go team!

So, here we are, the "cheerleading squad" for Shigeo Tsuzuki's election campaign. One of my students, Kenji, asked if I wanted to come and help out, and there was no question in my mind that it would be a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience. . . The student I'm with here is actually Kohey, one of Kenji's good friends.
I think this is such a classic picture -- makes me think of royalty, or Evita, or some other great address. . . the background is a little ironic, though. . .
Seriously, it's almost as deserted as the prairies. . . we got so excited when we actually saw someone outside that everyone started waving and Shigeo would go over, shake their hands, do a little PR, he even started playing catch with a little boy (what a guy!) Had to put this one in so you would catch the "sash" idea.
This is our group on a street corner, one guy reading out the campaign philosophy about how Shigeo is going to make this community a safer and better place for families, the sound pumping out of the little portable speaker (they had to do the announcement twice at this "intersection" to catch both directions ;-), and us yelling "Thank you for your support" in response to the little speech.
Making some connections -- just to justify the picture quality issue here. It wasn't really a "picture-taking" atmosphere, so these were all taken as I "inconspicuously" held my camera around my waist and tried to catch what was going on. . . :-s

Quite the experience, I must say -- the headbands have "Certain Win" written on them. They let me keep the band, not the jacket. . . Thanks for the memories Kenji, Kenji's dad, Kohey, and everyone else. . . and congratulations on making it as a Toyota city councillor. . . yours truly, the hippie in neon.

what's been happening these days

So I couldn't resist -- the cherry blossoms are amazing!! I think they're "officially over" now, though, since it rained yesterday.
One of my students took me to this gorgeous "sakura-lined" road. . . walking under the veil of pink-flushed blossoms, and being showered on by the petals. It looked just like snow!
On Saturday I took a day trip with some students (my 2 Tuesday night classes). In Fall, we went to see some temples in Nara, and this time we headed out to Kyoto. This is a picture of us in front of the Byoudoin bridge, on the front of the Japanese 10 yen coin (see below).


So, for those of you who have seen "Sayuri" or heard of a Geisha, this is the young version (teenage girls), called "Maiko-san". The woman in front of the shop (where they do kimono dyeing) told us that we could have our picture taken with a "real Maiko". (I didn't really believe her, but after seeing the Maiko's wig, one of my students told me that the real ones always use their own hair -- obviously this is just some girl's part-time job!! :-b But, whatever, it's still pretty fun I think!)
And this was probably one of, if not the coolest part of the day -- we got to take a boat ride down the river. The area we went to is called "Arashiyama" and famous for the beautiful mountainsides and colours in Autumn. Being Spring, we didn't see any of the Fall leaves, but the mountains were still pretty with the bright green and little dashes of pink everywhere!
This is what we looked like!! :-D (ok, I don't even feel like it was real looking at this picture now.)
I'm still here until July just in case any of you have changed your minds about coming to visit! ;-)
The five of us -- me, Kimie, Kenji, Kohey (sorry :-s), and Junko.
I thought this was such a pretty scene that incorporates so many uniquely Japanese things. . . the tiles lining the edges of the rock garden, neatly raked rows of pebbles, the larger rocks and finely manicured pine trees set in to symbolize moutains and a mini "nature scene", and then bamboo and even a cherry blossom tree in the background.
We walked down a few streets from the river to find this bamboo trail. . .
It was kind of funny, because there were actually a lot of people on the trail, but there was kind of an unspoken "let's stop and take pictures" moment, where I got this shot! :-)
And, after all that walking. . . we took some time out at the "foot bath". It felt really good. . . kind of weird when you think about it, a bunch of people just start taking off their socks and shoes, sit down on the benches, and plunge their feet in to soak. But, a good custom none-the-less (a little less intimidating than the full body perhaps?!)
There is one other thing that I've wanted to share with all of you. I've mentioned about Kinuyo in several of my previous posts (we went for a picnic together a couple of weeks ago). Well, recently she came to the seminar that we had at church, and it seemed like there was something that really resonated with her inside (the Holy Spirit, no doubt), and since then she has been really interested in learning more about the Bible. It's something that has been a great encouragement to me, not that I've done anything, but about how God is maybe just reminding me to trust that He knows what He's doing. May God be glorified!!!
I will fill you in more next time I send out a letter to all of you. Have a lovely day!

will I never learn?!??

Yes, this is Karis. . . the freaking GIANT!! :-s I get so used to the height difference that I don't really notice until I look at the pictures afterwards. . . Hopefully this will be a lesson for next time (to get as far away from the camera as possible!!) This is in a Japanese garden I went to with one of my classes last week.
And this is our lunch. . . notice the "menu" on the plate. There were about 20 different kinds of food (albeit mostly "bite-sized" or smaller), each with it's own distinct flavour, texture, and arranged artistically using tiny little ceramic dishes, a long wooden tray, and accentuated by these coloured "wire cords" in the middle. It was the "special dish" for Girls' Day (you're probably vaguely remembering me mentioning this in a previous post -- this time it's according to the lunar calendar. . . making the most of it!!). . . and they "sucked us in" by saying that it was the only day they were serving this fancy lunch. How lucky! ;-) I have never eaten such elaborate and refined cuisine in my whole life as in this country! (It was not only beautiful-looking, but delicious too!)
Everything is NEW!!! A Japanese maple in the garden, it's branches emerging with fresh green!
A couple of pictures from the Kids' Easter party at church last Saturday afternoon. It was mostly the kids from church, and 2 of my students came with their little sister. It was fun to hang out, sing some songs, play games (musical chairs :-), have an egg hunt, and talk about the love that Jesus came to give us. . . the "missing piece" if we don't have Him in our hearts.
Amazing how you end up seeing things in a new way, or realizing something simple you'd never thought about before when you get the chance (or have to ;-) teach it. I always think it would be great if something that I said might stick in the kids' hearts and stay with them no matter what the future has to hold or the experiences they will encounter. But, really, maybe the one I need to remember is me, that I will let those simple truths just soak into my being. . .

Easter reflections. . .

Two of my young students (5 year old girl and her 7 year old brother) lost their grandmother a couple of weeks ago. I have also gotten to know their mother, through talking after English class and meeting at the cooking group, so I decided to attend the “wake”, a service held the evening before the funeral. It was the first time I had been to a Buddhist ceremony, and it was quite an experience for me. I had never met Mrs. Kobabayashi, but seeing her picture at the front of the room, surrounded by nearly 30 huge vases full of colourful flowers, impressed on me the sadness this family must be experiencing, and especially the mom of my two students, who had cared for her mother continuously over the past 6 months. She was only 58 years old.
The wake consisted primarily of a Buddhist priest reading chants out of the Buddhist scriptures (o’kyou) and those in attendance each taking a turn bowing to the family, the deceased and offering small incense beads into the ashes held in several containers at the front of the hall. The priest also gave a short address, talking about how Mrs. Kobayashi had now joined the “anscestors”, whom are to be revered, appeased and “worshipped” in Japanese society. He said that if those who are left are faithful in living a “good” life, and show respect for the anscestors by "praying" before their household altars, that these anscestors who are watching from a “higher” place will watch over and provide for them.

Today in church, a woman who used to be a Buddhist nun gave the message. She devoted her life to learning about the Buddhist scriptures and working towards "enlightenment". When she was in her 40s, problems in her marriage led her to seek out the church nearby, and it was when she first read the Bible that she realized that there was no certainty in any of the things that she had learned in Buddhism. It is a constant desiring after humanly conceived ideals, and there is no reassurance of anything. Only in the Bible did she find a certainty of God's love, salvation and the promise of One who would walk beside her through anything.

What an awesome story God has given us -- knowledge of the Truth, and a hope that goes beyond just today. . .

Today and forever may we celebrate our God. . . who LIVES. . . in us!!

for your viewing pleasure. . .

A few pieces of English I found in the train station on my way back from Osaka this weekend. . . in case you're wondering, no, there is no "trick" to "getting" the English. . . it's supposed to not make sense?!?
I basically consider it a "fun bonus" for foreigners here. . . you know, on those days when the culture is really "getting to" you. . . and just need something to lighten things up. . . works every time!
This is not my order, by the way -- visited a little town along the ocean with a friend, and when you're by the ocean, there's nothing better than. . . raw fish, fish eggs, seaweed and other random things from the sea on rice, right?!
A train (ie. regular city train -- basically like our "buses" if you can dare compare the two) I was on in Osaka this weekend -- TV screens in the middle telling you exactly where you are, and advertising mascara or something like that on the right. . . (I keep trying to "fool" the ticket machine at the gates, by putting in my train card upside down or backwards, but it always manages to figure things out and correctly prints out the amount I have left on the card -- the price from station to station is different for almost every stop and this is automatically calculated by electronic info on the ticket or card and printed in a matter of nanoseconds. . .) This country never ceases to amaze and boggle me!

time for an update?!

So, after a "little break", I'm back. . . and it's cherry blossom season again (could there be a better time to "be back" in the blogging world?!) And cherry blossoms (sakura) means festival (matsuri) time. . . with all the little vendors lining the walkways selling everything from grilled corn-on-the-cob, to fish shaped "pancakes" filled with cream or sweet red beans, to chocolate bananas to fried noodles, fried balls with huge chunks of octopus. . . and sticks skewered with beef, chicken or. . .
squid!! (hungry anyone?!)
Today was absolutely the perfect day for seeing the blossoms -- they say "mankai" here and it literally means "full, to the point of brimming over" and "open". . . And that's exactly what we enjoyed, as the breeze gently blew among the white fluffs of blossom above, and showered down delicate petals onto the ground below. God must have known how the Japanese would cherish his gorgeous "sakura". :-)
Here's our lunch spot -- we each brought a few different foods from home, sat on the "Kitty-chan leisure sheet" (ie. plastic tarp with cute Hello Kitty cartoon motif on it), pulled out "my hashi" (a set of chopsticks that I got as a present a couple of weeks ago -- they have my name engraved, and the purpose is to reduce waste by not using disposable chopsticks -- smart, eh?), and enjoyed our little picnic together. This is Kinuyo, an English student and friend.
Tourists in a sight-seeing boat out to see the cherry blossoms lining the riverside. I think it's so neat how they purposefully plant cherry trees in parks, and along river and road sides for people to enjoy. Happy Spring everyone!