A Quick Re-cap and a Video – on Ice

I’m going away on Sunday and Monday, to Hamamatsu. Hopefully I’ll have some fun stories or pictures or something to share. In the meantime, here’s a video:

Ice Sculpting Contest in Nagoya, Japan. Specifically at Oasis 21. I came upon it after leaving Starbucks and shot some video on my cell phone. Probably the video quality doesn’t do it justice, but it was pretty impressive in person.

Thanks to those who commented on the previous post. Feel free to add your two cents if you haven’t already, and maybe I’ll come back to it with a follow-up sometime. For the record, I’m not worried about my future or anything; just curious to see how things will all pan out for us all, economically, and what that means for people like me.

I have been feeling a bit de-motivated, tired and distracted the past couple of days, though. I think I just need to re-adjust to school again and get back into a groove. Sometimes vacations don’t seem worth it. Anyway, prayers are appreciated; it’s going to be a busy next couple of weeks.

See you next week. That’s a wrap for now.

Quick Re-Cap

It’s Saturday evening at about 6:35 PM. I haven’t left my apartment all day. And it’s been great. I did some much-needed house-cleaning, some reading, watched some Lost, and generally just relaxed. I may do some drawing tonight, too. A good day of rest.

It’s much easier to relax now than it was about a week ago. This week was the last of the semester, so I’ve been pre-occupied with trying survive the big final exam. Took the exam Thursday. Found out yesterday that I — and everyone else — passed. Thanks, everyone who’s been praying for me!

So now I’ve got two weeks without any classes. This time I’m staying in Nagoya and getting some work done, as well as studying so I’ll be prepared for the next level when it starts after the break. I’m planning a long weekend trip to Osaka for the first weekend in October, but other than that, this is not vacation time, just a really nice change of pace and a chance to catch my breath a little.

October’s just around the corner. I think it’ll be a busy month. Not only do I start J-2 in Japanese school, but I’ve got a preaching opportunity in Gifu and a ministry trip to Hamamatsu (I think that’s the name) with a bunch of people from my church.

Should be fun times. Thanks for sharing the journey with me here on the blog.

Another Random Re-Cap

Other than my latest Newsletter, I’ve been pretty quiet on here since coming back from my August Adventures. So I thought I’d take a few minutes and tell you what’s going on and what’s on my mind. So here, in point form, it is:

1. I don’t know if it’s my connection, my computer, my browser or the files themselves — or myself for that matter — but there seems to be something wrong with my Newsletters. Someone told me there were having trouble viewing it, so I checked it out, and I can’t seem to view or download it either. Anyone else having this problem? Let me know if you are. Maybe I need to re-think how I post them.

2. It’s the end of the semester for me, meaning this week and next are heavy on studies and tests. My interview / speaking test is on Friday, and “the big one” (the final exam) is next Thursday, the 18th. If you’re a pray-er, please pray.

3. I’m still planning to post some photos and stuff from the summer. So do check back soon.

4. I have a huge new desk in my room (actually it’s not new, I just swapped my small wooden desks — yes 2 — for this one big one that was being stored elsewhere in the church). It’s one of those big metal kind that are so common here in Japan. I read somewhere that these things first came to Japan with the Allied forces at the end of the World War Two. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I could certainly believe they are of military origin. This thing’s built like tank!

5. Because of the new desk, there’s been lots of re-arranging going on. I moved the desk in on the weekend, and my apartment’s still a mess now. Actually my room looks quite a bit different now, between this and several other little changes over the past several months. I’ll have to post a new video sometime.

6. I’m pretty excited about a few potential opportunities coming my way: First, there are a couple of possible short-term missions teams coming here next year. I’m really hoping at least one of them works out. And, I may have a new cartooning gig coming my way. But that’s about all I can say about either of these things right now. Still, pretty cool. Trust me.

7. I’m planning a dinner party. Hmmm… “Dinner party” makes it sound fancier than it will be, so let’s call it “having some guys over to eat and hang out.” I want to introduce my non-Christian English/Bible student to some of my Japanese Christian friends. It should be a fun time of making connections and planting spiritual seeds.

8. I’m reading the Biography of Hudson Taylor… Wow. I’m pretty early into it but I’m sure I’ll get a lot out of it. He was a man of prayer and a man of action, and I could stand to be a lot more of a man of both.

Eight is enough.

Good night.

Hmm… Weekly Re-Cap?

I almost forgot to do this this week. Not sure it would be much of a loss. Most weeks I spend a lot of time studying, and these days even more. So… it’s hard to think of stuff to write.

This coming Monday’s another fairly big test. Please pray…

In other news, I’m off to Tokyo next weekend for a meeting on Saturday. I’m planning on leaving Friday after class and staying through till Sunday evening. Should be a fun gettaway, and a good chance to connect with some fellow M’s.

I may not post a re-cap next week, or if I’m going to keep doing them. And with studies getting heavier I may not post as much other stuff either. But I do have some stuff lined up to automatically post, so do keep coming back. Hopefully I’ll find the time to post some fresh stuff soon enough.

That’s a wrap.

Weekly Re-Cap

I had a good time in Gifu last weekend. Did a testimony and played/sang some tunes. Thanks to everyone who prayed. There were a bunch of unchurched folks at the service, and everyone made me feel really welcome and like the guest of honour.

Meanwhile, back here in Nagoya, my own church’s outreach service was going down Sunday afternoon. Apparently there were a good bunch of visitors here too.

I got back to Nagoya later in the afternoon, and the outreach was over, but lots of people were still lingering. Some of the kids ran to greet me as I approached the building, and I stuck around to chat with a few people before going to my room. It really felt like “coming home”, which is a good feeling, considering I’m so far from my “home-home”.

Studies continue to get more difficult, and I’ve really got to buckle down over the next few weeks. Still got some catching up to do. It’s been a tiring week, and I’m looking forward to getting some rest over the weekend — as well doing housecleaning and stuff that’s piled up from being away (woohoo).

That’s a wrap.

Weekly Re-Cap

But first: Hey, check out the podcast survey below!

And… I just sent out an email to my prayer partners and got about 22 failure notices. This is after I deleted a bunch of dead email addresses from the list a few months ago. So if you signed up for the list but haven’t gotten anything lately, and you’d still like to, please CLICK HERE to sign up again. Then make sure your spam blockers are set to receive stuff from my address (japancanada [at] gmail.com). Thanks.

Now, on with the re-cap…

This week was a busy week of mostly studies. As I said last week, I needed to back up and work on developing some good study habits. Well, I’m definitely improving in this area, though I’m sure I have a ways to go too. I’ve been getting up early (around 6 most days) so that I can spend about an hour before class studying; this helps. In the afternoon or evening I spend about 2 hours doing homework and reviewing/previewing stuff. The new stuff is sinking in a little better, I think. On the other hand, I had a Kanji reading test yesterday that didn’t go so well. Still some catching up to do in that area.

Monday’s big grammer/reading/listening test (yes, yet another one already) will be a good… well, “test” of how far I’ve come and how far I have to go.

This weekend I’m off to nearby Gifu, where I’ll be doing ministry Sunday morning. I’m doing a short testimony and a couple of songs in an evangelistic service. Meanwhile, back here in Nagoya, my own church is having a musical outreach event of their own. If you think of it, please pray for these meetings.

That’s it for this week here at JapanLog. Next week I’ll try to bring an update from the weekend doin’s, along with some other fun stuff. In the meantime, I hope you all have a great weekend, wherever you are.

Weekly Re-Cap

This week…

1. I found out how I did on last week’s big test. It was pass, but not nearly as good as I’d have liked. I’m also kind of weak on my kanji and vocabulary. It was a bit of a wake-up call — I need to take it up a notch, and put in some extra time studying. So this week I’ve been working on building some good study habits. I need to study about 3 hours a day just to keep up. To catch up, maybe more. I’ve put some other stuff on the back burner, at least until I get caught up.

2. For some reason, after Wednesday night prayer meeting this week it struck me afresh just how much I love my church. Have I ever mentioned that? The people here just really enjoy being together, and that makes me enjoy being around them. Though the church is on the conservative side, I don’t get the impression that it’s legalistic. And these people really love the Lord and want to reach others with His love.

3. It’s the rainy season, but today’s weather has been beautiful. So much so, in fact, that I may just go back out for a while, and take my camera, before it gets dark. I love the weekend…

And that’s a wrap for this week.

Weekly Re-Cap

Thoughts on the week…

1. Too many tests! I had a big one yesterday, and lots of not-so big ones literally every day. We’ve come to the end of the first textbook, which means it’s all-new stuff from here. Which means I should add about an hour to my daily study routine.

2. We have a late-night prayer meeting tonight from 10 till midnight, focusing on an upcoming outreach event.

3. Youth thing tomorrow afternoon: a planning, praying thing.

4. The weather’s been pretty yucky most of the week — it’s the rainy season, after all — but today’s super nice.

5. I don’t have much to say today, and should get some other stuff done. So… meh.

Weekly Re-Cap

It seems like it was a pretty quiet week, but here’s a look at school and life here this week, such as it was…

School is moving along quickly, though. In fact, we’re getting into stuff I don’t really know that well and by the end of the week will be starting a new textbook.

This week we learned the “plain form” of Japanese speech — what you would use in daily, casual conversations with family and friends. You’d think that the plain form would be easy, but no, this is Japanese, so of course not. The plain form actually uses bits and pieces from various tenses and forms and so it’s not so simple after all.

Yesterday I almost missed my English Bible class. I was sitting in a cafe with some school friends, having just finished lunch, when I received a text message on my phone: it was from my student, telling me he was running late. Ironically, I’d completely forgotten we were meeting and had to rush out of the cafe and catch the train from Sakae Station to Nagoya Station, probably about 10 minutes later than my student. In spite of my forgetfulness and lateness — and thus unpreparedness — we had a good time together anyway.

Today my class — actually all 3 full-time classes — had a day out instead of a Japanese lesson. We went to the Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum to do pottery. It was fun, and I made a HUGE coffee mug, which will come in very handy on many early mornings.

And now it’s the weekend. And I’m glad. And that’s a wrap for this week.

Weekly Re-Cap

It’s Saturday morning, and I’m taking it slow and easy. It’s been a full week, and it seems I’ve not spent a lot of time at home. Or when I was home I was studying. So today I’m staying in. All day. It’ll be nice to relax, but I’ve also got housecleaning and blogging to do. So here’s the blogging — a look back at some of what kept me so busy this week:

1. School — We’re getting into the stuff I’m not as familiar with. I also have some catching up to do on my vocabulary. You can say a lot with just basic grammar, but you need the vocabulary to plug into it.

2. English Bible study — Monday I met with my student this week for the first time in a while. We’ll be making some minor changes to the structure of our lessons to help him get more out of it. And to help me get more out of it, too, as he’s paying me by helping me with my Japanese. We’re planning to each do some writing (journaling) in the target language and then go over it when we get together. We’ll still be working our way through the book of Mark, too.

3. Tuesday the Watoto Children’s Choir was in town. Wow.

4. Wednesday I finally met my “boss” — GP Asia area director Romy Caringal. I took the day off of school to host him, show him around, introduce him to people, and get him to the airport on time. It was a good but busy day.

5. Thursday I had to stay late after class to take the test I’d missed on Wednesday. I think I did okay. I also had extra homework, of course.

6. Yesterday afternoon I met up with a friend to go see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian. I thought it was pretty good, and overall a good adaptation of the book. I didn’t think it was as good as the first movie, though, and it felt like they changed more from the book while at the same time not explaining a few things as well.

7. After the movie my friend and I went to the home of a family from our church, where several of us gathered for a dinner party. It was a good time, but with so much Japanese it was tiring too, and of course I missed a lot of the conversation. Still, it’s good to be building relationships here and being made to feel a part of things.

And that’s a wrap for another week. Happy weekend, wherever you are.

Weekly Re-Cap

Here’s some stuff going through my head tonight, and in my life this week, in no particular order:

1. Now that I’ve been learning Kanji for a few weeks now, I find myself recognizing — and actually knowing the meaning of — kanji I see in the real world. It’s pretty cool to suddenly notice stuff that’s been there all along but I just didn’t understand.

2. Speaking of understanding, sometimes when trying to communicate with people here, I’m not sure if it’s them not understanding me or if it’s me not understanding them. It’s a little bewildering at times.

3. My friend just text-messaged me inviting me to go see the new Narnia movie with him this coming week. I’m stoked. But it may be a busy week, so it may or may not actually happen. We’ll see.

4. I’ve been debating for a while about getting an electronic Japanese-English / English-Japanese dictionary. Pretty handy — even necessary — if you’re studying Japanese. After some research, I opted to buy a Nintendo DS instead, along with their dictionary software, KANJI SONOMAMA DS RAKUBIKI JITEN — both of which I just ordered tonight from Amazon Japan. The system and the cartridge together cost less than a lot of the dictionaries you see around Japan. And of course the DS has the added bonus of game play.

5. My boss — GP Asia area director Romy Caringal — is coming to Japan this weekend, and I’ll finally get to meet him in person when he visits Nagoya next week. That’ll be cool.

6. This past Sunday, our church had our morning service outside — at a burial site. We were actually inside this big tomb thing where on the upper levels people’s bones are. It was a Christian tome, so rather unlike the typical Japanese one, but still seemed an odd place for a Sunday morning service. But that’s contextualization. As someone explained to me (as I understood it), in Japanese religious traditions there is a great deal of respect — even veneration or worship — for the dead, and a criticism against Christianity is a lack of respect for the dead and their tombs. These kinds of services are a response to that. Only unlike the Buddhist or Shinto versions, we remember — not worship — the dead. And we remember with hope, not mourning.

And that’s a wrap for this week.

Weekly Re-Cap

Golden Week was this past week here in Japan. It’s a cluster of holidays that all happen within the same week. This year, one of the holidays was last Tuesday, two were this week (Monday and Tuesday), and one landed on Saturday (boo). If people are going to use vacation time in Japan (and oddly enough, it’s not a given that one would actually use one’s vacation time), Golden Week is often when it happens.

Since it was Golden Week, I had Monday and Tuesday off — no classes. So I took off to Osaka on Friday afternoon, to visit friends in my Japanese “hometown”. I got caught up with friends, ate some great yaki-niku, did some sight-seeing (more on that another day), even went to a movie.

I got back late Monday night. Tuesday, since it was a holiday, our church hosted a missions festival. Also a good time. Then in the evening, after an already full day, I went out: A worship band called Audacious (from the UK) was in town and there was a worship concert going on. Also good.

Then came Wednesday, and it was back to school.

Ouch.

I feel like I could have used another day off just to stay at home and catch up on sleep. The holidays were a lot of fun, but I didn’t have much down time, alone, just to chill out. I’ve been looking forward to the weekend since Wednesday. I haven’t slept well, despite being tired.

But it’s Friday now.