4 month anniversary

I've been here for 4 months now!

Here are some updates :D

Open-House Party
The open house party was fun! At one point, 20 people showed up! We didn't have enough chairs so some had to stand. We were blessed with a mountain of food. IT WAS A MOUNTAIN!!! Some home-made and some store-bought. These ladies are so sweet. A few of them literally stopped by, dropped off the food, and left. Their sincerity really blew me away. Unfortunately, because there were so many people, Kristy and I were busy making things and serving them. Thus, we did not have time to just sit down and chat with them as what this party was intended for. We learned our lesson though. A few came later in the afternoon, and that's when we actually got to sit down and show them pictures of our lives in Canada and enjoy each other's company. The next day, we invited a few more to come over for lunch to help us finish off the food. And that was some more good fellowshiping. I really enjoyed that. Lesson learned: we can only handle 4 people at one time. On a side note, we still have a lot of junk food left from the party.


Plum Blossoms
Went to see plum trees/blossoms yesterday! Absolutely gorgeous! It's definitley neat to see the variety in God's creation...and the beauty of them. I must say that the sky here seems to look a lot nicer than the one I see in Toronto! But how vast it is...that, I cannot fathom. And...I tried the most amazing mattcha ice cream at this Agriculture Centre that we went to see these trees! *drooool*











Growth
Definitely learning a lot being here. The best of all is having the quiet time to myself to reflect and read. As I'm re-reading the Old Testament, beginning from Genesis, I can really see how God's been just right there waiting for us. Each time that we turn away, He is always calling us back and providing us a way to draw closer to Him. And this is only one of the many lessons I've learned or have been reminded of from reading the beginning while thinking of the New Testament. As I reflect on my time in Japan, I thank God for providing me with all the spiritual feeding that I've gotten back in Waterloo and Toronto. Because there is a language barrier here, fellowship can be a bit difficult, let alone the expression of our faith in an understandable language. But He provides. With Kristy here I've been able to share my faith with her and talk about our walk with God. And even though there is a language barrier, we nonetheless have a lot of fun trying to figure each other out. One of the best moments is when these ladies use as much English as they know and I use as much Japanese as I know to communicate. With Kristy knowing a lot of Japanese, she translates for me. But when she doesn't understand, we ask the other party to write it in Kanji (chinese characters), and I would then translate. So we back each other up. It's fun! And it also forces me to use my Japanese, which is fun too, because I know I'm breaking all the grammar rules and using all the wrong particles and words. But OH WELL! It's the effort that counts :D

Love
Thank you all for supporting me. You know who you are :D
And I thank God for always providing and meeting my needs each and every day.

I am healthy (Genki desu). Doing very well! Only 4 more months here. Please pray that God will use me in these remaining months here in Nagoya, Japan.

To School People
Continue running the race! April is around the corner!


[to end off, here is a typical Japanese home]

February already! I apologize for taking so long to update (again). There are some days where I'm just so drained because I have evening classes and then I have to take the train back home. Nonetheless, it's all worth it. In one of my classes I got my first question after a bible message :) This student is actually interested in learning more about Christianity! Praise God for that. It's very encouraging to hear! Please keep this ministry in your prayer. They are looking for teachers for next Fall...so if you're a single female and is interested in serving the Lord in Japan.....then feel free to ask me about it! Or check out the link: http://www.efcc.ca/index.cfm?pageID=122

My mother learned how to use skype! My brother and I never thought our mother would go near a computer..but she did it! Now we get to chat with each other...and see each other on the webcam!

We have an open-house party at my apartment in 10 days! A way to connect with our students. I'm looking forward to that! It'll be nice to chat with them outside of the classroom and church setting :) Hoping to make this into a more regular event... maybe once a month...or twice? Time to pick up the Japanese language. But body gestures are great too!

Everything is great here :) I'm healthy and happy! Weather is still good..gets a bit chilly every now and then but better than Toronto on any given day.


We had a tacoyaki party :) Don't worry guys, I'll buy the mold and make it for you when I'm home! It's basically batter with a lot of other things like ginger, onions, cabbage...and whatever you want to throw in there. We even put in chocolate at one point..... :|


Kristy and I made chocolate chip/banana "muffins" with the "oven setting" in the microwave. It turned out alright...looks kind of..."different" from the normal muffins we bake in the oven. But hey, I guess it's the effect of radiation! Ha..but here is the cross section of our deadly creation....eating half of it destroyed us.


I made fried rice...and cupped them (with a mold) into these shapes! Okay, it was my day off..so I had time to have fun with my food.


Some of my students :)

Alrighty, that's all for now. E-mail me if you want more details about how I'm doing in life...or in general..or if you just want to catch up :)