Mega Christmas Update Part Two

Merry Christmas!

It's 1:48am, Christmas Day, so it's Christmas here in Japan, but not yet in America. I suppose never before have the time zone implications for Santa been so real to me until now. Anyway, I should be off to bed, but.... MUST..... UPDATE.... BLOG....


Doesn't everyone look so lovely?! Last week, we had the end of the year Christmas party. This semi-formal event is the last event of the year, and in my opinion, one of the best. Here there were all the making of a good Christmas party; Christmas dinner, singing carols, games, gift exchange, and a Christmas message. Except here, the food was Japanese, the songs are sung in another language, and I couldn't understand most of the message. But hey, what do you expect?!

Although, I could only understand very little, I really enjoyed the message at the end. It is a tradition for Nagai-san to speak at the Christmas party about Christmas. While most of us don't have to think twice, for some of the students, this was the first time that they had ever heard that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, or made the connection that "Christ" is found in the word Christmas.

And I got a cool clock as my white elephant gift! Score!!!

Mega Christmas Update Part One

Ok, so I haven't updated in a while, so now I have a lot to say, but I don't want to write too much, so I'll try and break it down into a couple entries. Things have been quite busy, so sorry for the lack of updates, but I'll try and make up for it.


So, here it is! The first ever Penn State reunion photo! All the students you see in this picture are every student that has studied at Penn State University, not including the ones that are there right now. Never have all these Japanese students been in one place at one time. It was pretty exciting. The event that this historical moment took place was a Christmas party that happened on the first of December. So, yeah, that's early for a Christmas party, and I am 19 days late to talk about it, but what can you do?

The party was a get together for Seniors and Alumni, and it was the first time I was able to see many of these students since I arrived in Japan. There were about 20 people that came, which was pretty impressive, since we all had to fit in Lighthouse, which is probably not designed to accommodate more than 10 comfortably. But we all fit, and we had a great time.

Later in the evening, we did a small group Bible discussion on the story of Christmas. Many Japanese have never heard about the true meaning of Christmas, and how it's actually a celebration of the birth of Jesus. In my small group of about 6, our discussion lead into the gospel message of Jesus, and talking about salvation through Christ. The thing that surprised me the most was it seemed that it was the first time that the people in my group had ever heard an explanation of the gospel. Since, these were all upperclassmen and alumni, I assumed that this wouldn't be the first time for them to hear this, but my impression was that it was... Perhaps, it was just the first time to go into detail. My hope is that it will open the door for further discussion down the road.

It was a very positive evening, and a great time that I got to spend with friends that I had not seen in a long time.

It's feels really cold in Shizuoka

Central heat is not a luxury bestowed upon Joyhouse, and for that reason it is absolutely frigid right now. I have a heater in my room, so I can use it when it gets horribly cold, but it's not like I can just leave it on all the time. Anyway, I suppose having a freezing house in winter is just one of those cultural differences that takes some getting used to...

But, on the topic of Joyhouse, meet my roomates:

From left to right: Daichan, Sugi, Ryosuke, Me

And yes, you are correct! We are all wearing the same clothes. They are sport jerseys. It's probably a little hard to read, but each jersey says "Joyhouse". It's the first time a joyhouse group has done this, and everyone in BEST club thinks they're really cool. We may even have started a tradition of generations of Joyhouse uniforms! Who knows, but it's a cool reminder of the friendship we all have together.

I'm really happy to be living with them. Not only have they made my transition easier, but we get to spend a lot of time together, and share a lot with each other. I couldn't have asked for better roommates.

Young Laborers Conference

So, this past weekend, I traveled to Tokyo for the annual Young Laborers conference. It is a conference for the Japanese student Christians in the various BEST clubs in Japan. Since there are very few Japanese Christians in Japan, let alone student Christians, it is a great time of fellowship and encouragement for them, and also for staff, like me.

It's unfortunate that there were no students from Shizuoka BEST that could attend. Utsunomia BEST has quite a few Japanese Christians in their club, and it was fun to meet them. Since as of now, there are no student Christians here in Shizuoka, it was really encouraging to interact and talk with Christians that can share their experiences about what it is like to live as a Christian in a Japanese culture. I think it also helped to start to have a vision for what Shizuoka BEST can become, and how God can work in the lives of our students as well.

The picture is of our small group for the weekend. Each morning we would do a small Bible study. One of the joys of being in a foreign country is that, because the mind of the Japanese thinks differently, the discussion that comes up in a Bible study is so refreshingly different. There is nothing more humbling and exciting than hearing a perspective about a passage that I would never have thought of, or have thought in my many years of doing Bible studies.

And I had to take the train (actually trains) home by myself! NIGHTMARE! Specifically, a 5 hour nightmare! I realize now that the feeling is akin to that of a two year old trying to take public transportation from Philadelphia to NY by himself. (In terms of communication level and ability) ...but I made it. I thank God for my nominal Japanese... -_-

totally gangsta

...so I now belong to a rap group.

Just joking! This is actually a photo edit that I did for fun last week. Marifu, who goes by the alias "2.fu" in this image, had her birthday last week. Marifu happens to typically wear some ubercool sunglasses, so we decided to take a photo with her all wearing our own glasses. Ma-chan, aka "spectrum", forgot to bring sunglasses, so a pair was drawn on his face... (not my idea!) It was washable, I think...

So, it was a pretty special party for her. I think she really felt loved by all of us, her friends. For the cake, I made a strawberry cheesecake, which was a huge success. I think it's pretty hard to impress Japanese with American style desserts, because they tend to be too sweet for their taste, but they loved it. But seriously, I probably spent over a half an hour crouched in front of the over with my dictionary trying to figure out what all the buttons did, before I was able to preheat the darn thing!!! None of my roommates were home, so it was quite the challenge. I don't take anything for granted anymore, even something as simple as intuitively knowing how to work an oven....

And Aileen is the one on the left of the photo. She's not actually posing. She is from California, so she just always naturally looks that cool! : )

Daidogei World Cup = Amazing

The Daidogei World Cup is a festival that is held every year in Japan. Performers and comedian and acts from all over the world come to Shizuoka to show their talent. Of course it's only the best, not just any ol' person can do a show. Everything from juggling, to comedy, to dancing, to the ridiculously bizarre!!!

So, rather than tell you how awesome it was, I can show you. This is a video of one of the juggling acts that I saw. The video speaks for itself. If you have ever seen anything more impressive than this, than please let me know, because this is the tops in my book!



[Here is the direct link if the movie does not play]

And, actually this wasn't my favorite. That award goes to a comedy routine that I saw. I didn't record it, because I was to busy laughing! It was a Japanese guy and an American that did silly gag comedy, and strange tricks. It was the funniest thing I have seen in years. More funny than I can describe here, but you can take my word for it. I was only able to go on the last day in the afternoon, but next year, I am going to go for a whole day! Maybe even two! All I can say is "WOW"!

It's Halloween!

Ok, so in Japan they do not celebrate Halloween, but that doesn't mean we can't have a Halloween party! So for English time this week, we carved a pumpkin, and played some Halloween games. As you can see, we didn't make costumes. There is actually a costume party in the summer that takes that privilege. But none of the students had ever carved a pumpkin before, so it was a fun first experience for them. And actually a Japanese pumpkin is totally different than a pumpkin that you are probably used to. Quite delicious, but not the same.

And some of you may not know Mandy, she is the non Japanese looking one on my right. We were on the same flight here together, and we were on the same summer team two years ago, so we know each other pretty well. We will also both be here for two years. And the tall guy in the back is Brian. He is here in Japan long term, and has been in Shizuoka for about two years, I think, and has been in Japan for much longer than that. Technically speaking, he would be my Navigators superior here in Japan, but in actuality, our relationship is a lot more casual than his title would presume. But he is the guy that is in charge of most of the activities, and we get to spend a lot of time together, since he is the only other American, Christian guy here in Shizuoka. So, you'll probably hear about him a lot. And I'll point out Aileen when she shows up in a photo. She is the other midtermer here in Japan. She has been here for over one year.

Maybe some some more info would be good

So, I want to try and be able to write as much as I can. Preferably about once a week or so. But certainly there will be times when that won't be possible.

Oh, and perhaps you should check and see if your computer can display Japanese. Here is a test:
-(あいうえおアイウエオ)-

So if that looks like squares and/ or random characters, then you can't display Japanese correctly. You can add support under Control Panel>Regional Language Settings. Well, I think anyway. That's for PC, but I am using a Mac, so I can't really check. I probably won't be typing that much Japanese anyway, because no one can read it....

Anyway, we traveled to Hamamatsu to visit the Hamamatsu BEST club and attend their barbecue and sports day. Japanese barbecue is nothing like American barbecue except for maybe the fact that fire is involved... We ate yakiniku and yakisoba, which probably means nothing to most of you, but you should prepare yourself now for lost of Japanese words that don't have a direct translation. In short, yakiniku is barbecued beef and/ or pork, and yakisoba is fried noodles with vegetables and meat. It's pretty much one of the most delicious things ever when it is done at a barbecue.

Things still feel kinda awkward, because I can't speak very much Japanese, so it is harder to start building relationships at this point, but the students are very excited to have us there, and it's only been maybe a week, so I'm really just meeting many of them for the first time. I've also realized that I am totally out of shape...

I have arrived!

So, after a massive delay on my flight to Japan, I have finally arrived in Japan. Right now, it seems like I am doing a lot, but it's probably because I am becoming adjusted to living in Japan again. Compared to my home in Pennsylvania, the time here is 13 hours ahead, which is a brutal adjustment for jet lag. So, because of that, things just feel like they take a lot longer, and are more taxing on my body than I would normally be used to. Something simple like going to the supermarket, is right now terribly taxing, but it will surely get better with time.

But on a more positive note, my reception, along with Mandy's, has been very positive and warm. It is the was the very beginning of the semester, when I arrived here on October 1st, so things are just getting started, and there are a lot of new students to meet. Because it has been two years since I have been here last, many of the students I knew from before have graduated, and the freshman and sophomores from my summer two years ago are now Juniors and Seniors, and are preparing to enter the working world. I am the first midterm missionary guy in Shizuoka to come in a long time, so I've heard that many of the guys are excited to have an American guy around that will stay for a long time.

I am excited to be living in the home dubbed as "Joyhouse". It is fairly large for a Japanese home, but I am living with 3 other Japanese guys. Sugi, Dai-chan, and Ryosuke are all people that I know from before, and both Sugi and Ryosuke have studied English at Penn State University for one year; the university that I graduated from. All of them speak English well, which is great for me until I start my Japanese lessons. I couldn't ask for better housemates.