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. :)