Friday, July 11
Ice Cream Party Prep Day
Sleep did me good last night. I felt alot better in the morning. However, I woke up to a very hot day. I got to church in the morning and found out that Isaiah got food poisioning from food he ate at Kamakura. He and Tim stayed home all day. The rest of us went shopping for supplies for the Ice Cream Party. We made 80 ice cream shaped nametags out of construction paper that Jon and I went and got from Lumine.
Earlier this morning, Joy and I hit the various record and movie shops. I ended up finding something that I had been looking for (Steve Steven's Flamenco.A.Go.Go). Joy on the other hand, found something that was too expensiver for her taste. Oh well.
So we spent most of our day creating decorations. And inbetween, we'd do both our lessons and cover for Tim and Isaiah since they were not in attendance today.
Tonight, Isaiah was feeling better so we boys all met at the church and went to the sento again. We knew our way around this time. And we figured out which soaking tub had the shock therapy.
While all of us guys were having our team time, the girls had arranged a sleep-over at the Barkman's residence near Josui church. I'm sure that they had a fun time hanging out. Hopefully David and the other munchkins over there weren't too bad last night, for the girls could use the rest and relaxation.
Tomorrow is our first big day: Ice Cream Party! I hope we have alot more kids this year, despite that there is a recent kidnapping that's been all over the news. When Tim was passing out flyers at the middle school the other day, one of the parents started taking flyers from the kids, fearing that we were some of those weirdoes that kidnapped the kid on the news. Despite how nice Japanese people are, sin has still twisted the minds of some criminals. We can't expect anything or anyone to be perfectly safe until the Lord returns and Satan is finally bound.
Earlier this morning, Joy and I hit the various record and movie shops. I ended up finding something that I had been looking for (Steve Steven's Flamenco.A.Go.Go). Joy on the other hand, found something that was too expensiver for her taste. Oh well.
So we spent most of our day creating decorations. And inbetween, we'd do both our lessons and cover for Tim and Isaiah since they were not in attendance today.
Tonight, Isaiah was feeling better so we boys all met at the church and went to the sento again. We knew our way around this time. And we figured out which soaking tub had the shock therapy.
While all of us guys were having our team time, the girls had arranged a sleep-over at the Barkman's residence near Josui church. I'm sure that they had a fun time hanging out. Hopefully David and the other munchkins over there weren't too bad last night, for the girls could use the rest and relaxation.
Tomorrow is our first big day: Ice Cream Party! I hope we have alot more kids this year, despite that there is a recent kidnapping that's been all over the news. When Tim was passing out flyers at the middle school the other day, one of the parents started taking flyers from the kids, fearing that we were some of those weirdoes that kidnapped the kid on the news. Despite how nice Japanese people are, sin has still twisted the minds of some criminals. We can't expect anything or anyone to be perfectly safe until the Lord returns and Satan is finally bound.
Kamakura/Chuo Day
Today, everyone buy Lindsey and I went to Kamakura. You remember, that place with the big Buddha. I went there last year, that's why I volenteered for the Chuo University classes.
So, since I was eating at the Chuo Cafeteria and teaching classes all afternoon, I have no clue how Kamakura went. Well, I hope.
As for my classes at Chuo, they went alright. The first class was a little slow because they have such a hard time with English. We broke into groups and they interviewed us, asking questions about America for a report that they have to do. The second class went alright, until I was asked the questions: "What do you think of the war with Iraq?" and "What did you think of the terrorist attacks?" Talk about conversational landmines. How do you explain that you have to obey God first then obey God ordained authorities? How do you explain the sinful nature of man, and that there will always be evil in the world until the Lord comes again? And all this to a small group of students who can barely speak English, and you, who can hardly speak any conversational Japanese. After stumbling over a whole lot of small words in an attempt to explain very big concepts, I went and got the essay that the Yakuin from Tachikawa Church gave us for such a situation. I hope that this all turns out right.
After that group, explaining why my girlfriend and I don't kiss was a breeze. Oh, then there was the group that asked for my views on American and Japanese educational systems. Or, the one that asked about discipline. I kept wanting to say, "Spare the rod and you will spoil the child", but they wouldn't understand that. They think that because I was spanked as a punishment was a very strict family. Hardly! So many kids recieve no discipline in Japan. They run free and wild. (See Tuesday's entry)
After all that, I was able to enjoy another frustrating turn of events. Last week I had a class with Aiko at 6PM after the Chuo classes, but this week she wasn't on the schedule. I went to wait at the church just in case she came, but the church was entirely locked up. I read that as: "No English Classes Tonight", and went home at 5:45PM. But apparently not so. Mrs. Hosokawa had to go to church at 7PM for baptism rehersal, and when she got back home she told me that Aiko was at church waiting for me. Now, if the lesson was supposed to be at 6PM and Mrs. Hosokawa saw Aiko at 7PM, that means she sat around waiting for me for an hour, assumedly out side the church in the light rain.
Talk about frustrating, Aiko is one of the students I really enjoy teaching.
Well, I took my shower, then went down at talked to the Hosokawa's for a while. Mrs. Hosokawa says that Sensei showed up for her meeting a little early and opened the church for Aiko. Then they ended up talking about religion, and assumedly, Christ. That is good to hear, but still, I feel horrible about missing that class. Now all that Aiko will think of when she thinks of English lessons is that lazy American who didn't show up.
::Mood music: Switchfoot's "Twenty-four"::
And all I did was go to church, see that lights were off, leave, play video games at one of the shops along the way home, go home, eat dinner, watch some TV, and play video games to unwind at home. I was home alone because Mr. Hosokawa went golfing, and Mrs. Hosokawa was at her rehersal. I feel quite stupid. I do wonder why I didn't ask about why Aiko wasn't on the schedule. I wonder why no one tried to call me. They know that I didn't go to Kamakura, and I was either at Chuo (which I wouldn't be that late), or at home, or in between. But no phones rang here while I was home.
It's difficult enough staying alone this year, it seems that I've missed out on chilling with the team. I'm either in a lesson or have to go home early or go home early at the wrong time. I know I said I wanted to spend more time with the Japanese people this year, but I feel like such a burden to them sometimes. I havent' spoken much Japanese at all this week. They've been working so hard to speak English for me.
So all that to say, things are becoming a little frustrating. Perhaps I'm struggling with culture shock, finally.
So, since I was eating at the Chuo Cafeteria and teaching classes all afternoon, I have no clue how Kamakura went. Well, I hope.
As for my classes at Chuo, they went alright. The first class was a little slow because they have such a hard time with English. We broke into groups and they interviewed us, asking questions about America for a report that they have to do. The second class went alright, until I was asked the questions: "What do you think of the war with Iraq?" and "What did you think of the terrorist attacks?" Talk about conversational landmines. How do you explain that you have to obey God first then obey God ordained authorities? How do you explain the sinful nature of man, and that there will always be evil in the world until the Lord comes again? And all this to a small group of students who can barely speak English, and you, who can hardly speak any conversational Japanese. After stumbling over a whole lot of small words in an attempt to explain very big concepts, I went and got the essay that the Yakuin from Tachikawa Church gave us for such a situation. I hope that this all turns out right.
After that group, explaining why my girlfriend and I don't kiss was a breeze. Oh, then there was the group that asked for my views on American and Japanese educational systems. Or, the one that asked about discipline. I kept wanting to say, "Spare the rod and you will spoil the child", but they wouldn't understand that. They think that because I was spanked as a punishment was a very strict family. Hardly! So many kids recieve no discipline in Japan. They run free and wild. (See Tuesday's entry)
After all that, I was able to enjoy another frustrating turn of events. Last week I had a class with Aiko at 6PM after the Chuo classes, but this week she wasn't on the schedule. I went to wait at the church just in case she came, but the church was entirely locked up. I read that as: "No English Classes Tonight", and went home at 5:45PM. But apparently not so. Mrs. Hosokawa had to go to church at 7PM for baptism rehersal, and when she got back home she told me that Aiko was at church waiting for me. Now, if the lesson was supposed to be at 6PM and Mrs. Hosokawa saw Aiko at 7PM, that means she sat around waiting for me for an hour, assumedly out side the church in the light rain.
Talk about frustrating, Aiko is one of the students I really enjoy teaching.
Well, I took my shower, then went down at talked to the Hosokawa's for a while. Mrs. Hosokawa says that Sensei showed up for her meeting a little early and opened the church for Aiko. Then they ended up talking about religion, and assumedly, Christ. That is good to hear, but still, I feel horrible about missing that class. Now all that Aiko will think of when she thinks of English lessons is that lazy American who didn't show up.
::Mood music: Switchfoot's "Twenty-four"::
And all I did was go to church, see that lights were off, leave, play video games at one of the shops along the way home, go home, eat dinner, watch some TV, and play video games to unwind at home. I was home alone because Mr. Hosokawa went golfing, and Mrs. Hosokawa was at her rehersal. I feel quite stupid. I do wonder why I didn't ask about why Aiko wasn't on the schedule. I wonder why no one tried to call me. They know that I didn't go to Kamakura, and I was either at Chuo (which I wouldn't be that late), or at home, or in between. But no phones rang here while I was home.
It's difficult enough staying alone this year, it seems that I've missed out on chilling with the team. I'm either in a lesson or have to go home early or go home early at the wrong time. I know I said I wanted to spend more time with the Japanese people this year, but I feel like such a burden to them sometimes. I havent' spoken much Japanese at all this week. They've been working so hard to speak English for me.
So all that to say, things are becoming a little frustrating. Perhaps I'm struggling with culture shock, finally.
Day of Prayer
We started today by talking about songs for Gospel Night. We've narrowed it down a bit, but we still haven't chosen what song yet. From there, we had the morning prayer meeting. But, since none of us guys had to go, we went around to various shops. We found some good stuff in the 100 Yen Shop. I got a map of the Tokyo area and have already found several of the places on it that I have been to. Then we headed back to church early, so that everyone could get lunch, because at 2 or so, some of us had to go pass out flyers for the Ice Cream Party this Saturday. I didn't go because I had a lesson at 2PM.
My lesson was with Mrs. Iwai again. She's Hiromi's mother, and Lindsey has been staying with them. Amanda stayed with them last year. But today, we poured over my map of Tokyo. We found Both places I lived last year, the Iwai home, the Tama Zoo, Asakusa, and Ginza. The map made for some great conversation.
At the same time, Isaiah, Caroline, Tim, and Lindsey were doing the kids-only lesson agian. Isaiah had a blast taking pictures of the kids, of course. However this time they got a look at their picture.
Then there was a lull in the afternoon, and I finished off the day with the meeting with Sensei. We talked about sharing the gospel in our English lessons. We also discussed dealing with culture shock. It's fairly easy to tell that some of the girls are having a difficult time. However, the guys are doing pretty well. Hopefully everyone will be able to adjust soon, despite how foreign Japan seems right now.
Then, I went home, even though I should've stayed for the evening prayer service since I don't have to go to the morning one. But, I had already asked Mrs. Hosokawa if I should come home for dinner or stay out, and she asked me to come home for dinner. Oh well, next week I'll know better.
My lesson was with Mrs. Iwai again. She's Hiromi's mother, and Lindsey has been staying with them. Amanda stayed with them last year. But today, we poured over my map of Tokyo. We found Both places I lived last year, the Iwai home, the Tama Zoo, Asakusa, and Ginza. The map made for some great conversation.
At the same time, Isaiah, Caroline, Tim, and Lindsey were doing the kids-only lesson agian. Isaiah had a blast taking pictures of the kids, of course. However this time they got a look at their picture.
Then there was a lull in the afternoon, and I finished off the day with the meeting with Sensei. We talked about sharing the gospel in our English lessons. We also discussed dealing with culture shock. It's fairly easy to tell that some of the girls are having a difficult time. However, the guys are doing pretty well. Hopefully everyone will be able to adjust soon, despite how foreign Japan seems right now.
Then, I went home, even though I should've stayed for the evening prayer service since I don't have to go to the morning one. But, I had already asked Mrs. Hosokawa if I should come home for dinner or stay out, and she asked me to come home for dinner. Oh well, next week I'll know better.
Tuesdays
Munchkins and JELI day! Of course we aren't talking about eating kids here! We're talking about a bunch of Americans dressing up as a family and falling asleep or dressing up as Old MacDonald's farm animals and making odd noises with about three vowels all whilst milling among youngsters.
Yes, we did all of that today. And that's not all! While trotting around on all fours as a horse, I couldn't see around my mask and plowed into a little girl named Lisa (Or as the Japanese say, Risa). The poor child will either be deathly afraid of me or horses from now on. I think she got over her fear of me, but she's going to have horse-a-phobia all her life now. I felt horrible. So to wind down after a fun round of London Bridges falling down, we set to attempting to spell our names or various other words with graham crackers. Joy is lucky because her name is only three letters!
As if that wasn't enough, Jessica and I went back to Josui for the JELI classes today. First we walked through the minefield of Japanese patriotism during a converstation about Tanabata festival and the Fourth of July. With Mr. Barkman's guidance on the subject, we made it through, all the way to a cake decorated with an American flag. For an encore, we did the same thing with a bunch of nine year olds.
After all that we were quite tired, despite the fact that all of us guys had a very relaxing evening last night. I still don't think the girls know what we did. Poor Caroline and Jessica keep getting stuck with the families with a bunch of wild children, and got woken up rather early and abruptly this morning. Maybe they need to investigate public baths like we did.
However we did find some rest today, as demonstrated in this tie for golden camera award:
Jon's out cold
Hidari's out cold
Yes, we did all of that today. And that's not all! While trotting around on all fours as a horse, I couldn't see around my mask and plowed into a little girl named Lisa (Or as the Japanese say, Risa). The poor child will either be deathly afraid of me or horses from now on. I think she got over her fear of me, but she's going to have horse-a-phobia all her life now. I felt horrible. So to wind down after a fun round of London Bridges falling down, we set to attempting to spell our names or various other words with graham crackers. Joy is lucky because her name is only three letters!
As if that wasn't enough, Jessica and I went back to Josui for the JELI classes today. First we walked through the minefield of Japanese patriotism during a converstation about Tanabata festival and the Fourth of July. With Mr. Barkman's guidance on the subject, we made it through, all the way to a cake decorated with an American flag. For an encore, we did the same thing with a bunch of nine year olds.
After all that we were quite tired, despite the fact that all of us guys had a very relaxing evening last night. I still don't think the girls know what we did. Poor Caroline and Jessica keep getting stuck with the families with a bunch of wild children, and got woken up rather early and abruptly this morning. Maybe they need to investigate public baths like we did.
However we did find some rest today, as demonstrated in this tie for golden camera award:
Jon's out cold
Hidari's out cold
So After All of That...
...I forgot to write a little about our cultural experience today. We went to public baths. It was a long day, and it felt great. Yeah, sure there was this nuduty thing, but hey, it felt great after a long day of walking. It was a little embarassing when the Japanese lady who was running the place came walking into the men's dressing room while we were only half-dressed. But hey, she had to make sure we all had soap and that Isaiah had shampoo. (He relpied, "Whatever for?")
Kyoo wa Tama Dobutsu Koen desu! (Tama Zoo Day!)
For our day off, we did a little preparation this morning. We had to make puppets for the Ice Cream Party puppet show, this coming Saturday. Since we only needed two puppets, I used my spare time to finally get a picture of myself in Japan. It's a tad odd, but I'm trying to get good close-ups of everyone on the team, and I count as one of the team, so I had to do something.
We congraduated our selves for our hard work by getting MacDonald's for lunch, the taking the afternoon off. We went to Tama Zoo. It was awesome!
It was a straight run for about 15 min on the monorail about three stops short of where Mike and I would go last year. This area is extremely beautiful, as you can tell from this picture. However, there was this kind of weather.
That didn't stop us from getting to most of the park. Unfortunately, we missed a few of the big ticket animals because they had be brough in for the night by the time we got around to their habitats. That would be the Cheetahs, Lions, Rhinocereses (Rhinoserai?), and Orangatanges.
But we did get to see a dancing elephant, pale pink flamingoes, a friendly, yet wild, pig, white lepoards, and my personal favorite, a tiger!
And just to give you a feel how of how much this park was like the real Jurrasic Park, take a look at this cage. There's a net in the background of that picture. The landscape on both sides of the net blend, and the supports of the cage have beautiful aesthetic curves. Inside were eagles, but if you couldn't see the net, you would've thought they were just out there in the open. This place was beautiful!
I was able to snag a nice macro shot of the local flora, too.
So, here we are going to a zoo in Japan. You never would have guessed!
But the golden camera award goes to this picture of our Tomo-chan and Odubi-chan: Tomo and Isaiah
We congraduated our selves for our hard work by getting MacDonald's for lunch, the taking the afternoon off. We went to Tama Zoo. It was awesome!
It was a straight run for about 15 min on the monorail about three stops short of where Mike and I would go last year. This area is extremely beautiful, as you can tell from this picture. However, there was this kind of weather.
That didn't stop us from getting to most of the park. Unfortunately, we missed a few of the big ticket animals because they had be brough in for the night by the time we got around to their habitats. That would be the Cheetahs, Lions, Rhinocereses (Rhinoserai?), and Orangatanges.
But we did get to see a dancing elephant, pale pink flamingoes, a friendly, yet wild, pig, white lepoards, and my personal favorite, a tiger!
And just to give you a feel how of how much this park was like the real Jurrasic Park, take a look at this cage. There's a net in the background of that picture. The landscape on both sides of the net blend, and the supports of the cage have beautiful aesthetic curves. Inside were eagles, but if you couldn't see the net, you would've thought they were just out there in the open. This place was beautiful!
I was able to snag a nice macro shot of the local flora, too.
So, here we are going to a zoo in Japan. You never would have guessed!
But the golden camera award goes to this picture of our Tomo-chan and Odubi-chan: Tomo and Isaiah
Dinner Party
Ukiko had a friend over for the last two days, and tomorrow she's leaving. So we went to Ukiko's for dinner. We had a type of fish soup. Then we talked about politics mostly. And home. And missions. And Rachel. And then back to government. And September 11th. It was quite an evening. But we did get a great photo out of it!
And the best group photo as of yet goes to: Minasan!
And the best group photo as of yet goes to: Minasan!
Second Sunday (Nichiyobi)
This is our second Sunday, so one would hope that there was some routine. Not so. Rather, the newest missionary family to Tachikawa (They just started last year when we were there), the Winters, were back in town. So we had a special kids program. We started the morning normal, with our Sunday school classes, but instead of going up to the fourth floor to listen to Yoshie translate Sensei's sermon, we went up to the fourth floor with all of the kids to listen to a special presentation by Emily. She did a charcol drawing of a sherperd with his sheep, while talking about Psalm 23. Her grand finale was to turn on a blacklight and have a different picture show through the one she drew. It was pretty cool. Suddenly, it was all over, and we were put on the spot to do children's songs. We did "Deep and Wide" in both English and Japanese. Then we did "Father Abraham" twice, by popular demand.
Rush back downstairs, and it was time for Communion.
Then, back upstairs for lunch. I got the opportunity to talk for some time with Mr. Winters about missions. And, then we both talked with Mr. Hidaka about Hebrew, Israel, and English Bible translations. From lunch, we then had Sen-nen Kai, the college group. We played our somewhat annual game of "Fruit Basket". It's a variation of musical chairs. In a circle of one less chairs then persons playing, the chairless person calls out some sort of requirement, and those who fulfill the question (Black hair! Wearing a watch! Ate breakfast this morning!) must jump up and run around to a now-empty chair. They seem to enjoy this game. It's so simple, yet quite entertaining. Once things settled down, Jon shared a short lesson, then we all did introductions.
And that was about it for Church today.
Rush back downstairs, and it was time for Communion.
Then, back upstairs for lunch. I got the opportunity to talk for some time with Mr. Winters about missions. And, then we both talked with Mr. Hidaka about Hebrew, Israel, and English Bible translations. From lunch, we then had Sen-nen Kai, the college group. We played our somewhat annual game of "Fruit Basket". It's a variation of musical chairs. In a circle of one less chairs then persons playing, the chairless person calls out some sort of requirement, and those who fulfill the question (Black hair! Wearing a watch! Ate breakfast this morning!) must jump up and run around to a now-empty chair. They seem to enjoy this game. It's so simple, yet quite entertaining. Once things settled down, Jon shared a short lesson, then we all did introductions.
And that was about it for Church today.
Josui Megumi Kurisuto Kyokai
It was an all-day Josui day! We helped Josui church distribute over 3000 informational flyers to the local area. They are so happy. They fed us like crazy too. Leave it to Mrs. Honda to do that to an American. Tofu lasagnia, fresh salad, fresh bread, fresh watermelon, and a great dessert too!
We had to take the bus to Josui, then we ended up walking most of the day it seems. It was a beautiful, yet extremely hot, day. Just check out how pretty the Josui area is: Wabashikisomethingoranother-dori
I love the Josui area. It's in metropolitain Tokyo, yet it has full-size (Japanese full-size) farms and tree-lined streets. I'm going to try to capture more of the feel of the area later when Jessica and I go back to Josui for the JELI classes.
Oh, and the golden camera (Japanese: kamura) award goes to this picture: Caroline & Watermelon
Not only was it a great day, I've also found my first souvenier I've been hunting for: Paul Gilbert's "Paul The Young Dude: The Best of Paul Gilbert" 2-CD set! This isn't even released in the states yet! (Even if it is, his albums have been impossible to find!) So that was cool. I got a good deal on it too. I had almost bought Ayumi Hamazaki's "Best", but opted for the Gilbert CD because I got two CDs for the price of one!
Alright, enough of my ranting and raving, I should hit the sack. It will be a long Sunday at church tomorrow. Did I mention that listening to sermons in Japanese can be very tiring?
We had to take the bus to Josui, then we ended up walking most of the day it seems. It was a beautiful, yet extremely hot, day. Just check out how pretty the Josui area is: Wabashikisomethingoranother-dori
I love the Josui area. It's in metropolitain Tokyo, yet it has full-size (Japanese full-size) farms and tree-lined streets. I'm going to try to capture more of the feel of the area later when Jessica and I go back to Josui for the JELI classes.
Oh, and the golden camera (Japanese: kamura) award goes to this picture: Caroline & Watermelon
Not only was it a great day, I've also found my first souvenier I've been hunting for: Paul Gilbert's "Paul The Young Dude: The Best of Paul Gilbert" 2-CD set! This isn't even released in the states yet! (Even if it is, his albums have been impossible to find!) So that was cool. I got a good deal on it too. I had almost bought Ayumi Hamazaki's "Best", but opted for the Gilbert CD because I got two CDs for the price of one!
Alright, enough of my ranting and raving, I should hit the sack. It will be a long Sunday at church tomorrow. Did I mention that listening to sermons in Japanese can be very tiring?
Fourth of July (Also known as Tim's Birthday!)
It's Tim's 24th birthday today! America is celebrating with fireworks for him! At least, that's what he believed until he was four. We celebrated with some cake that Caroline and Jessica cooked. It was great!
After that, well, it was rather slow. (I'm a day behind again, by the way) Humorously enough, things were so slow, I completely forget what we did. Oh, that's right, I went to the internet cafe and updated the website. Things make sense now. Then we had lunch at Lumine. It was then that I realized what one of my students at Chuo University said. She said she worked at Andoresensu, which sounds alot like the Japanese pronuciation of my name (Andoryuu), so I didn't catch the name of where she worked. She explained that it was a bakery, so I was thinking of a place called Panish that was near Lumine. But, I bought bread for lunch from Anderson's Bakery in Lumine, so I realized that she works there. I wonder if I'll even remember what she looks like if I see her. I had way too many students to remember faces and names. Especially considering that both classes were just plain introductions. Too much information the other day.
Oh, right, so back to today. I had a lesson with Shin at 3PM. It was great! We actually didn't do a whole lot of English, but we had a great time sharing pictures and such. Shin has a twin brother, Ko, and together, their name is Shin-kou which is Japanese for "Faith". It turns out, his entire family is Christian. That's great! Last year, I wouldn't have guessed that. But now, he's become totally involved in Tachikawa Church. Currently, he's on his third try at the entrance exam to a major art university. He's been sculpting at the Preparatory Art School in Tachikawa. He brought one of his smaller sculptures to the lesson. It was one of a set that made the cover of an art magazine. How cool!
More relaxing, then at 6:30PM, we went to the Takahashi's for Tim's (nearly annual) birthday party in Japan! Guess who showed up for this special occasion? Joshua! (Yoshuya) It's great to see him again. Apparently he's doing swell, working in a church in Tokyo somewhere. I didn't get to stick around long because I had a lesson at 8PM. I had to ride a bike back to church. Talk about an experience, the bikes here are different! The handle bars aren't as wide and they have a lower center of balance, and the brakes always squeek when you use them.
My last lesson of the night was Yoshio. He was just learning the guitar last year, so I thought it would be cool to learn an English worship song. We started on "You Are My King (Amazing Love)". We have the general melody down, now we're working on both a working knowledge of the text, and being able to sing the English while playing it.
From there, I went back to the Hosokawas' and watched part of "Major League" on TV (in Japanese, it was pretty weird) until 11PM.
After that, well, it was rather slow. (I'm a day behind again, by the way) Humorously enough, things were so slow, I completely forget what we did. Oh, that's right, I went to the internet cafe and updated the website. Things make sense now. Then we had lunch at Lumine. It was then that I realized what one of my students at Chuo University said. She said she worked at Andoresensu, which sounds alot like the Japanese pronuciation of my name (Andoryuu), so I didn't catch the name of where she worked. She explained that it was a bakery, so I was thinking of a place called Panish that was near Lumine. But, I bought bread for lunch from Anderson's Bakery in Lumine, so I realized that she works there. I wonder if I'll even remember what she looks like if I see her. I had way too many students to remember faces and names. Especially considering that both classes were just plain introductions. Too much information the other day.
Oh, right, so back to today. I had a lesson with Shin at 3PM. It was great! We actually didn't do a whole lot of English, but we had a great time sharing pictures and such. Shin has a twin brother, Ko, and together, their name is Shin-kou which is Japanese for "Faith". It turns out, his entire family is Christian. That's great! Last year, I wouldn't have guessed that. But now, he's become totally involved in Tachikawa Church. Currently, he's on his third try at the entrance exam to a major art university. He's been sculpting at the Preparatory Art School in Tachikawa. He brought one of his smaller sculptures to the lesson. It was one of a set that made the cover of an art magazine. How cool!
More relaxing, then at 6:30PM, we went to the Takahashi's for Tim's (nearly annual) birthday party in Japan! Guess who showed up for this special occasion? Joshua! (Yoshuya) It's great to see him again. Apparently he's doing swell, working in a church in Tokyo somewhere. I didn't get to stick around long because I had a lesson at 8PM. I had to ride a bike back to church. Talk about an experience, the bikes here are different! The handle bars aren't as wide and they have a lower center of balance, and the brakes always squeek when you use them.
My last lesson of the night was Yoshio. He was just learning the guitar last year, so I thought it would be cool to learn an English worship song. We started on "You Are My King (Amazing Love)". We have the general melody down, now we're working on both a working knowledge of the text, and being able to sing the English while playing it.
From there, I went back to the Hosokawas' and watched part of "Major League" on TV (in Japanese, it was pretty weird) until 11PM.
