Once upon a time (8/11-12) Rachel and Laura Nordaas (Amy's sister) went on a hike...

and they (especially Rachel because Amy's sister is amazingly genki) almost died from the hike, but loved it nonetheless. Masochists to the core. Had anyone told them how incredibly hard this stretch of trail would be they would have gone anyway and still had a marvelous time. But no one did... and it was one of the hardest trails Rachel had ever hiked... a definite love/hate relationship with the trail... and they most definitely had a marvelous, if not exhausting :) , time. Why was the trail so hard, you ask? Well. Let's look a little a the difference between the majority of trails in the U.S. (at least the majority of the ones Rachel has hiked) and the majority of the trails in Japan. U.S. trails tend to follow valleys, or the side of hills/mountains, and usually run a side trail off to the peak or go up one peak and back down the other side (or something like that) to another trail that follows along the side of the mountain or the valley. Seldom do trails follow the ridgeline, and they almost always switchback up and back down. In Japan, however, this tends to be somewhat the opposite - at least for the particular trail system they hiked. They go straight up (hardly, if any, switchbacks) and follow the ridgeline exactly as God made it. And in Japan that means either going straight up or straight down and never at the same time (we hope). By the time these 2 brave pioneers finished, their thighs and calves were jello. Strawberry jello, to be exact.
(ok. I'm tired of writing in the third person.)
We started from a train station at the ocean at 9am. grins Nothing like starting at sea level! woohoo! (see? masochists.)

And made it to the actual trailhead by 11am. (We went on a slight detour to see some gorgeous blue ponds - Juniko - which actually means 12 Lakes, but in reality they're ponds.)

The trail system we hiked is called Shirakami Sanchi. I'm not exactly sure what the "chi" part of Sanchi means, but Shirakami means white god and san means mountain... so maybe chi means range. It's a World Heritage area and is renowned for its Buna (Beech) trees.

And they are most definitely a rare and beautiful sight to behold. The mystic beauty of the moss covered trees combined with the actual mist that we walked through all day definitely left us feeling as if we really were in an enchanted forest. Except that it was so incredibly hot and humid (actually... not so hot, but the suffocating humidity makes it seem a lot hotter than it actually is). Seriously, I've never sweat so much in my entire life. Before we had left the Nordaas's house that morning, Laura thought of a brilliant idea to take Japanese 'fans-on-a-stick' with us (not their real name, just the name I've given them because I can never remember what they're really called).

We named one Amy in honor of her, wishing that she could be there with us (too bad Amy can't read this. :( Maybe I'll just email it to her. :) ). If we hadn't had those fans... we would have been in sorry shape. And I would have died. (On a more serious note, the humidity really did make it hard to breath. I was starting to come down with bronchitis the day before we left, so on a couple occasions it felt like someone with very large hard hands was strangling my lungs. Not fun. I don't recommend the experience. ;P ) BUUUT we made it. :) By 6pm we reached the fork in the trail where we had planned to set up our tent near.

The left trail would take us to the summit of Shirakami san in 15 min, and the right was the trail we wanted to hike out the next morning. Once our packs were off our mood (and bodies) became significantly lighter. ;) We scarfed down our onigiri (rice, tunafish, seaweed sandwiches) and set up our tent. Unfortunately, the only place close to be suitable for setting up a tent happened to be at the trail fork...

totally against all backpacking/tenting-setting-up rules, but we didn't have any other choice. It was the trail, the sharp bamboo that surrounded us, or off the side of the mountain. We voted on the trail and prayed no one would be stupid enough to start hiking at 2 in the morning. We did the things girls do before going to bed...

bathroom, talk, brush teeth, talk, attempt to wash face, talk, bathroom, talk, go to bed, talk, bathroom, talk, really to go bed. We really went to bed by 8pm. It was heavenly. We woke up at 4:30,

grabbed more onigiri, some breakfast bars, and some cheese, and made our way to the summit to watch the sunrise. Near the summit we found... bathrooms. :)
(the building to the left is the bathroom and the rise to the right is the summit)
Perhaps... only in Japan. And a tiny emegency cabin (which we knew about prior to hiking) that had 5 men camping in it (which we did NOT know about prior to hiking. Good thing we didn't plan on sleeping in it! hahaha).

I think they were more surprised to see us than we were to see them. They were so confused. They couldn't figure out where we came from and how we got there THAT early in the morning. They asked us when we started hiking. grins And we said yesterday. hehe They looked at us quizzically and asked where we slept, and we said in a tent "back there". And then (this we had to keep from laughing at) they said "Well, you could have slept HERE." hahaha um. Where? It was a tiny cabin and there were already 5 men there. It would have been interesting to say the least. We told them it was ok. :) We enjoyed our tent. And I think they thought we were crazy foreigners (Japanese women would never do that... at least none that I've ever met or heard of.). But they were nice and Laura and I made our way to the tippy top to watch the sun rise over our side of Japan. It was beautiful. Worth all the pain of the previous day. :)

And by 5:30ish we were headed down, facing the Japan sea.


A beautiful, cool morning. Birds. Fresh breeze. Well rested. And of course, well fed. ;) The hike down was beautiful and uneventful, and by 8:30-9 we were on pavement (honestly, the trail was much kinder to our feet) headed to our train station. At this time (on the paved road headed to our train station - Shirakamisanchitozenguchi) we ran in to 4 guys on their way up. A couple were dressed in jeans, one in a soccer uniform, I think 1 or 2 of them were carrying little drawstring sports shoulder bags, and none carrying any significant amount of food or water, if any (I think 1 of them had a tiny water bottle). They asked us where we came from. We said Juniko - yesterday. They said (something to the effect of) "oh really? we're going there today!" We asked them if they had food or water. They smiled a 'no' smile. We asked them if they had a headlamp or flashlight. They laughed a 'why on earth would we need one of those' laughs. We asked them if they were planning on dieing that day from dehydration or starvation, or getting stuck in the mountains after dark. Just kidding. We didn't really ask them that. But we did suggest they not go to Juniko. And then talked about what we didn't ask them amongst ourselves, wondering if they weren't the true masochists. Or maybe just very inexperienced in hiking. Or maybe just stupid. And we hoped they wouldn't continue on to Juniko that day. So, around 9:30-10 or so we're arrived at our train shack, er I mean, train station. :) The next train was coming by in 2 hours. The train shack wasn't a very pleasant place to hang out for 2 hours (very stuffy, lots of horse flies), so we decided that since the Juniko station was only 2 train stations away, and a short easy and paved (and later unbearably hot) 6km (compared to the 20km - about - we'd just finished) we decided to walk. We arrived at Juniko Eki seeking shade and hydration (eki=trainstation), fried from the black tar skillet we'd been walking on for an hour. It turned out that it was a good thing we didn't stay at the Shiramkamitozenguchi station because the train we had booked ahead of time doesn't stop at that station because it's so small. grins We would have watched our train go by without us. :) So finally, so tired we could hardly keep our eyes open or converse, we caught our train and were merrily (as merrily as 2 exhausted hikers

smelling of body sweat and contendedness can be) on our way. Air conditioning is wonderful. And on the way back (the long, scenic, coastline way), we made a random 10 min stop at Senjyoujiki (1,000 tatami - woven rice straw - mats and I don't know what the jiki means) - basically an exposed reef with very cool tidal pools filled with all sorts of little sea creatures.
So we ran around, hopping from 1 rock tatami mat to another

poking our hands in the water at the little sea creatures

and having a marvelous 10 minutes till our train called us back with its whistle. :) And before we knew it, we were back in Takanosu, showered and ready for a nice long sleep. And that is the beginning of my friendship with Laura, Amy's sister. May our hiking expeditions be many more. grins

How do you escape sin?

How do you escape sin, when it pursues you at every turn?
You run and run and think you've managed to lose it, and then it catches your heal and sends you plummeting face first.
It catches you by surprise when you least expect it, and leaves you with your face in the mud and your hands bloody from the fall.
How do you flee from sin?
How do you put it to death?
How do you set your mind on things above, when sin has sunk it's claws into your flesh and is gleefully dragging you back down?
How do you call on Christ's name, and the power that lies there waiting for you to claim it?
How?
How do you keep from falling?
We live by grace, and are freed from sin. Ultimately. But the consequences we live with.
How do you free yourself from your self?
How do you free yourself from your own mind?
How do you escape sin?
Please. Tell me how.

Romans 4:7-8
Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man and woman whose sin the Lord will never count against them.

Blessed am I.

Romans 6:6-14
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Romans 7:14 - 8: 16
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the memebers of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation - but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God. For you did not recieve a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you recieved the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

Amen.

Guess what I did this morning!!

I got up at 4:30. Actually... it was more like 4ish because I was paranoid I'd fall asleep again and sleep through my alarms (There are 4 of them, and YES I have slept through ALL of them before. Thus, paranoia justified.).
I threw on my swimsuit (and other clothes), shoved a towel in my bag, grabbed my journal, Bible, a book, and cookies, and hopped on my bike for the train station. I parked my bike illegally (the cops don't start checking till later on in the day) and caught the 5:51 train to Shimohama beach. grins Yes. I went to the beach this morning. It was WONDERFUL. And I went SWIMMING!!!! That was even MORE WONDERFUL. The first time I've been swimming since coming to Japan. I'm going again! I don't know when exactly... but soon. The water was perfect. Not frigid, but not bath water.
The beach itself is actually rather depressing because it's so littered with trash and junk... but once you get over that... it's still rather depressing. But the view of the sea is nice. :) The waves still make the sound waves make when they wash against the shore. The seagulls still make the sound seagulls make when they fly back and forth over the water. And I still make the sound I make when I talk to God... and to myself. grins

And of course... what's a good blog about the beach without pictures?? I won't disappoint. Here you go. :)

To the south. Chokkai-san (Mt. Chokkai - dormant volcano). I'm hiking it with Brooke and Juri next week. :)

To the north. Akita City. 2 train stops from Shimohama.

The beath... slightly depressing.

Me at the beach. Hopefully not depressing.

My feet meet Japan Sea.

They become friends.

Sitting in front of the Japan Sea... reading... journaling... drinking "ko-hi-" (coffee) milk yumminess... and taking pictures of all of the above.

Enjoying the "ko-hi-" milk yumminess. :)

I left the beach at 9ish. Now I'm headed up to Takanosu to spend the weekend with Amy's parents and sister Laura. We're going to do some serious hiking (and even camp for a night!). hurray! hurray!

watashino nihongin tomodachi no tameni (for my Japanese friends)...

jaa... ano... watashino nihongo wa amari yokunai demo tokidoki nihongo de kaku. I will try. onegaishimas watashi ni nihongo o oshiete kudasai! :) moshi watashi ni email o shitai... watashino email wa: rs.potterclay@gmail.com kaite kudasai! :)

Saturday night Kanto Matsuri (kanto festival)...

in pictures.

Here is a Kanto website if you want to check out the history of the festival. It's pretty interesting! And being there is a whole nother world...
I can't begin to describe the packed sidewalks, swirling smells of pavement, sweet, fried octopus and yaki soba... the beat of the drums making my heart and body vibrate and the chants of the bystanders: "DOKOISHYOU!! DOKOISHYOU!!" (A cheer word that has no meaning, or so I'm told.) Brooke and I couldn't help but be swept up in the festive mood.

Brooke and I dressed up in Yukatas. The traditional summer Japanese dress. I actually bought a yukata myself, but then one of my students gave me this blue one as a gift. It's beautiful!


The drummers. All girls (for the most part). I wanted to drum. :)


Rows of Kanto


Kanto


More kanto.


Kiddie Kanto :)


This one is by far my favorite. grins


Some friendly people visiting from Tokyo.


More pictures from this past weekend to come... grins It was a busy weekend. :)

p.s. If anyone can give me an idea for where I can upload camera videos I would appreciate it greatly. And it would be cool for you too because you could actually hear the drums and see things in motion.

we finally made it :)

So... a couple weeks ago Brooke, Juri, and I attempted to hike Moriyoshi Mt. (Moriyoshiyama), but I got us lost because I confused the back way (the longer, more "natural" trail that I hiked with Amy's dad) with the front way (you ride a gondola up most of the way and hike the rest). But this past Monday we made it. :)

The fruits of our labor... grins


Mori yoshi yama (the kanji - characters - from top to bottom)


1,454 meters (the kanji from top to bottom) :) Japanese class comes in very helpful. I learned to count (among many other things).


3 stooges


Famous people, of course.


Beautiful.


'Twas a gorgeous day. Perfect.