Doncha just hate it...

when somebody starts a blog and then just lets it sit there, un-updated, for just ages. Yeah, I hate that too! But I can attest that it happens so easily, and on my part it wasn't intentional.

Here I am back again. Hoping that all of you readers are still with me. The picture at left is of a flower shop in Ichikawa, resplendent with cyclamen, orchids, and we spotted a few daffodils and tulips in the mix too.

I spotted the photo op on the way back from a free concert of the Ensemble Ichikawa Orchestra on the Emperor's birthday, which is a national holiday here. It was a family concert, so we heard "Peter and the Wolf" and some Disney movie themes along with "You Raise Me Up" and others.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and in addition to the year 2009, Thursday will be the first day of year 21 of the current Emperor's reign in Japan. Many documents are dated using the Emperor's year rather than the years since Christ's birth. Dates are normally written with the year first in Japan, then the month and the day. Working in a mission where many are from other places where they put the day then the month then the year, it's safer to write 30-Dec-08 which is what I try to remember to do.

'Twas the Sunday before Christmas...

Here the children from Grades 1-3 are practicing before their performances at the church today.

We had a special service and a celebration afterwards. One of the members had friends visiting who were from Hong Kong, presently living in Switzerland, and had them sit next to me in what I like to call the "Japanese Language Impaired Section" of the church. Right at the back where sometimes someone is available to give English or sometimes German or Chinese interpretation of the Prayers and the pastor's sermon. Gareth did an admirable job of interpreting into English today.

After the service we went downstairs to the fellowship hall and had a lunch together and were entertained by two different groups of children. Then each person was given a wrapped present. They were of all different shapes and sizes. We were then given elaborate instructions to pass them, in an orderly fashion ,while singing "Silent Night" in Japanese, to the person on our left, passing a gift at the end of each line with our left hand and accepting another gift from the person on our right with our right hand. At the conclusion of the song we were allowed to open the gift in our right hand.

After the presents each person who had a birthday this month, or who had been baptized in December was asked to come to the front. I think there were close to twenty people who each stated their name and birth/baptismal date. We then sang "Happy Birthday" to that person.

We sang some carols together and as had been announced at the beginning of the program we were dismissed with prayer at 2:00 pm.

Pookette

Introducing...Pookette, the newest member of my electronic communications family. Ta Daaaa

Cell phones in Japan are called Keitai, and this one is utterly amazing. OMF'ers are encouraged to get a phone from a company called Soft Bank so we can call each other at no charge. Ruth and I went to Akihabara aka Electric City yesterday and found this jewel. Not only is it a classy shade of metallic mauve, I can use it as an mp4 player, camera, video camera, and television. Crazy. Of course, it can communicate with my computer, and that's where the name came from. My original laptop's name is Pookie, my newer netbook is Pookie Jr so, it just naturally follows, doesn't it...Pookette.

Sushi Party

Ikura, Ika, Maguro, Ebi, Bream, I don't really know much Japanese, but I do know food words.

Was invited to a sushi party yesterday. We were celebrating some missed birthdays and comings and goings of people in the group.

When the food was gone we watched a skating exhibition and a Japanese historical drama on television. Episodes of the drama have been running since the first of the year, and this was the end of the story with bunches of flashbacks. It covered the transition from the Edo Period to the Meji Era. At the end there were previews of a new drama starting in early January. It was great to have a mixture of Japanese and foriegners watching together. Translation and commentary were plentiful.

December flower

Cyclamen is prominent beside Poinsettias and Christmas Cactus, in shades of pink, rose, red, lavender and purple.

Stubby-chan

I'd like to introduce you to the Guest Home Cat. Stubby-chan came to the Aylings when they supervised the Hostel at Chefoo School in Hokkaido. She has made each move with them as they worked their way to the Ichikawa Guest Home.

I was her mistress for the year that Gareth and Ruth were on Home Assignment before they took over the Guest home in 2002. She has not seen me for four years. On the evening I arrived she sat in my lap quite happily, although she has not come up to see me in my room. Sachiko-san says Stubby remembers me, but being a cat, it's not very important to her.

The Autumn Leaves

The little maple out in front of the Guest Home is showing some lovely colors. The leaves have also started to fall. In Japan, each property owner takes responsibility for the sidewalk and or street adjacent to their building. In many neighborhoods in the early morning the women come out to sweep, and to socialize, sharing the latest news of the day.

It can be a way for foriegners to show willingness to help with the work in the neighborhood and to begin to understand how this society functions.

Jet Lag

As I attempt to recover from subjecting my body and mind to a trans Pacific flight, I look from the window of my room at the Guest Home and see the houses across the street. Boxes for flowers; umbrellas drying in the sun to discourage mildew. The Mercedes belongs to Dr. Ando the dentist.

I am more amazed by how much has stayed the same here than by the changes. The 100 yen shops are still in the same places. At the bakery they are still rolling things like nori seaweed into yeast rolls and baking them. (Not too bad, really.)

Down to the Wire

'Bye, friends from the Missionary Activity Group at Living Word. (at right) 'Bye, friends at church and school and neighbors. 'Bye, family and friends I've known since High School, (Oh, yeah, there's only one of them.) 'Bye, car and driving on Rte. 19. 'Bye, America.

Take care of things till I get back.

Welcome to Willow Moon who has joined my followers. Glad to have you. Thanks for your prayers. Jamie Marie, that is such an interesting picture. You'll have to explain it to me sometime. And your blog, is it all in Japanese? You are so bright!

Talk to you all soon from Ichikawa City!

Send off, etc.

It was a lovely day yesterday, dispite dark skies and intermittent showers. I was commissioned in the later morning service and with many others in the evening service, gave a short testimony of God's continuing Mercy,Grace, Love and Adoption (bullet points from the morning's sermon.) Afterward we had a fun time of fellowship and food. Many many thanks to everyone who participated and contributed. I carried my camera around all day and constantly forgot to take pictures, so you'll just have to imagine. (I will work on doing a better job of photo documentation. It should be easier in Japan where everyone takes pictures of everything all the time.)

A couple interesting things from yesterday: It is common when you go to work in missions for people to relate to their own experience. I am often asked if I know of a certain person who worked/works in Japan. I almost never do. So, imagine my surprise when one of our Canadian Snowbirds showed me a brochure from a conference they had there last summer and asked if the people in the picture looked familiar, and I saw David and Rosemary Harley! They were former International Directors of OMF during some of the time I was in Japan. They stayed at the Guest Home a couple of times, and we became acquainted. Then, one of our newly elected church board members asked me if I knew a missionary in Japan named Ralph Clatworthy. Yes! Ralph and his wife Miho serve with OMF in Hatazawa, Japan. Some days the world does seem a little smaller.

Back from Homosassa

Had a lovely Thanksgiving Day and following at my sister and brother-in-law's home. Lots of good food and good friends to share it with. Even made a farewell visit to Howard's Flea Market. Paul's walking pretty well now and only has another six weeks or so to wear the brace.

Came back home this morning and Cathy and Paul followed shortly so they could pick up some things I needed them to keep for me while I'm away. I've been doing laundry since then and setting up Skype and rearranging files on my computer. Lots of dusting and putting away yet to do.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, tomorrow is my commissioning at Living Word and after the evening service (6 pm) there will be a sending off social at the church. Everyone's welcome but I understand that those of my friends who live at a distance will not be able to make it. (Like you, Jurg, in Switzerland.)

I can't bear to count the days left till I leave. It's coming so quick.

Thanksgiving Eve

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the US. It may be the last time I see a turkey for a while. Hard to say. I will be spending the day with family and friends at my sister's house. I will also be staying over till Saturday since it is my last visit with them for a while. I'm avoiding all the Black Friday mess too. The things people do to obtain their "things" is amazing and at best a bit extreme.

I am thankful for being able, at long last, to go back to Japan. I'm also thankful for all the things it took to get me to this point. They say that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I'm thankful for friends old and new, and that things are finally sliding into place for this trip.

Today I cancelled the newspaper and my telephone service, filed change of address with several entities. I mailed calendars to people I won't see before I go and took some things over to the church for the Mission Activity Group and got the newspapers to the recycling bin.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Remember to count your blessings!

Ten Days and Counting (Yikes!)

Well, here it is, the Mary Engelbreit messenger bag, complete with the computer and CD reader inside. The two little sayings among the pictures are: "Always take the scenic route" and "To the ends of the Earth!" It holds all the computer necessities nicely.

At the moment I'm feeling particularly overwhelmed. I think I didn't get enough sleep last night. I slept well, just not long enough. I will try to remedy that tonight. I also think I need to take care of the "necessary" at this point and forget about the things I wanted to do before I left that will pretty much be here when I get back. I need to make a new list. Please pray for my peace of mind. When I think of how unprepared I was in 1999 and 2000 I know that I am way better off this trip. I guess I think about how much older I am this trip. You know the old saying - Age is just mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

No, air conditioner repair today. They didn't find the part till afternoon so I'm scheduled for first thing tomorrow.

Bits and Pieces

Yesterday I stayed home to wait for the Air Conditioner repair guy. The day before one of my neighbors told me that she was glad the hot weather was over and I should be too, because of the terrible noise my AC made. You know, I knew it was making a kind of banging noise when it shut down, but I thought It always did it, so I wasn't too fussed. Turns out it's a bad compressor motor. The part had to be ordered, so it looks like I'll be staying home Monday too.

I looked up baggage charges on Continental Airlines last night. Two bags no more than 62 linear inches (H+L+D) no more than 50 pounds each go free on International flights. One carry on 45" and no more than 40 pounds and one personal item like a purse. That is actually less than I have ever taken. The rule used to be two bags at 70 pounds each and I always had at least that.

I started a bag to carry my new computer and external drive and connecting wires and whatever. I had gotten a collection of Mary Englebreit cottons in a travel theme several years ago with some kind of travel tote in mind. When I saw the March Tilton for Vogue pattern I had that had a couple views of messenger bags, I knew that was what I wanted. I'll try to get a photo up when it's done. I have all the parts cut out and the interfacings. Time to start it soon.

Saturdays are always such drab days on the email front. Makes me think everyone is out doing something interesting. I'm usually home doing laundry and cleaning or sewing.

If you are checking in here, don't forget to leave me a message!

Two Weeks To Go

Gretchen mentioned this place to me yesterday. It's in the Ueno area of Tokyo. It is a lake which is totally covered in Lotus plants. I was amazed that the Lotus has such huge leaves. I guess I had pictured some delicate small plant for whatever reason. These are quite sturdy.

I've made some strides in the area of packing and organizing. I still need to lay all the clothes out and eliminate those I likely will not wear and be sure I have clothes for all the occaisons I can imagine.

For those of you in the area, my commissioning at church will be on Sunday, November 30 at the 10:45am service. I will be giving a short testimony at the 6:00pm service as well. (Living Word Church, 5151 Rowan Road, New Port Richey-Come on by if you can) I have only two Sundays left at church. After that, Lord willing, I will be worshipping with my other church family in Ichikawa City.

One Good Thing

One good thing about having had this trip postponed from late August to now is that I spent some time over the summer getting ready and getting my house ready. So, even though I had gone back to living in my house rather than just packing it up, some of the basic things I had gotten ready have stayed that way.

Yesterday I went for a Sayonara visit to my Doctor, who has always been in favor of my going to Japan, and my BP was 110/70 and in fact he couldn't think of anything negative to say.

The next couple of days I am being taken out for meals by several different people and in between times I continue to clean and do things like apply for travel insurance.

Even though I know it intellectually, it will be difficult to become accustomed to the differentness of living in Japan, and being bigger than most everyone I come in contact with.

(Picture of a little girl dressed in yukata for a summer festival, from my collection of photos from 2004.)

Keeping Things in Perspective

Today when I got to the point of wanting to print something from an email I realized that even if there are other ways to get along without an optical drive with this new computer, I might as well bite the bullet and look at an external CD/DVD drive. I could have gone to the HP website and looked for the printer model I have, and probably could have managed to download the program to the computer. I opted to go shopping instead.

I knew that I wanted a unit that was smaller than the computer itself. Some of the boxes were bigger than the box the computer came in. I managed to find a compact one, but it does more things than I will ever ask it to do. Hopefully I'm set now. Now, where did I put that CD for the printer...

Jealousy

It's a good thing inanimate objects don't have the capacity for jealousy. My new computer has arrived and it is just sooooo cute, that if it were possible, my faithful old Dell would be turning green!

Oh my! it is tiny, and portable. This one won't slow me down at all in the airport, or any where else. It comes with a camera and a microphone and Skype already installed. WooHoo.

I think the keyboard is small, but I think I might get used to it fairly easily. After all, it's way bigger than a telephone keyboard, and I'll have to get used to that soon too.

Yesterday was my last day at Cotee River. Ms K got up at dark thirty to make me chocolate cake with fudgy frosting and whipped cream between the numerous layers. (She's a keeper.)

I sent everyone my email address and how to get here, so unless they are incredibly laz.., I mean, blogphobic, lots of them should be leaving me messages and signing on to be followers real soon!

Don't just read, laugh and move on, leave some tracks!

Welcome !

Come on along with me as I make my fourth trip to Japan! Only three weeks till my departure date and lots of things to do before then. Friday, November 14 is my last day at Cotee River and I'm hoping lots of my friends there will follow along with my adventures and keep me up to date on what they're doing while I'm away.

Please feel free to leave me a message in the comments section or send me an email directly. I will still be sending out periodic letters to my supporters and to my band of prayer warriors. This blog is a place where I can record day to day happenings and send out pictures of what I'm seeing and doing. I hope you'll find it enjoyable.

The path you see in this picture is the way from the church (The Chapel of Adoration) to the OMF International Japan Headquarters building and the Guest Home where I'll be working. This picure was taken in 2004 when I was there last, so no doubt there have been changes. That's always one of the difficult things going back to a place where you have spent signifigant time. Things change, people change, buildings come down and others go up. I'm fortunate to have a core group of friends and coworkers to return to in this instance. It won't take long to get used to the other things that are different now.

So, come along, be sure you have your good walking shoes and open your mind to new sights, new sounds, new tastes. Japan, here we come!