My Sabbath

One thing I mentioned to the Middle School teachers this week, is to remember to have a sabbath this weekend.  It can become difficult sometimes in our busy lives.  I know as I'm writing this, there are a number of things I could/should be doing, but I am trying to rest from my labours.  This is what I did today.
This morning, I attended the 8:30 am service at Tokyo Union Church.  I was scheduled to be the lector reader.  The passage I had to read was 1 Samuel 3: 1 - 10 about God calling Samuel.  The New Testament reading was from John 1: 43 - 51, about Nathaniel's calling.  The sermon focused on our calling to invite others to, "Come and see." 
At the end of the service, we had an evacuation drill.  Probably a good thing to do when living in a place where earthquakes are quite possible.  I didn't take any pictures.
Once I reached home, I bicycled over to the VanderHaak's to take Hana for a walk.  I haven't walked with Hana for a couple of weeks, so it was about time I did that again.  I took some pictures as we walked down by the river.

I was surprised to see some families having a bar-b-que down by the river. 

 Here is the entrance to the park where Hana and I usually walk. There were a few people walking. 

 I saw some chickens who were seeking out food in the garden. 

This couple were busy doing exercises.  The man in the light blue jacket was actually doing what sumo wrestlers do before they begin their match.  He certainly didn't look the same size as the typical sumo wrestler.  The lady in the cream coloured jacket was stepping up and down on the curb. 

There's a nice little pond.

Can you see the ducks?  They were close. 

Our path from the park.

Right along the river. 

There is my walking partner, Hana and her shadow.

Hana and my shadow.

Japan tends to be quite conscientious about erosion.  Many of the hillsides and rivers have reinforcements so that there is minimal erosion.  See the various places where there are reinforcements placed so that they control the erosion.  

 Two ducks swimming on the river.

The sun was out today, it was a nice day. 

She's looking quite happy. 

Surprisingly she is ahead, much of the time she's stopped to sniff something.  

There is the photography club.

Most days that I walk along the river, there are people with cameras and long lenses taking pictures of wild life at the river.  

If you look closely, you can see the rope, that is how they define the parking spaces in the gravel parking lot.  Pretty clever, eh? 

Looking down river from the bridge that we cross to do our U-turn.

Want some firewood?  Ok, not sure it's up for grabs.

Here is a family that were flying a kite. 

Our route.

I have this app on my iPhone that tracks my walking/running routes.  I can listen to music, which I was listening to Kayte Grace's new album, but when you stop, you hear, "pausing workout," which happened quite regularly, since Hana wanted to stop to sniff.  We were moving at a fairly slow pace, 14.53 minutes per kilometer. 
By the time we arrived back, Brian and Bette invited me for lunch, which I couldn't refuse, since it was chicken fajitas.  It was delicious!
This upcoming Friday, I've invited the Middle School teachers over to my place.  I thought it may be fun for us to make oiliebollen (dutch donuts).  Since it is the first time I'm making them here in Japan, I thought I'd do a trial run this afternoon.

The dough with raisins and apples.

Deep frying them. 

Finished product.

 I am finishing the evening off by writing this blog post as I'm watching the movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel.  I plan to head to bed in the next hour or so. 
It has been a good day, starting with worship this morning, being in God's creation, spending time with friends and being able to do some things I normally don't do during the week.  I thank God for weekends and Sabbath days. 

Chanko restaurant

Today the VanderHaak's invited me for lunch to this restaurant that is owned by former sumo wrestlers, apparently they call them chanko restaurants.  This type of restaurant serves food typically eaten by sumo wrestlers.  There is actually a decent variety of choices and the food was quite good.  The seats in the waiting area were quite cute!  Chris did some modeling.  :)

The cow seat.

The pig seat.

Each table is in a little room. On the tables are gas burners which you can use for cooking, depending on what you order. 

The tables.

There's the pot cooking the food.

This was my plate, some deep fried fish and shrimp and well, not sure what the two things on the right were, but they were good.  The two sauces were ketchup and a mayonnaise based sauce.

The pot on the right with the lid was a broth/soup.

The food tasted good.  I appreciated the atmosphere they created.  The music was the typical music you hear when you attend sumo wrestling.  I'd recommend it, but remember that the table is low, so you do have to find a comfortable way to sit on the floor.  It was a great experience!  Thanks VanderHaak's, for inviting me!

Pottery

I am thankful for breaks.  Christmas break gives us an opportunity to remember Christ's first coming, a wonderful gift, whose purpose was to die on the cross and rise again so we can be saved!  Truthfully, I also appreciate Christmas break because it does give a chance to rejuvenate, regain some energy to begin again in January. 
Today was one of those days where I started out with nothing really on the agenda, but it still ended up being a nice day with some surprise activities. 
 This first activity was something I wasn't even thinking about.  You see, when I moved into Matsukawa Place, the curtains were already set up in the apartment.  I just left them hanging.  I had noticed that the curtains in the bedroom were just barely wide enough to cover the window.  Fortunately, there are also blinds, so not really a problem.  I got it into my head to see if any of the curtains I bought at Thrift Shop a couple of years ago would fit better.  Lo and behold, yup, there was a set.  Unfortunately the set was VERY WRINKLY!  So, I put them through the delicate cycle in the washing machine and then ironed them.  They were still damp when I hung them up, but should dry soon. 

Yes, they are still a bit damp on the bottom. 

While I was in the process of hanging the curtains, Bette V. texted me, and asked if I wanted to watch them do some horse hair pottery.  It is very interesting to watch how that all comes together.  Bette, David and Chris had already made pots, glazed and ready for the horse hair.  What Bette did was heat up the kiln with the ready made pots in it, to about 900℃.  Once the pots were hot enough, they took them out, and then put horse hair on the pot.  The hair burns and leaves a mark on the pot.  It was quite interesting to watch.  The horse hair isn't all that easy to control, so trying to create something specific is difficult.  After you are satisfied with how the pot looks, it needs to be cooled, washed or brushed clean, and then put some lotion on. I thought their pots turned out quite nice! 

See the smoke?  That's from the horse hair burning.  It isn't a great smell, if you've ever burned hair.

See the hair? 

One of David's pots.

Back in November, Bette offered the Middle School students an extra art class during Parent/Teacher conferences.  I asked if there was room yet for me to participate in one of the sessions, which there was.  She had planned to have the students work on the wheel.  It has been a very, very long time since I worked on the wheel, like way back to my undergrad Dordt days.  It was great to make those pots with help from Bette!  Today I finally was able to put the glaze on!

Yeah, I know, not very straight, but it was my first.

My second pot, looks better, but is thick.  I wasn't fully finished glazing yet.

It was a fun day, with a few surprises along the way.  I am blessed to be able to have these great experiences, planned or not.  God is good!  All the time!  

Just a few things I've seen the last few weeks.

There has been a lot of activity over the last couple of weeks.  I have not been taking a lot of pictures, but here are a few. 

Hana relaxing on the chair in the cabin.

Rest Area on our way back to Tokyo from Tak.

Riding the train back from church.

Not very full train.

Mikan!

Apple Crisp

Every year the seniors raise money for their service trip to Thailand in the spring.  One of the fundraisers is selling apples from Nagano.  The price is very reasonable, ¥500 for 13 apples.  They are great apples to eat, and to make a variety of apple recipes, such as the apple crisp. 

Grade 2 class singing carols in the Academic Office at CAJ.

As a part of the grade 6 Bible curriculum, they have Passover.  It's very fitting to have this right around Christmas, the time we remember to celebrate Christ's first coming and look forward to his second coming.  There are a lot of symbols in the Passover that tie in with Christ's life, death and resurrection.  One can imagine Jesus' disciples sitting with him in the Upper Room sharing that meal together. 

Grade 6 class getting ready to start Passover.

Seder plate

My little tree

Two cards, giraffe, elephant and a shell.

I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to decorating at Christmas.  Most times I don't even decorate.  Two years ago when I had my first Christmas in Japan, the grade 1 and 2 classes at Washington Christian Academy sent me a little Christmas tree with ornaments from the students.  It's kind of cute. 

The night before we left Tak, I took a video of the night sounds.  You can hear the sound of the waves at the beach.  Enjoy.