Caffeine...

I had kind of a wonderful day today.  It started out with me sleeping in, taking a shower, and then talking to my family, plus my friend Mike who is basically my brother, since he was at my house at the time, on Skype for like two hours.  It's always nice to talk to my family, but I haven't talked to Mike at all since I came to Japan, so it was really nice to hear how he's doing.

The rest of the afternoon was nice and lazy too.  I did some reading, drank some coffee, and dug through the Christmas craft stuff we have to see what kind of fun stuff I can do with my students this week, the last week of classes before we go on break until after New Years.  I can't believe it's already this late in the year!  (Well, technically the last day of classes is next Wednesday, so a little more than a week, but.)  Plus it was rainy today, which anyone who knows me well knows that I love the rain, so I basically just felt really good.

So then, around five, Carol met us at the Center and we went to do some shopping at a supermarket that's a little bit far from us, but that sells some foreign foods.  I was able to get stuff like cheddar cheese and Hershey's syrup!  :D  And darn, Starbucks was on our way, so we had to stop there.  Since it's pretty far from the Center, I'd never been there before, so it was my first time having Starbucks in Japan.  I got the Caramel Eclair Latte, and it was pretty great!  (And maybe it's good that it's not closer because man, it was expensive...  Totally worth it of course, but expensive.)

From there, we went to the house of a friend of ours, Reiko-san.  She wanted us to see the Christmas lights on her house (she had a lot, which is rare for Japan), and we thought we'd just have dessert or something there, but she fed us a whole meal!  And a really amazing meal at that.  It consisted of sushi that we got to hand-roll, grilled Matsusaka beef (Matsusaka is the next town over and it's known for its beef), and some veggies and stuff.  Oh man, you guys.  It was so good.  And then she even served us dessert!  It was super nice of her to have us over for such a great meal, and we had lots of pleasant conversation.  And I took some pictures!  Yay!

Group shot!

The table set for dessert.  So pretty!  I loved how she stuck the chocolates on toothpicks and then into an apple.  So cute!  In the bowls was almost tofu and strawberries, a really sweet, light dessert.

Sitting at the kotatsu~

I got to wear these awesome slippers, haha.

So yeah, today was pretty fantastic.  :D  Now let's hope all that caffeine wears off soon so I can get to sleep eventually...

The Most Wonderful Time

I really can't believe how close Christmas is.  It seems like I barely acknowledged that I'd been in Japan for a month, but it's already ten days later, and Christmas is less than two weeks away.  Ridiculous!

So, since Christmas is coming up, at yesterday's Inspa we had a Christmas party!  (Inspa is the returnee event held in Nagoya once a month.  You might remember reading about it last month.)  I should've taken pictures, but there was so much going on that I never got around to it!  Last time I came early with Becky, since she's on the leadership team, but this time I came with our friend Eri from church so that I didn't have to be early.  The train ride with her was really nice!  Her English is pretty good, so we were able to have a good conversation.  Anyway, when we got there, I spent some time chatting with some of the people I met last month.  The actual event started soon after, and I enjoyed it last time, but this time it was really amazing!

From what I remember, we started out with songs, some Christmas and some not.  I was again amazed by how passionately everyone in the room sang!  God's presence was just so evident.  Becky led a short quiz game, which was fun, and then there was a skit that kind of framed the rest of the event.  A guy and a girl were talking about Christmas from the perspective of nonbelievers who didn't know its true meaning.  Parts of it were funny, and it led into more Christmas/worship songs, and then into the message, which was led by Kensaku from the Chita Nozomi church, and man, I can't even explain why it was so good, but it was amazing.  Part of it was that the message was simple: it was the plan of salvation, really.  It was really moving to me, to hear the Gospel presented in Japanese for the first time.  And the way he told it, starting (as far as I remember) with the Christmas story, and then using pictures he drew that conveyed the idea that we are separated from God by sin but that Jesus died so that we can be connected to God again.  He emphasized over and over again that He did all of this because He loves us.  My explanation really isn't doing it justice.  Anyway, when he finished speaking, he sang a couple of songs that Becky told me he wrote himself.  I've heard him play guitar before, but I'd never heard him sing, and he has an amazing voice!  Apparently he's really musical.  I had no idea!

After that, we broke off into discussion groups, and I was with a girl around my age and a really neat older lady.  We had a really great conversation about the message and about Christian life and our own lives.  The girl had to leave to go to work, but the lady (Shinko was her name) and I kept talking, and she told me some things that are going on in her life, and I told her a little about myself, and we took a few minutes to pray for each other.  She's a really interesting person, and was such an encouragement to me.  I'm so glad I got to meet her!

When the discussion time ended, we had a potluck!  Everyone had brought food, so there was tons: bread, chips, cookies, a casserole-type thing, taco rice (so good!), and various other snacks.  I was talking to Shubo, who I met last time, about grammar (lol he asked me why teachers say "Let's get started" at the beginning of class when "started" sounds like past tense.  Random...).  So while I was talking to him about this, he told me to ask Jun, who he'd also been talking to.  I'd never met Jun before, but I'd heard a little about him from Becky and Carol.  So Jun and I got to talking, and he seems like a really cool guy!  Plus, even though his ethnicity is Japanese, he's Canadian, and his native language is English, so it was kind of refreshing to have a conversation with a native English speaker!  Anyway, after we all spent time eating and chatting, we took a few pictures together, had a couple of announcements and that kind of thing, and then it was more or less over.  I'd have stayed to hang out and go out to eat with everyone, but I had a class, so Nori-chan (who also had to go) and I took the train home together.  After I got off the train, I made a totally necessary detour to 7-11, because that's the convenience store that I know sells melon soda.  Yes.  So the rest of the night was pretty typical.  I had class, relaxed for a little bit, and then worked with Becky on making the power point for tonight's Crossroad.  Busy day!

...Wow, that got long.  But I had a really good time, so I wanted to recount it as best I could!

Anyway, today was of course church in the morning, then we ran a couple of errands, and then we (Carol, Becky, Alicia and I) went to lunch at Coco's.  The food I've had there before has been decently good, but the jambalaya I got today was pretty amazing!  (And the menu lied, it was totally not spicy.)

The syrup in the melon soda was running out, so it wasn't as delicious as normal.  Sad day.  :(

And then Carol got dessert, which enabled Alicia and I to do the same.  It's green tea fondant cake with ice cream and azuki (red beans).  It was yummy~

It was after 4 by the time we got back to the Center, so the rest of the day was pretty much dedicated to Crossroad.  Becky and I prepared for the games and practiced the songs while Carol got the snacks and everything set up.  The night went pretty well, and everyone stayed for maybe an hour afterwards to eat snacks and chat.  I spoke Japanese almost that whole time with Juri-chan, Nao-chan, and Alicia.  I was pretty proud of myself!

I realized I hadn't taken any pictures, so here's what things looked like in the chapel today.

Everyone hanging out afterwards!  Becky always has to hold up food in pictures...

And as an added bonus to the day, the pottery that we made in Tokoname (as you may recall) arrived in the mail while everyone was there!  Yay!

Becky digging through the box.

I wonder what it looks like...

Oh snap!  It actually looks pretty nice!  I really like the color I chose for it.  :D  Apparently it's the perfect size for dipping soba, haha.

Juri-chan with her bowl!  She was way better at pottery making than I was...

Those of us who were there tonight who got our pottery!  Yay!

...and that was today.  It's been a busy couple of days, but I (currently) have no plans for tomorrow (that I know of?), so maybe I'll have some time to relax and get caught up on some tv shows~

Otsukare-chan!

The first part of today was a pretty normal Friday: relatively chill at the beginning, and then classes in the late afternoon and evening.  But what made today exciting was the surprise party Becky and I threw for Carol!  We were afraid she'd figure it out but I guess she didn't, so yay!  We had a pretty good turnout, and there were lots of sweets and snacks and such, and it was a lot of fun.  So have some pictures!

My cake!  Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.  I started with a yellow cake mix, so it wasn't quite from scratch, but I did everything else myself!

I meant to take a picture of all of the snacks (there was kind of a lot), but I forgot.  But I had to take a picture of the Rilakkuma box from Mister Donut!  Words cannot express how okay I am with the combination of adorable bears and delicious donuts.

Dessert plate!  Everyone got a plate like this with my red velvet cake, Becky's pumpkin pie, and Julia's apple crumble thing that has some long German name that I can't remember.  And now, moving on from food (it's hard for me, I know)...

A bunch of people hid behind the cough, haha.  So cute!  Aki-san decided to hide under the kotatsu, but his feet kept sticking out.  XD;;

Group shot!  Yay!  :D  The only person not in this picture is Eri, who came late.

People chatting and eating.

Nori-chan and Youko-san!

Alicia and Julia!  We talked about Greek mythology, haha.  Good times!

Rieko-san, Aki-san, Anna, and little Eva who made her way into the picture, haha.

And the birthday girl!

And me, wearing the chonmage thing Eri gave Carol.  Eri said I looked kakkoii.  Ummm sure.

A bonus picture of our Christmas tree~

And Carol had this really cool candle that her sister gave her to use on her birthday.  Here she is getting ready to light it.

And then...a gigantic flame!

And then it lights the other candles, opens, and shoots out sparks!

And then it ends up like this, playing Happy Birthday (apparently for three whole days unless you cut this wire thing).  Yeah, it's basically the most awesome candle ever.

So that's all for today!  Tomorrow's Inspa, the returnee gathering in Nagoya, so that should be fun!  :D

Small Accomplishments

Today I was busy pretty much all day!  Here's a rundown:

☆ Japanese in the morning.  Ishikawa-sensei gave me some apples to share with Carol and Becky, and also Christmas gifts for us!  Super sweet of her.

☆ Ran to the grocery store with Carol and Becky.

☆ Went to the post office to get some cash and send a package to my family.

☆ Went to the post office again to use the ATM to pay for my bus ticket to Tokyo for New Years (!!).  I was by myself and was having some trouble with the machine, what with not really being able to read it and all, but one of the workers came and helped me.  He was incredibly nice and patient with my limited Japanese!  I think all of the people in that post office are wonderful.

☆ Talked to my family on Skype.  About important things.  Yes.  *cough*

☆ Went over music for our Christmas event with Becky, Nao-chan (who plays the flute), and Shouko-san (who plays the piano).  I was on guitar, and yeah.  I need to practice...  But Nao-chan and Shouko-san are really good, so I think it's gonna be great!

☆ Went to dinner at Casa Mia as per usual, but this time it was for Carol's birthday!  After the meal, she got this really amazing dessert platter that she shared with us.  All the workers came out to sing to her (in Italian), and they were all so nice!  It was pretty cool.  :)

☆  Had class with three teenage girls.  They didn't come last week, and it's actually been a while since all three of them have been there, so it was good!  They're a pretty funny group.

☆  Baked a cake!  Hopefully it turned out good~  There will be pictures tomorrow.  :D

☆  Helped Becky do some decorating in our apartment.  We've spent so much time decorating the Center that we only just now got to our own place!

☆  Now writing this post.  Sleepy from a busy day.  So yeah, I'm going to bed now~  ☆ 

Guess what?

I forgot to take food pictures yesterday!  How could I!  I mean, yeah, there will still be a couple of food pictures in this post, but not as many as usual!  My blog, it will never be the same.  And before people ask me, the following is a short note to the Japanese people who told me that they, too, have been checking my blog.  This blog sure seems to be getting around!

で！日本人もこのブロッグを読んでるみたいね！ごめんね、ほとうんど全部英語を書いてて。でも、ふつに写真がたくさんあるから、ぜひ見てください。♪　それとも、いい英語の練習になるかもしれない？（笑）

So anyway!  Let me start off with the one food picture I have, which is from Monday.  It's pork ginger that Becky and I made, and it was pretty fantastic.  But the real reason I took this picture was to prove to my dad that I do not, in fact, eat out for every meal.  >_>

So yeah, Monday!  Becky and I got some more decorating done, so that we are more or less finished with decorating downstairs except for maybe putting up some lights outside and some finishing touches.  Now we just need to decorate our own apartment...  >_>  

Yesterday was a bit more eventful though!  I went to the post office to ask a question about sending packages, and I felt very accomplished that not only was I able to ask in Japanese, I more or less understood the answer!  Yay, a marginal amount of independence!  I went to do some shopping at Saty after that (for my family, I bet you guys are wondering what I got you, mwahahahaha, but sorry Ryan, no melon soda), and ended up eating at McDonald's because it was there and I was kind of starving.  I tried the new limited time sandwich: the Texas Burger.  And it was AMAZING.  I've never had such a good burger at McDonald's.  It had two beef patties, onion straws, bacon, barbecue sauce, and some other stuff I think...and it was SO GOOD.  All of you guys in America should be jealous that you can't enjoy its deliciousness.

So after that I sat in on a class with Carol, and then Becky, Carol and I met to plan for upcoming events and such.  And then?  We went to Saty, so my second time there that day, haha.  But it was for grocery shopping this time.  And then Carol and Becky got food at McDonald's, but since I had plans to eat later, I just had some AMAZING ice cream at Baskin-Robbins called Candyman, which was chocolate ice cream with caramel and little candy pieces in it...  Ahhhh writing about it makes me want to go get some again.

So from there, we dropped off our groceries and Carol went to class, and Becky and I went to gospel choir, which was a little extra interesting this week because a reporter and cameraman from a local cable channel were there taping us!  They also interviewed Becky and another guy.  So yeah, I guess we don't get that channel, but I'm fairly certain that I'm gonna be on tv, haha.  I'm also starting to get a handle on the songs, which are simple but really fun to sing (and one has some serious hand motions haha).

And after that, around 10, I met up with Alicia, who has quickly become one of my favorite people ever, and we went to eat at Gusto, a popular hangout for Mie University students (which is evident by the amount of bikes that were outside when we got there).  We ended up staying there for probably close to three hours, talking about life and God and all kinds of things and just generally getting to know each other better.  It's sad that we only get to be together until her exchange program ends in February, but we fully intend to make the most of the time we have.  <3

Which brings me to today!  Carol came over for lunch and we did some more planning for Crossroad this Sunday and for Christmas, and it seems like things are starting to come together, which is great.  I then had class with my fourth grade boy, who was super sleepy and unresponsive until I forced him to get up and sing a song with me, which he wouldn't do with any enthusiasm until I convinced him that we would play a game later if he did a good job.  After that he started getting really eager to hurry up and get to the game, and class got a lot more fun.  He wanted to play Speed but he couldn't remember the rules, haha, so we ended up playing Memory, but he started to give up and goof off when he realized he was losing.  Typical boy.  By the end of class he was almost out of control, total 180 from the beginning of class!  So that was interesting.

The rest of the day has been pretty chill.  I had class with my two sweet middle school girls, I did a little Japanese homework and lesson prep, had dinner, etc.  I have a feeling the rest of the week is going to be pretty eventful though!

Oh, I almost forgot!  Have some Engrish pictures from the hundred yen store (which seems to be the best place for this kind of thing).

I love those metaric gift ties.  Classic.

And that lame glue.  Okay, so it says "rame" in Japanese, which must mean something, but to romanize it as "lame" was probably not the best idea.

This isn't Engrish, but it was pretty delicious.  I actually bought these last week but I forgot about them until today.  I'm not too convinced that they tasted like "Mexican tacos" though.

And a bonus picture of yours truly, since my iPhone has a spiffy front facing camera.  Sorry about the not-so-great lighting, but I was too lazy to move, haha.

Moar Food Pictures

So, okay, I promise I haven't only been eating, but I haven't really done anything worth taking pictures of for the past few days, so food pictures are better than no pictures, right?  :D?

Friday night was movie night, and we watched It's A Wonderful Life.  It was my first time seeing the whole movie, and of course I loved it.  There's a reason it's a classic, right?  We had some good discussion afterwards about some of the themes in the movie (although I was with the Japanese-speaking group so I had a little trouble following).  At one point, I was asked why Americans value family so much, which really stopped me in my tracks.  Of course, not everyone in America values family, but as a culture, we certainly do, and I'd never really given any thought as to why that is before, because it is not necessarily this way in Japan.  Loyalty, to the country or to one's company for example, is often prioritized above family here.  I didn't have an answer at the time, but it really made me think, and later when I talked to Carol and Becky about it, they talked about how the family unit is biblical, and a reflection of our relationship with God (we are the bride of Christ), and since our culture is based on Judeo-Christian values, that's why we value family in this way.  Interesting.  I learned something!

I didn't think I was going to have anything to do on Saturday, but I really should have known better, because I spent almost the whole day decorating for Christmas.  It's really been going on in phases; on Saturday we did the bulletin board in the entryway, and I decorated the tree, put up some of those light-up reindeer outside, and put up nails for us to hang lights on (tiring!).  We're still not finished, so Becky and I are probably going to work on it some more tomorrow, like putting up lights inside and outside, some finishing touches, etc.  I don't know if we'll finish or not, but we'll see!  And the reason I didn't take any pictures is because I want to wait until everything's finished!

Not too much to say about today.  We went to church, had choir practice, and went to lunch with the Kobayashis, who we went to the natto factory buffet place with, as you may recall, as well as Becky's friend Shouko.  After that, we stopped at Don Quixote, a department store I'd heard much about before but had never been to, and now Becky's in a meeting and I'm trying to get some other things done, like sending out e-mails, some prep for our Christmas program, and, of course, updating you all about my ~adventures~.

And, because I feel like I must, food pictures.  (Yes, Dad, I do eat at home sometimes, I just don't usually take pictures of it.)

Omurice (omelette rice) from the little Japanese place near us.

The first part of my lunch set from the little cafe we ate at today.  This salad was really good.

Chicken, mushrooms, spinach and daikon pasta with cream sauce.

Persimmon tart and apple juice.  I wonder why we don't eat persimmons much in the States...?  I'd never eaten raw persimmon before coming to Japan, but they're really good!

I promise to take pictures of other things!  ...Soon!  Hopefully!

So I guess I should post...

Not a whole lot of exciting stuff has been going on around here for the past few days, at least for me.  I mean, there has been some exciting stuff, like Carol's class with one of our friends who's been asking a lot of really great questions about faith and Christianity.  But that's not really something you take pictures of and write witty commentary about, right?  Although it is the reason that I'm here.

But anyway.  The reason I haven't posted since Monday is because I personally haven't had a whole lot going on.  On Tuesday, Carol, Becky and I had a meeting to discuss what we're doing for the rest of the month, including Christmas, which was pretty exciting.  We then went to dinner and did some grocery shopping, and then Becky and I went through the Christmas decorations (and man, there are a LOT o_0) and decorated one of the two classrooms.

On Wednesday, the three of us went to lunch at a place that's literally a ten second walk from the Center, which is a pretty simple place (and unfortunately allows smoking), but we want to be good neighbors to them.  And one of these days we'll have to take advantage of their karaoke, which we know they have because we have heard some pretty terrible singing while walking by, haha.  We did a little bit of decorating outside, and I had a couple of classes after that.  I have the cutest 8-year-old boy in my beginning English class, and while it can be a challenge to communicate (thank goodness I at least know some Japanese or he'd never know what I'm talking about), he's starting to catch on, and he's pretty competitive, so playing games with him is a lot of fun.  I feel like we're starting to become friends.  :)

Thursday was pretty chill for me.  I had Japanese in the morning, which went well.  My teacher is super nice.  She gave me some Andes mints because she thought it'd be nostalgic for me.  I love Andes mints!  :D  I saw this while walking to her house:

I was trying to get to class so this isn't the best picture, but lol, anybody want to join the Mie Futbull Clab?

I spent the rest of my day preparing lessons, running a couple of errands, going to dinner, and just kind of hanging out.  I was supposed to have a class at 8, but I had a feeling none of the girls would show up (it's a busy time for tests right now), and I was right.  Also, it was pouring rain like crazy last night.  You can really hear it in this building.  o_0  

...you didn't think I wasn't going to post any food pictures, did you?  I just saved them all for the end.  :D

Curry udon with katsu and fried mochi.  It was SO GOOD.  One of the best things I've eaten since I've been in Japan.  Maybe because I love curry, udon, katsu and mochi, so putting them together was like an EXPLOSION OF AMAZINGNESS.  /overdramatic

The lunch set from the place by the Center.  I got karaage (fried chicken).

Yesterday's dinner at Casa Mia: smoked salmon and mushroom penne.

Today is gonna be pretty busy, so I'm looking forward to it.  We're watching It's a Wonderful Life tonight for movie night!