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Thursday, 03 December 2009

my nephew

Just had to post a couple of pictures from the skype call I had with Cheryl, Mom, and Brody during the Thanksgiving weekend. I loved seeing Brody's smiles and chatting with them. I wish I could have jumped through the screen to be there =)

Can't resist showing you this one...I wonder who's idea it was to give him the mohawk.

Even though I couldn't be with my family during Thanksgiving, I'm so glad that Noriko was able to drive to Cheryl's and spend a couple of days with them. I'm looking forward to seeing all the pictures she took when she comes back to Japan in a couple of weeks!

Monday, 30 November 2009

Field trip with neighbors

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!

Sunday, 15 November 2009

Who knew...cosmos is a type of flower

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