for fun :)

For my pottery teacher.


A cup of tea with Japanese cream. Fascinating.


A sunset, downtown Akita.

transitioning... a week and a half left

September 30th is my final day of classes. Starting next week, we'll be having parties instead of real classes, and I'll be saying goodbye to all my students. This past Sunday I said goodbye to many Araya Church members as it was my last Sunday there. It was a good way to say goodbye - I gave my testimony during the church service, translated by Yosef Sensei, the pastor. After church we had our traditional afternoon meal, followed by words of encouragement and affirmation and tearful goodbyes of each of the church members. But those are the best, leaving with only good memories and relationships that have been blessed by a year of communicating via smiles, "ohaiyo gozaimas" es (good mornings), broken Japanese and broken English, and hugs. Lots of hugs. Araya is my hug church. God knew I would miss them (hugs), and so he sent me the people at Araya. :)

As always, transitioning is an ebbing and flowing of emotions. Excitement for what is next (most immediately CHINA to see Amy and Noel) and a deep heartache for relationships I'll be absent from. Saying goodbye to my kids is probably the hardest, especially my Araya kids. I love ALL my kids at BOTH churches, but as much as a pain in the rearend the kids at Araya have been at times, I've grown the closest to them through and inspite of all their squirrelliness. I've learned from them, and learned with them. And I want to take them all home with me. :) (hehehe Now THAT would be an amusing 13 hr plane ride!) The hardest goodbyes I had to say this past week were 3 girls in my 3rd grade class (there are 3 girls and 1 boy). Our last classes were going to be the 15th and the 29th (the 22nd is a holiday), and so I wasn't prepared to say goodbye to them until the 29th. But surprise surprise (the kind of surprise I really think is quite evil), they won't be able to come the last class. Their moms are having some kind of party. I had to say goodbye right there, on the spot. No warning. I felt like my heart had been cut open and left on display for bystanders to come and take a peek and poke at. It was horrible. I wanted to ask why they couldn't come anyway - it's just an hour. Have a grandparent or neighbor run them to class. I love those girls. I wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. Not yet. But there I stood, with all 3 of them facing me, little faces turned up looking into mine, questions in their eyes. And I smiled an I love you SO much smile and gave them all hugs and told them to GANBATTE NE (wonderful Japanese word to encourage someone to go for something, keep trying, keep at it, fight for it, don't give up, all the phrases like that in English summed up in a word in Japanese). They backed out of the genkan (entrance way) waving and saying "bye" and our traditional "see you", got in their car and drove out of sight, both hands waving. And I turned around with tears in my eyes, escaping from Brian - who doesn't know these kids yet and hasn't grown to love them yet - and Yosef Sensei - who will continue to see them every week - to the room where I had just finished teaching them. I felt overwhelmed. And then I got myself under control.Smiled at Brian, who had followed me in, and said in that teary voice "I wasn't ready to say goodbye yet." And then we went to Toichiya, the local grocery store, and bought our supper. And life went on.

Sayaka, Natsuko, (me), Hana, Atsushi

(They don't hold still for pictures. You take a picture and hope you catch them smiling. grins)


Of all the people and places I'm saying goodbye to, the places are the least important. Like my apartment. Of course it's been home for a year. But I've had so many places to call home... perhaps my apartment is the least like home because there hasn't been people to share it with (except for the occasional overnighter with Amy, Brooke, my mom and sister, Erika, soon Sarah). If places are special it's because of the people I share them with. It's the people I miss most. AND the wonderful thing about not having to live alone again soon is that I won't have to CLEAN alone. mwahaha!! Shared living space - shared cleaning responsibilities! ;)

Passing things on to Brian (the new teacher)... isn't hard. I feel he'll be a good teacher, so I'm excited that my students will be able to learn from him. He has a lot to offer them. A new teacher with new styles of teaching, new background, new mannerisms, new perspective and a deeper knowledge of the Bible (3 yrs at Seminary helps) will be good for all of the students. Kids classes might be the most challenging for him because they can be so unpredictable, but I've also seen him have a lot of fun with some of the kids, too. And who knows. :) Maybe that's an area that the Lord wants to stretch in him. But above all, regardless of how well he teaches them (I've no doubt that he will do a good job), I pray that he can come to love them and SHOW that he loves them. Even if you have spent an hour fighting rotten behavior and obnoxiousness. Loving them at the end of class, playing with them, smiling at them, will speak volumes into their hearts. Love is something that doesn't need language in order to be communicated.
It's also nice knowing that I can pass my friends and families along to Brian. :) Introductions are important in Japan. That's how you make friends the most quickly. I started from scratch. There was no one to introduce me to people. It took almost the whole year to make good friends. I'm also glad to leave my friends here a little less lonely. :) Of course I'll miss them and they me, but even nicer is knowing that they'll continue friendships with Sarah and now Brian, and whomever comes after them. Seeds I've planted can be watered and weeded and nurtured. God touches peoples hearts through relationships, and different people have different stories and truths and experiences to communicate and share. I'm excited for Brian and what he'll be experiencing in the next year.

All right. I've written enough for now. More to come later.

A thought to end on...
Leaving will of course be hard. But it will also be good. I'm moving on from Japan because God is continuing to lead me to where he wants me to be.... and I'll be leaving Japan with my heart full. :)

yay and yikes and whew

the grad email is sent. to UC Davis (International Agricultural Development).

1 down, 2 to go.

and the waiting has begun.

it all sounds (and sometimes feels) so traumatic... it isn't. i kind of feel something like a combination of how i felt as a kid a day or so before Christmas :D
and how i felt waiting for the results of a difficult test to be slipped into my mailbox. ;P (Lord, help.) :)

venting

applying to grad school is mendokusai and mukatsuku. (loose translation: a pain in the rear-end and it pisses me off/really annoys me) i hate labels. bragging is one of my biggest pet peeves, and braggards annoy me to no end. yet i feel like that is exactly what school (jobs, etc.) ask for. i understand WHY, but i just don't like it. and grad school seems worse. 'look at me! look at me! see what i have done! see what i can do!' i feel like i'm back in grade school standing in a mosaic line of children on the dusty playground waiting for one of the oh-so-cool team captains to pick ME to be on his (there were only ever boy captains. =P) kickball team. 'pick me! i promise i can kick the ball far and run fast!' i was almost always picked among the last, the not-so-able kickers.
ah! frustration!
self-frustration.
*gritting teeth*
but i know, the world is not going to end based on whether or not i get accepted at any one grad school. the world WILL, in fact, keep turning. hard to believe, i know. i will keep breathing. my heart will keep pumping blood through my body. God will keep showing me his way. and so on.

but sometimes it's just nice to vent.

changing tides

The new teacher, Brian, arrived Tuesday night, and Sarah and I celebrated our last "Girl Night" by indulging in chocolate, Japanese snacks, and Sweet Home Alabama (after which I rode my bike home). We met him Wednesday, and we've all hit it off wonderfully. I can't express how... relieving?... encouraging... it is to know (and how thankful I am to the Lord) that I'm leaving my students in hands that will love them and pray for them and guide them further along the path leading into Christ's arms. His dedication to Christ and love for others and attitude of openness in learning and trying new things and being a sponge :) is most definitely a blessing to be around. HURRAY! for good teachers!!! grins And pray that while he's learning from me, I will be a good teacher to him in the few days and weeks. It will most definitely be hard leaving Japan... I will be leaving with my heart - and probably my eyes - full, brimming. But it will be much easier knowing that I'm "passing the baton" into capable and grace-upheld hands. God is good.
edit:: My Friday night Jr. High girls - the last class of the day. Yosefu Sensei, Brian, Asami, me, and Aoi. Brian has spent the past couple of days observing my classes - soon to be his classes. Friday is the most "high-energy" day. ;) grins But filled with wonderful kids that I love.

Women of Colombia

hahahaha This is awesome! Now there's using their heads. :)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5341574.stm

For Brooke. :) A long time in coming, but better late than never.

Friday morning, 9/1 (now 10 days ago. crazy. I started this right after she left and it's taken me forever to finish it.), Brooke left for the States. And I miss her. :) Here's a very brief history (and mostly in pictures because I love them so much and I don't have time to write a ton) of our last couple of weeks together in Japan... and was it fun! And crazy! :) Full of God's blessings. Japan won't be the same without her. She's definitely been one of his great gifts to me...

First is our day hike (9hrs) on Mt. Chokkai (called Chokkai san). The most beautiful, awing hike I've ever been on. The kind of hike that makes you praise God with all of your senses (except maybe taste... grins).


The Gate to Chokkai (after 2 hrs of hiking)

In the midst of clouds and rocks and sea.

On the Heights (2236 meters)
Playing around. I LOVE playing on rocks!!

Japanese Thistle. One of my favorite flowers. Stairway to heaven.
Chokkai's older crater and the Japan Sea. Japanese flora.


Wanko Soba. All you can eat soba noodles. A competition to see who can eat the most. Salmon fish eggs. Appetizing, eh?

Girl's Night out - Tomoko's Birthday. Mutsuko, Brooke, me, Tomoko, Emi. Crazy English teachers (Honey, Brooke, me).

Brooke's going away party at Shimohama Beach.

I've got you baby!
Youuuuuuuu!
Sakura (cherry blossoms) song. Aretha Franklin's R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Karaoke with our friend Masahiko. Oh-so-much fun.

On the train to Senjyoujiki (1000 tatami mat place).
At Senjyoujiki. Starfish and Seashells.
See no evil. Speak no evil. Hear no evil. A lovely sunset. Cool rocks.
Good friends.


Celebrating Brooke's last night in Japan. Honey, Juri, Brooke, Glen, me.

Our last morning together at Starbucks, downtown Akita.

Miss you Brooke! Kampai!! (cheers) grins