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.