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~
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