Great is Your love [O God], higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.
-Psalm 108:4-5
On Sunday Barb and I went with a busload of neighbors (~40people) on a field trip to the neighboring prefecture of Wakayama, about 2hrs away. The only thing I knew about the trip was that we were going to pick mikans (similar to mandarin oranges) and that we were meeting really early in the morning to leave and would return at 6:30pm. I figured it wouldn't take all day to pick mikans, but I didn't think about what we'd do the rest of the time.
Living in Japan is teaching me how to go with the flow and to be ok with not knowing all the details of events. In the case of this trip it ended up being a day filled with surprises but nonetheless a day that God greatly blessed. He answered prayers abundantly above and beyond. Thank you for praying about the trip! Barb and I were able to meet some neighbors and make ourselves more visible in this neighborhood.
We found out that in two weeks our neighborhood is hosting an event where we'll get to make mochi (pounded rice cakes). The hope is that we'll see many of the same people from this weekend's field trip and have opportunity to build relationships with them.
Rice fields set against the backdrop of mountains. As expected, the countryside is beautiful!
Little marina area
Walked through a cool little village on our way to the Tsunami Educational Center in Hirogawa-cho. Really liked the look of this old house with the bonsai trees.
The Tsunami Educational Center was interesting and one of the unexpected stops on the trip. We watched a 3-D movie that allowed us to see and feel what it'd be like for us to actually be in a tsunami and also learned how to be prepared in this kind of disaster.
We also heard the story of Gyoro-san and 稲むらの火のやかた館 ("the fire of rice sheaves"). In the late 1800s, an earthquake caused a tsunami to hit Gyoro-san's village. From his rice field on the mountainside he looked toward the sea and saw that a tsunami was approaching but that no one in the village was aware. So he sacrificed his rice harvest by torching his rice sheaves in order to draw the villagers to his house, thus saving their lives.
Next we stopped at Wakayama Castle for lunch. The food was excellent and the lunchtime entertainment (in the way of karaoke) was amusing; however I was surprised we didn't get a better look of the castle and didn't have time to take pictures before leaving...thus no picture for you here on the blog.
This is a lady that lives catty-corner to us. Enjoyed getting to know her on this trip and appreciated her willingness to help when we had questions.
Barb and I actually weren't sure whether we were supposed to bring our own lunch, but after asking a neighbor we determined that maybe lunch was included in the price of the trip. So I envisioned we would probably receive a bento lunchbox and that we’d sit outside the castle and eat lunch, picnic style. I was totally blown away to see the amazing spread of food we were given for lunch in the dining room of the castle! Tempura, nabe, sashimi, miso soup, rice, pickles, chawan mushi
After lunch the leader of our group mentioned something about karaoke, and I thought he was kidding...that is until this sweet lady stood up with a microphone in hand and started singing. Barb sang as well
Here's the mikan orchard. I had no idea just how many mikans were on one tree!
We were allowed to eat as many as we wanted!
By the way, those aren't all my orange peels in the bucket! =)
Nothing compares to fresh fruit, which gives a whole new meaning to the principle of giving God the first fruits!
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Here's some outtakes from Thanksgiving
My teacher Yuko-sensei helped me get the turkey ready for the oven. Though she didn't stay for dinner that night, we ended Japanese class a little early so I could show her how to prepare the turkey. Was fun to share some American culture with her.
Dun...dun, dun, dun...!
We had all sorts of traditional dishes and set them up buffet-style so we'd have more room for 10 of us at the table. It was so nice to have a family dinner together.
Asha and Miki getting ready for the second course...dessert!
Lots of time before dinner to relax and chat with old friends and new friends.
The kids weren't really into sitting and chatting, so they found other ways to have fun =)
We indeed have many reasons to give God thanks this year...friends, family, health to name a few. But most of all, I thank God for the underserved love He has lavished on us, most clearly expressed through Jesus Christ. And Christ's love compels us (as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:14, 21), because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again...God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Barb and I went to Mino earlier in the week, hoping to see the fall colors of Japanese maples. As you'll see in some of these pictures, there were trees scattered here and there that had already changed to vibrant shades of red and yellow. However, I think if we were to go again in about a week, the remaining majority of maples would be red, orange, and yellow. Even so, we really enjoyed spending a few hours walking through the dense, forested path up to the waterfall.
The reason I wanted to take a picture of this house was because it has a torii gate in the front yard (if you look closely you can see it behind the fence on the right). Usually a torii gate marks the entrance to sacred areas at a shinto shrine, so I'm not sure if it's just serving as yard decoration or if there's something significant about this house.
Wave to us, Barb! You can see that we came a bit too early in the season, as all those trees behind her are still green. It might be almost December before they change. (I'm not in Missouri or Indiana anymore!)
Isn't this a nice picture of Barb. I'm trying to convince her to use it as a profile picture.
Where are the blue skies?
Barb and I almost didn't make it to the waterfall. During our trek we saw a couple BIG monkeys along the path and were pretty scared (I think I was more scared the she was!!!). The monkeys at Mino have a reputation for being very aggressive and really want you to give them food. I had a bad experience with monkeys while at Arashiyama last year and have no desire to get near any monkey, especially wild ones, again. So, I wasn't so sure I wanted to keep walking to the waterfall if it meant I had to pass the monkeys. The solution, Barb and I saw a nice, older Japanese couple approaching and asked to walk with them...safety in numbers!
Since coming back to Japan I've been attending a Japanese house church, where about 13 believers gather each week. They've graciously welcomed me and have helped me get my feet wet in terms of praying, singing, studying and discussing God's Word in Japanese. I'm very thankful for these Christians and am encouraged to see how they express their love to one another.
Today after church a group of us drove to one of the nearby rivers to look at the fields and fields of cosmos that are in full bloom. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful Fall day!
Here's one of my favorite pictures from the afternoon...how cute are these two!
Lovely backdrop and good company
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Five years ago while serving as a summer missionary in Thailand, Kib and I became friends through a ministry called The Centre (www.thecentrethailand.org). It's a place where university students go to improve their conversational English and also have the opportunity to meet Christians and hear about Jesus Christ. Since meeting that summer, Kib and I stayed in touch, mostly through snail mail and email. Surprisingly, over the last three years God has allowed our paths to cross three different times, the latest being when she and her husband Ben came to Japan for a couple of weeks. We had an awesome time together while they were in Osaka last week!
Never a dull moment with them! In Japan, this gesture means "no"
Waiting for our okonomiyaki to finish cooking so we can EAT!
For those of you who used to live here, I hope these pictures of food are making your mouth water =)
Japan lacks no shortage of drink options, so I think they tried as many different ones as possible during their trip.
Ben and Kib have lived in Canada since getting married two years ago. While studying English at one of the schools in Vancouver Kib met Shizuko-san, a Japanese gal who's from Kanazawa. Since Shizuko-san is now back in Japan she made the trip to Osaka to see Kib and Ben. For whatever reason, I didn't do much to help put dinner together this night...but I learned how to make the fish and curry.
Cutting up the ingredients for Thai green curry
I can practically smell the curry just from looking at this picture!
We also made sanma (the seasonal fish) and sauteed shitake mushrooms.
This is how I remember Kib from the summer in Thailand...she's an excellent photographer.
As they found out, Osaka has all sorts of good food. Here's a look at our spread at the yakiniku restaurant.
You get to cook the meat and veggies at your table.
Barb picked the right night to join us; the yakiniku was excellent.
Thanks again for making time to visit me while you were in Japan, Kib and Ben!
Monday, 02 November 2009
Here are a few pictures from our overnight prayer retreat last week. We drove a couple of hours down to Shirahama, a beach town on the Pacific coast; totally felt like we were in a different country. God blessed us with gorgeous weather and a beautiful setting for the retreat!!
Ocean view from our hotel balcony
Barb and Susanne sinking their feet into the white, powder-like sand
Jan (Barb's older sister) and Susanne (their friend) are enjoying their first trip to Japan. Unfortunately their two week trip will come to an end tomorrow as they fly back to Ohio; I wish they could stay longer!
Taking in the view
Water threatens to overtake their building project.
Waves rolling in as the sun begins to set
Saying goodbye to the beach until tomorrow
While driving along the coast we see this famous rock formation in the middle of the water...calls for a picture
Notice how our hotel room is multifunctional--a living/dining room during the day and a bedroom at night
Slumber party--three futons across and one in the other room behind the sliding doors. That would be Jan curled up sleeping.
A rare moment where the Sanders' boys weren't playing on the beach...they had a blast in the giant sandbox!
Patrick, Katherine, and little Sarah take a break from lunch to pose for a picture. So glad they could join us!
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Tama (front and center) invited me to join her, her sister's family, and some other friends with their kids for a Japanese bbq over the weekend at Hattori Ryokuchi Park.
They were making fun of me because I pretended to be grilling just for the picture. Mai-chan was nice enough to point this out. Most of the time I was hanging out with the kids at the playground.
In addition to eating familiar meats like beef or chicken, here are pictures of the more interesting meats that we grilled (and that I at least tasted): kidney, pig neck, and cow tongue.
We also made yakisoba (stir-fried noodles) over the grill. No one went home hungry Yuna, Chiharu, Chisato, and Yuka (below)...aren't they adorable!
Priceless!
Had a chance recently to catch-up with Yuko and her daughter Koyuri who's now 9 mos old. When I think of how she looked 4 mos ago her appearance doesn't really seem to have changed much at all, but I noticed that now she's definitely a lot more interactive with people and is more mobile. To my delight she seemed quite content to sit on my lap for a while...perhaps the blueberries and strawberries in my bowl were the draw. She ate every berry in the bowl! I'd say her outfit for the day was very appropriate.
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