Happy Boxing Day!

My Christmas tree

Well, Christmas is over here in Japan.  I think back when I was younger and heard that Santa was traveling around the world on Christmas eve to deliver presents, knowing what I know now, Santa could have skipped most of Japan and not be noticed by the population.  Christmas day in Japan is pretty much like any other working day.  The students go to school, the stores open on time and stay open until the regular closing time, the buses and the trains run on normal time, and doctor and dentists offices are open, everything runs like a regular normal day.  The stores do promote the idea of the Christmas season and there are Christmas carols playing in the stores and some restaurants.  It is weird to be walking through a hardware store in Japan and hear the Hallelujah Chorus in English.  
Boxing Day gave me the opportunity to go with Bette, Emily and Brandon on a Garden and Tea Ceremony tour in Tokyo.  We met at the Tokyo Government buildings and walked to Shinjuku Gyoen National Park.  We walked through the park looking at the different types of gardens, Japanese, English, and French as well as the greenhouse. 

Japanese garden

This building looks like the Empire State Building in contrast to the Japanese garden in the foreground.

You can tell the fish are fed by people, as soon as we stood by the pond, the fish all came swimming!

More of the Japanese garden

A Tiawanese building made with materials from Tiawan

English garden.  They tend to focus on lawns.  :)

French Garden

Another part of the French Garden

Very young bananas!

We took a couple of trains to hotel that had a typical Japanese tea room.  Before getting to the hotel, we popped into a temple and our tour guides showed us how they purify themselves and what they do when they go the temple.  When we arrived at the tea room, we also had to ceremoniously purify ourself, learn how to eat the sweet cake, and how to drink the tea.  Lots of things to learn.  They told us of the traditions associated with the tea ceremony.  I learned a lot. 

Temple where we stopped before going to the tea room.

Emily and Brandon sitting in the tea room.

The 4.5 tatami tea room.

Great Ministry!

 I thought I'd start with an updated picture of the plant.  It is really starting to bloom now.  Every day it seems more and more flowers are opening, non have fallen off yet.  I love the colour! 
It has only been three days since the beginning of the week, but to some degree it feels like it's been a whole week!  There have been a lot of things packed into these three days.  I'm glad I have officially begun the break and hopefully things will really start to slow down. 
Monday was an exciting day for me, as the grade seven class was involved in another ministry to three different nursing homes in Higashi Kurume.  One smaller group went to one home and spent the afternoon there singing and participating in various activities with the residents.  A larger group went to two other homes where they sang and shared the real story of Christmas.  When we went to shake hands or bow, some had tears.  It was quite moving! 

Grade seven students getting ready to sing and share.

A couple of the grade 7 teachers and some of the residents from the home.

More and more residents were showing up.

Some of the employees of the home were also there.

We are ready to start.

Afterwards we were able to go through and greet the residents.  Quite a moving experience for them and for our students.

We had a larger crowd at our second home we visited.  They were busy having snack when we came.

So, what are my plans for break you ask?  Well, I'm going to relax and rest up.  I do have some fun activities planned such as putting the bookcase together for my office, visiting with friends, writing some newsletters, getting my hair cut, some Hana sitting and I just made plans to go to see a movie.  I also plan to read a book, The Unseen Face of Japan by David C. Lewis.  I've started it already and it's interesting. 

Have you read this book?

I hope you all will have the opportunity to celebrate Christ's birth, whether it be with family or friends or even with people you do not know but can share the story of Christ's birth.  Merry Christmas!  Vrolijk Kerstfeest!  Feliz Navidad!  Joyeaux Noel! メリークリスマス(Merii Kurisumasu)!  

Last weekend before Christmas break!

Well, I am getting tired.  I am looking forward to the break, to be able to sleep in and rest my brain.  There have been a lot of things going on the last couple of weeks.  I am glad for the many good things, but it will be nice to be able to take some time to clean the house, go on a bicycle ride, sleep until I wake up... aaahhhh, I'm even looking forward to that more after writing it all down.  
Friday, December 13th was a busy day.  The grade six class had their Passover.  It is a great activity.  Pastor Teresa Sherrill (she has a daughter in grade six this year and is a pastor at West Tokyo Union Church) has volunteered to lead the Passover.  This year I took a larger amount of the bitter herbs (wasabi) than I intended and it did almost bring tears to my eyes!  

The tables are set.

One of the four cups, when we could sip the juice.

Washing of hands to symbolize the washing of feet.

Unleavened bread with haroset

The Fourth Cup

Friday evening there were a number of activities happening at CAJ.  We had the staff Christmas social.  It was a great spread of food, typical Christmas food like spiral ham but also a Japanese flavor of sushi.  Some of the staff entertained by singing Christmas carols.  It was a time of great food and great company.  
That evening there were two sporting events at CAJ, Varsity girls field hockey played The American School in Japan (ASIJ) and the Varsity boys basketball also played ASIJ.  There was also the Middle School Christmas Program.  This program is not as intense as the High School program, but it really is enjoyable to attend.  

Middle School Choir

Changing from a choir stage to a band stage.

Middle School Band

Saturday morning, the Middle School girls futsal teams traveled to ASIJ for a Jamboree.  We had four teams of girls playing in this tournament.  Each team was able to play seven - ten minute games.  The girls were pretty tired by the end of the seventh game.  They all did fairly well.  There were a few muscle strains and a twisted ankle by the end. 

ASIJ futsal fields

 The one thing I have been looking forward to is my cactus blooming.  I bought it with a number of buds. 

First day I bought it. 

This is what it looks like today.

It has started to flower, but there still are a number of buds that have not opened.  I think it may be a while before all the buds have flowered, which will allow me to enjoy the flowers even longer.  
I have enjoyed this weekend.  In the next couple of hours I will head to bed and rest up for the next two and a half days of school, with more activities planned.  Grateful for this season though and all that it means, Christ coming down to save us and we are able to look forward to Christ coming again! 

Advent and Futsal

It continues to be busy with a lot of things going on, as we have moved into the Advent season.  The campus at CAJ is beginning to look much more like Christmas is right around the corner.  The big tree is up in the Atrium and lights are up around the campus.  

Atrium Christmas Tree.

This past Friday evening what the Christmas Concert by the High School Music Department.  There were a lot of different performances with different choirs and different bands/orchestra.  We have it in the gym because it is a bigger space than our Auditorium.  

Audience begins to arrive.

Chairs are set out, decorations up and some of the band/orchestra beginning to get settled.

Handbells are ready.

I am amazed at the musical talent of the students who attend CAJ.  We were certainly blessed by the music lifted to praise God.  There was one audience participation song, the Hallelujah Chorus.  It was a great way to end the concert.  
During the winter season, I am assisting the Futsal coach.  Futsal is something like soccer, played on a smaller field.  Some of the rules aren't quite the same, but it's quick and fun for the girls.  Middle School girls  are able to join the team.  We have about 25+ girls on the team this year.  Saturday was our first Jamboree.  Our first goal was to get to the Yokohama Center and Athletic Club down in Yokohama.  It was about a 90 - 120 minute train ride.  We had to catch three different trains. 

On the platform at Higashi-Kurume getting ready to catch our first train.

Yokohama is located on the bay and since it was a nice sunny day, there was a nice view.  

The bright sun, and the rest of the picture was blurry, but the sun was bright.

Tokyo Bay

 The girls were divided into four teams of about 6 or 7 players.  Each team would play another school's team.  They had five different fields set up.  The girls played 10 minute games mostly self refereeing the games, sometimes the coaches helped out with the refereeing.  The girls played games for most of three hours.

Gathering together for instructions before changing into their uniforms.

The field where the girls played on was some sort of Astro Turf, although nicely kept, wasn't so fun to fall on, we had a couple of skinned knees.  

The fields. 

West side of the fields. 

CAJ is wearing the blue uniforms.

The girls had a good day.  Overall the teams did well and learned how to work together. 
Glad there are Sundays as a part of the weekend.  I was pretty tired by the end of the Futsal Jamboree.  Sunday has been a day of rest, a time to rejuvenate spiritually with the fellowship of believers.   I also took the opportunity to catch up with some of my neighborhood responsibilities.  There is an unwritten rule/law that you keep the curb clean in front of your house.  There are people in my neighborhood that take this very seriously and every morning when I bicycle to school, I see this one lady who is diligently sweeping up her curb.  I cringe when I see her, because I don't follow that pattern at all.  I try occasionally to clean up, but certainly do not do it every day like she does.  Yesterday when I came back from the Futsal Jamboree, I noticed there were a few piles of leaves by my curb.  Today after coming home from church, I decided I should get that swept up.  It wasn't as easy a task because there would be gusts of wind every once in a while, blowing the leaves around.  There was entertainment for me as I was sweeping, since the children from across the street were outside playing.  One was learning how to roller-blade and the other two younger girls were "assisting" him, or it seemed they were giving him advice.  Anyway, I went about my business of sweeping up the leaves.  Funny thing was, half way through my job, I noticed the two girls had gotten a broom and dust pan and were sweeping up their leaves too!  I was chuckling inside, thinking, isn't that just fun, even though we don't speak the same language!  

You see some of the bottoms of the trees that are providing the leaves.

Ok, these were only two of the three curbs, the third one had leaves on it again...:(  I live on a corner lot. 
I hope you were able to take some time to just spend in God's presence today, whether it was at a worship service, or sitting in your own house reading scripture, or spend some quiet time in prayer.  I pray you may have had a Sabbath. 

Time flies when you're having fun!

It is difficult to imagine that Christmas is only about a month away!  It seems like we just started the school year!  I guess it means that I'm having fun, after all, "Time flies when you're having fun!"  
I'm thinking that the question you must be asking is, so what sort of fun am I having?  I guess it is just living life.  I have to admit it isn't all fun, but I have to say I enjoy the learning given to me by the challenges placed in my path, even if they aren't always pleasant.  
One blessing is the Middle School's participation in Operation Christmas Child (OCC).  I always remember my nephew and niece's story when they were in Kosovo distributing OCC boxes and that same year Washington Christian Academy and Silver Spring CRC both participated in packing boxes.  It was so fun to hear the story from beginning, packing the boxes, to the end, delivering the boxes to children.  

Middle and Elementary School boxes.  They were arranged for the picture.  :)

High School boxes, They were not arranged for a picture.  :)

We had collected a total of about 130 boxes.  That is almost a third more than last year.  I imagine that there are 30+ more children who will have a present to open and have the story of Jesus shared with them.  
Last week I went with a friend, Momo N. to IKEA.  She actually knew my brother's family and I was able to meet up with her here in Tokyo when I came here last year.  Her schedule and my schedule do not always coincide very well, but we were able to meet up last Saturday.  I did have a purpose for going to IKEA: to purchase a bookcase for my office, and find an area rug.  I did end up purchasing a bookcase, but it turned out to not be the one I wanted.  Not all was lost however, we did stop and buy some Swedish meatballs!  :)  

Momo

Today I am going to IKEA again with another friend and hopefully I'll be able to purchase the bookcase I want.  :)  
This weekend I have the privilege of staying at the VanderHaak's with Hana.  I really believe that a dog is man's and women's best friend.  Hana is always excited to see me.  I'm not sure if it's because when I come we usually go for a walk or if it's really that she enjoys my company.  :)  So this morning we went on a four kilometer walk down the river.  I usually enjoy that walk and I think Hana does too.  

Hana ready for a walk.

Whenever I walk the river on a Saturday, I usually find photographers taking nature pictures.  I'm always amazed at the equipment they bring and set up at the river.  

Some serious photographers.

The first part of our walk tended to be more of a "stop and sniff" type of walk.  It can take a while before we have walked a kilometer at this pace.  I do find that Hana will walk more towards the end of the walk.  

I'm sure there was something interesting to sniff!

It is a beautiful sunshiny day today.  I'm sitting outside with Hana as I'm writing this post.  I am grateful that I am able to serve God here in Japan.  People are generally polite, I had a number of people greet me while walking.  Just a little bit ago, there were some people taking some elderly folks in wheelchairs on a walk and we greeted each other, which brought smiles to their faces and warmed my heart.  I pray that these positive interactions may somehow show Jesus to them.  

Reflecting 2

It is difficult to believe that it is 16 years ago today that God called my Mom home.  When I think of that day, sometimes it seems just like yesterday.  Yes, I still miss my mom, especially when there are exciting events that happen.  I think that she would have really enjoyed being there.  On the other hand, I think about what the last 16 years must have been for my mom and I would not wish her back on this earth.  Where she is now, is a much better place.
With my parents, my dad tended to be the one who loved to talk and make jokes.  My mom loved fun as well, but she was more quiet than my dad.  When I think about the life she led on this earth, God have her a tremendous amount of strength to be able to adjust to living in a new country, with a language she did not know, with customs that were different, a life style that was quite different, all the while raising four boys and one girl.  Mom's dad was a teacher and she grew up "in town," but when they immigrated to Canada, mom learned how to haul pigs and milk cows.  Quite a drastic change.
During the last year of mom's life here on earth, I visited her every day if I was in Abbotsford.  I remember one time she asked me to read Romans 8: 31 - 39.  She chose that passage not so much for her to gain strength to face death, but for me to be able to have strength to face her death.
Mom loved her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  She would do just about anything for them, if she could.  Her prayer was that each of us would follow the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  She was a great woman of faith and an example of a person whose strength was in the Lord.

Mashiko 3

Today was festival day in Mashiko.  Brian, Bette and I started our day early with some breakfast at Jonathan's and then on to Mashiko for the pottery festival.  Traffic was quite slow and it took us about 3.5 hours before arriving.  

Look down one of the main streets.

One of the main streets in Mashiko.

This is my third time visiting Mashiko and my second to the festival.  I'm starting to recognize the shops and the types of pottery they sell.  I really enjoy wandering through the shops and seeing what sort of unique items are displayed, whether that be the shape or the colors.  During the festival there are a large number of booths, so it fun to walk around.  

There's a lot of pottery but they also sell food.  

I was able to make a number of purchases, some for my office and some for my kitchen.  One thing I did not purchase was a fish-on-a-stick.  Brian says it's one of his favorites.  

It doesn't look bad, but it does have a lot of salt.

There is one shop that makes and sells indigo.  It's quite a fascinating place.  

Cotton

Weaving

Some finished products.

I ended my time in Mashiko with a freshly brewed cup of coffee, served in a ceramic cup!  

Sure tasted good after a good walk.  

I think I'll be up for another visit again sometime.  Thank you to the VanderHaak's for being willing to take me along!