous Gangnam district.  We got to see taekwondo in its homeland.  We walked and walked and walked until we finally discovered the $2 cab.  Screw walking!  It was a much colder Spring Break than I would have wanted.  But it was still a break nonetheless.  And it was still Aaron's and my first real trip together.  Can't wait for the next one.

  

 

*~*~*

INDONESIA :: 2012

Hot, hot, hot!  But what an experience!  My first real serious food poisoning.  Extremely high fevers, chills, and lotsa sweating!  But we met lots of friendly, hospitable local people.  We saw Jakarta, shopping malls, rice fields (nothing like the ones in Japan!), luxury hotels, slums, and really spicy fried foods.  It was long, hard, colorful, and memorable.

 

 

Travel Wish List

Things I hope to see and do in my lifetime.  Dreams lifted up to God.

1. See cherry blossoms in Japan
2. Ride an elephant in southeast Asia
3. Witness the Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand
4. Visit Hobbiton in New Zealand
5. Australia
6. Ride a gondola in Venice, Italy
7. Tour Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
8. Prague
9. Explore Angkor Wat, Cambodia
10. Walk the Taj Mahal, India
11. Brazil
12. See the Aurora Borealis somewhere up north
13. Vietnam
14. Watch a Broadway musical in New York City. 
15. See the Sistine Chapel, Italy

 

August Whirlwind: Week 1 ~ Kids Camp & Tanabata

The whole month of August has been a whirlwind of crazy camps and activities.  The first week of August was spent preparing for Kids Camp.  Kids Camp started early at 8:30ish.  There were so many kids!  I was really surprised at how many kids showed up.

We started out by registering, having a short Bible teaching, then we were off to the park!

There the kids had a great time sliding down a big turf slide, climbing ropes, logs, and other insane obstacle courses.  Just the hike itself was enough for the adult chaperones.  But the kids had so much energy they wanted to do the course again!

Manami and I joined the kids on the ropes very briefly for a picture.

After the park, the kids cooled off by jumping into a barrel filled with water.  They called this some kind of Japanese bath.  I don't really get it.  The kids liked it though.  We also had shave ice!  The line was so long that I felt bad for the guys having to crank to shave ice maker manually.

 

That night, Manami and I gave a testimony dressed up as hula girls.  Manami bought my grass skirt from an ABC Store in Hawaii.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), she didn't see the label marked "infant."  So the grass skirt turned out to be a grass apron.  I had to make sure no one saw my very exposed backside.  

I gave my testimony about not being afraid of the dark.  Afterwards, I still had to teach English class to my Saturday class, so I left.  While I was gone, Manami taught the kids some basic hula moves that I had taught her just an hour ago, lol.  It seemed that they had a good time.  They followed that up with fireworks.  I didn't see any of it since I was teaching my class.  Honestly, the introvert in me was somewhat glad to be in a quiet classroom with just 2 other adults.  It was a nice break.

The following morning, we had church service and all the kids lined up in front.  They sang a song about being thankful.  And that concluded our Kids Camp.

The next day was Tanabata Festival.  Of all the years I've been in Sendai, I've never really seen the Tanabata festival.  It's really famous in Japan and many people from all over come to see it.

Junko, Yoko and I dressed up in yukata and headed down town.  There was saw everyone wearing yukata and eating food from street vendors.  It was really fun. We bought lots of Japanese junk food:  yakitori, yakisoba, some kind of okonomiyaki, and edamame.  We sat in the middle of a street and watched the fireworks display up above in the sky.

Me and Junko in yukata.

It was hard to capture the fireworks with my cell phone, but thanks to filters... they came out cool.  The fireworks display lasted 1.5 hrs.  It was really something.  Definitely the best fireworks show I've seen (including in Hawaii and Disneyland).  The show ended a little early due to rain.  But we walked and walked for a long time to get to the car and we never got rained on.  Oh well..  It was still a good experience.

 

Fun with Japanese Friends

It's Tanabata time!  The decorations are out and the city looks very colorful and festive!  The past month I really made an effort to make and keep Japanese friends.  It's been really nice and very refreshing.

Thanks to the International Center, Aaron and I have met several Japanese people.  All very nice.  There is one girl that I have been meeting regularly for dinner.  She introduced me to a Korean restaurant underneath Sendai Station.  It was the first time I've had Korean food in Japan so I was really curious.  I ordered Aaron's favorite dish -- bibim naengmyun.  I wanted to try it so that I could bring Aaron one day if it was really good.  Well, it was definitely not up to Korea's standards or even Hawaii standards.  But for being a Japanese place, it was not bad at all.

Bibim Ngaemyun!

I also met a college guy who is very talkative for a Japanese person.  It was a nice change to not always have to lead the conversation.  Aaron and I met him for a second time this past weekend for lunch.  Where did we go?  To the Korean place of course!  Aaron ordered the bibim naengmyun.  He actually thought it was good!  I ordered the kimchee jigae.  It was not bad either.  It had more of a fishy Japanese taste to it, but still not bad at all.  It came with a side of bibimbap which was unfortunately too sweet for my (and Aaron's) taste.  But we were glad we found this place.  Especially Aaron!  I was a little worried about our friend feeling like a third wheel, but he said that next time he would bring his friend along.  Good idea!

Vindome: the restaurant we tried.

Yoko and I also had a mini-adventure together.  She took me to her hot yoga class.  It was my first time doing yoga ever.  I was surprised by how not so hot it was.  I was expecting it to be much hotter.  But I guess after living in Arizona for 10 years, I've been conditioned pretty well.  A summer's day in Arizona is still hotter!  But having to stretch and balance and PLANK in 100 degree heat... there was much sweatage.  Luckily they had individual showers!  It was really nice and refreshing.

Afterwards, Yoko took me to an Italian/International restaurant. It had nice decor set up with indoor and outdoor tables.  The food wasn't bad either.

Sayaka's on the right!

Chee-hoo!

This Sunday, one of my students (Sayaka) had a hula performance in downtown Sendai. Yoko, Aaron and I rushed to go see her.  There was really heavy traffic due to the rain.  It's also a real pain trying to find parking near the station.  But we finally made it just in time to see her dance their last dance.  Aaron and I were curious to see how their hula would stack up to Hawaiian halaus.  Aaron thought they were a little stiff, but I thought they did a good job.  Sayaka was definitely the best dancer of them all!

Before heading downtown to see Sayaka, Aaron wanted to check out GEO (the dvd/game store).  We stepped in and it was Nerd Heaven.  Tons of video games, game systems, dvds, manga, and there were even walls of game cards displayed!  Aaron couldn't believe it.  That's when it got far too nerdy for me.  Directly behind the walls of cards were tables where nerds could play and talk and I dunno what.  But there were some there playing their cards.  When Aaron and I got to the back of the store, I jokingly said to him, "You're the only one in this store with a girlfriend!"  Eventually it got too nerdy even for Aaron and we left.

Aaron geeking out in front of the card display.

Oishiiiii!!

And finally, I had a day off yesterday.  So, I headed over to Nobuko's house and they prepared a wonderful dinner feast for me.  It was incredible!  Toru (Nobuko's husband) is such a great cook!  He prepared an amazing soup.  I have no idea what it's called.  But it had pork, tomato, onions, okra, squash.  It was soooo good.  He also made some veggies, yakitori, shumai, scallops, and clams!  I really wish I had a bigger stomach so I could've eaten everything up!  But it was too much for me.  Afterwards they tried giving me three types of dessert -- peaches (which I don't like), mochi, and chocolate cake.  They really overstuffed me.  But it was so good.  It was one of the best meals I've had in Japan. I only wish Aaron could've been there with us.

Nobuko wants to plan another dinner with me, Aaron, Yumi, and Manabu again.  It's so hard with my work schedule and Aaron's work schedule.  I'm praying that God will give us another opportunity!  She's also wanting to take me to Yumi's new soba shop that just opened up recently.  She said she's been there three times already.  It's really good and really cheap. I can't wait to try it!

Baseball done in Japan

This past week has been very frustrating and exhausting for me.  I haven't been sleeping well since coming to Japan.  But it was really bad this past week.  I only slept 4 out of 7 days.  On the nights that I didn't sleep I usually found some time to nap in the morning or afternoon for up to an hour.  But this Friday night I didn't sleep at all.  I was really grumpy because of this.

That Saturday I had plans to go to a Rakuten Eagles game.  This was something that Aaron and I had planned months in advance.  Aaron especially was looking forward to it because it was an event planned by his coworkers at MeySen.  I rarely get to see him and his MeySen coworkers/friends together.  And I also was looking forward to this because I love baseball, and I had never seen a Japanese baseball game before.

Well, I was super grumpy that morning from not sleeping.  But I met Aaron that morning and we, along with his MeySen coworkers, took a bus to the ballpark.  Fortunately it took some time for the bus to arrive, so I was able to take a short nap on the way (about 15 minutes?).  When we got there, I felt better from that short nap.  I didn't have such a headache anymore.

Our seats were located in left field.  I'd never been seated in the outfield at a baseball game before, so it was a new experience for me.  The players seemed so far away.  But it was still fun.  Aaron and I were surprised at how small the ballpark was.  I wouldn't even call it a stadium!  It was smaller than even UH's baseball field.  And UH is a small college.  And definitely much smaller than a Major League baseball field.

The view from LF.

EVERYONE was wearing Rakuten Eagles gear.  They all had hats, t-shirts, jerseys, and ponchos.  We were the only ones not decked out in Rakuten Eagles paraphernalia.  (Except, of course, the other team's fans.  Which were seated in Right Field all wearing blue.  They were extremely loud and organized.)  It was also a rainy day that day.  Luckily, Aaron brought an umbrella.  Most of the MeySen staff hadn't brought anything.  We were surprised when EVERYONE pulled out their Rakuten Eagles red raincoats on.  EVERYONE had one!  Some of the other MeySen staff ended up buying their own ponchos as well.  The rain did not stop the ball game.  At one point, it was raining kinda hard.  But the game still went on.  Eventually the rain stopped.

We were hungry, so walked around the very small park checking out different vendors. I'm used to the idea that baseball is an America classic and an American tradition. So I'm used to having hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, cotton candy at baseball games. But instead we found vendors selling sushi, beef bowls, yakitori, takoyaki (octopus balls), and other Japanese foods. Can you imagine waiting raw fish on a hot summer day?  Yuck!  But it wasn't a hot summer day. It was a cloudy, rainy day. 

Some stuff were sold from trucks. The above photo is a vendor selling frappacino-like drinks (all the flavorings and whipped cream minus the coffee) from a pink VW bus. 

American traditions such as the seventh inning singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" were also absent. Instead they were replaced with cheerleaders (yes, at a baseball game) who just waved their pompoms and jumped up and down. And there was singing in unison. I was surprised when I saw everyone blowing up very peculiar shaped balloons. Very oddly shaped. I really can't believe no one thinks this (other than internationals). After lots of cheesy singing and jumping cheerleaders everyone released the balloons at once. The result looked pretty cool. 

Usually I think of baseball as an American tradition but it was cool to see how Japanese people do it. It made it new and kinda exciting. It was also cool to have that first experience with Aaron. I'd like to do it again but hopefully when it's not raining. 

Visiting Arise

Several weeks ago Aaron took me to another church called Arise. It was held at Meysen Maruyama campus and the pastor was Meysen's HR guy. Two of Aaron's friends picked us up in the morning and give us a ride.  They informed us that there would be a guest speaker this week. It was the former pastor of their main church (of which Arise is a sister church) in Tochigi. By a really strange series of events, I had just been offered a job in Tochigi to work at an international school that was also part of church there. Well, it turned out that this guest speaker was the former pastor of that very church in Tochigi and the school's principal was his daughter-in-law. It was crazy timing and crazy networking. 

Being in that church was very energizing. Unfortunately I was feeling really sick that day and was kinda out of it. But the speaker gave a very empowering message on having God's authority as his apostles. It was nice to hear such a powerful message that was building up the faith and community. He was really enthusiastic and excited for God. His attitude was really uplifting. At the end he prophesied over everyone in the church. This was something that I definitely needed. It has been nearly a year since someone had prophesied over me. 

The first person he prophesied over was the pastor. While he was prophesying I also started to see something for the pastor and got a picture for him. This was such a relief because I haven't gotten pictures from God in months and I haven't prophesied in ministry in almost a year. Well I didn't deliver the word I got to him yet because there was a long line of people waiting to get prayed for. 

The next person after the pastor was me. The speaker prophesied and of course got everything right. He mentioned my spiritual battles that I had been going through and identified them. This was an encouragement just for them to be acknowledged. But he mentioned a particular battle I knew I was facing but I hadn't quite put it together what it was exactly and he said it. Religiosity. My own pastor from Bluewater had mentioned that word in an email but somehow it didn't click. I guess I was afraid of calling it that because I've been trying so hard to adapt. It somehow felt wrong and judgmental to use that word. But when he said it I knew it was the truth. Thankfully he prayed for me and that I would break out. He also said that I was a creative person and prayed that I would get to use it. Finally, he said,  "You are going to prophesy. I don't know if you have any experience with this kinda stuff. But prophesy, prophesy, PROPHESY!" When he said that I laughed to myself because God had already given me something!  

After Aaron had gotten his prophetic word (which is he's the Son of Thunder!  So I'm dating Thor. The geek in me is excited about that!), we went over to the pastor and I gave him my word. I was really rusty!  It was not graceful or articulate at all. I really need and want to practice more. But I'm sure he was blessed and I felt so happy to prophesy over someone in Japan. 

Afterwards I still wasn't feeling good. (I shoulda told them to heal me!) So we went to get some udon for lunch. Not long after I got a sudden call. Aaron was holding my phone at the time, so he answered.  It was the principal of the school in Tochigi. I guess her father-in-law told her about me. We had a short chat and hung up pretty quickly. I told her I couldn't take the job at the moment. But it sure felt nice to be pursued!

I spent the night resting to get over my sudden cold. But it was a nice spiritual day for me. It felt like real rest. And I didn't feel so isolated anymore. It also made me see that God is still up to his stuff even though I can't see it. I guess what I needed was a heavy dose of the Holy Spirit and I was glad to receive it. I hope I can visit that church again one day.