Day Before School Starts

I can't believe it is finally the day before I start teaching school. I am very excited! I finally have everything finished and set up. The classroom looks great (at least I think so)! Anyway, here's the link if you want to look at the pictures I took of my classroom: http://ghdunn.smugmug.com/gallery/3373400#188331682. Enjoy!

Trains and Subways

So, I haven't bogged in a while, but I have a good excuse. I've been doing a lot as well as working a ton because school starts in less than a week. AHHHH!!! At least that's how I feel inside. So anyway, sorry this entry might be a bit short. I have decided after using the Japanese trains and subways, I can travel anywhere. Bring on New York City or Washington DC. At least those places have English to tell you where to or when a train leaves. The good thing is that all the different lines are color coded, so it's easy to at least be going in the right direction. Actually it could be a lot worse. When you ride the trains you buy your ticket right at the station. It's very easy. You just go up to the machine, throw some change in (literally, it counts it for you) and press how much the ticket is. In Japan, you don't pay for a ticket to a place; instead, you pay for an amount. Hopefully you know the amount ahead of time, but if not you can always just pay the cheapest amount and fix it when you get where you want to go. If your wrong, the doors won't let you out of the station and you look like a dumb tourist...it happens (really). If you're on the train during rush hours, then there is no room to sit and barely enough room to stand. I've seen girls stand for hours in heels on the train, even sleeping...I don't know how they do it. If your not in rush hour then the trains are never too full, because there are a lot of them. Trains come normally ever half hour, while subways sometimes every five minutes. Just make sure you're not sitting in a reserved area. The best part is when you're totally lost or confused, just show it on your face and a nice person will gladly help you...at least this has worked or me. So I have survived the trains and subways of Japan. For some pictures just click on the link: http://ghdunn.smugmug.com/gallery/3340562#186119879.

My Installation

Yesterday I was finally officially installed as the teacher at Nozomi Lutheran School. Yeah, I'm now Amanda-sensei! It was very simple, but nice. I went up to the front of church and the pastor read the parts to me in English and the parts to the congregation in Japanese. After the service, we had cake and I got to talk with some of the members...mostly just saying good morning, ohio gonzi imas (not sure if that's spelled right). Most of the members speak a bit of English, but not very much and it hard to understand. Hopefully I'll get better at Japanese quickly.

Trip to Costco

Last week I went with Lynnette (Missionary Stahmann's wife) to Costco. Costco is about 2 hours away, so they only make the trip once every couple of months.

Going to Costco was like stepping back into America. Granted everyone was Japanese, but it all basically looks the same. It had American brands and most things were written in english too. I was able to get instant brownie mix, frozen waffles, and other things you can't easily find in a Japanese grocery store such as block cheese. I also bought lots of meat at Costco because it is incredibly expensive to buy meat at the grocery store. Good thing I have lots of freezer space.

Well here are a few differences I found interesting. Since there isn't alot of land, Costco has multiple levels. The food is on the bottom level and everything else is on the second floor. All the parking is on all the floors above it (floors 3-5 I think). Another difference is getting from one floor to another. So you can take your shopping cart with you, there are inclined escalators that your cart will hook into once you get on it. It is the neatest thing how they just lock in.

So I really enjoyed my trip and got lots of yummy things to eat!

Summer Bible Camp

Last weekend, I had the pleasure to go to Summer Bible Camp. This is a gathering of members and their families from all the churches in Japan, as well as most of the pastors and missionaries. The camp lasted three days, starting Friday afternoon and ending Sunday afternoon. This year the camp was held at a hotel, which with so many people coming, pretty much filled up the whole thing. There was about 80 total people in attendance.

On Friday, I arrived with the Stahmanns at about 12:30pm so Pastor Stahmann could set up. Everyone else would be arriving throughout the afternoon. Since we had time, Lynnette, the girls, and I explored the hotel and found our rooms. Rachel Foelske arrived around 3pm (she shared the hotel room with me) and I showed her around and then we had tea in our room. Next there was a brief opening for the camp and then dinner. For dinner, everyone went to the hotel restaurant and we had traditional Japanese food as our buffet. I loved that it was a buffet because I could have a bite of everything. It was all delicious!

After dinner we had bible study. At the camp the was a variety of bible classes one could attend each day. The main focus this year was evangelism. I went to the English study which had about 6-7 people in it. There was also a Japanese study, a basic bible study, a kid's class, and a young adult class. After bible study, everyone was pretty tired fro traveling and such. So Rachel and I both went to the Japanese baths and then to bed. We had fun talking though until late in the night.

Saturday started with a quick trip to the baths, and then breakfast. Breakfast was served at the table in traditional Japanese style. We had rice, with some stuff to put on the rice, salmon, strawberry yogurt (not as sweet as in America), Miso Soup, bread rolls, pickled radish, and a sweet egg dish. I tried everything and liked most everything.

After Breakfast, there was another bible study, a snack break, and then another bible study. After that was lunch. Lunch was made up of rice, a soup, a meat, a salad and noodles. All very good. After lunch there was free time. I had met some new friends and we went to play volleyball with Pastor Haga and some other people. I was lots of fun, but very hot! We all went to the baths after that. Both Rachel and I went to the choir practice in which we learned to sing in Japanese. We sang the song in three parts. Then there was dinner (a buffet) and another bible study. After bible study, all the Stahmann girls were dressed in their kimonos. They were so cute, especially Naomi. Then everyone went outside to play with fire works and sit around the bonfire. After singing some hymns and shooting off some fireworks, all the children got to wave around sparklers. Then Rachel and I went to bed.

The next morning, we woke up and showered before breakfast. Breakfast was similar to the day before. After breakfast we had our last bible study and then a quick choir practice. After the choir practice, we all gathered for the ending service. The choir sang first and then the service commenced. It was difficult for me because the whole service was in Japanese, but Pastor Stahmann gave me a sermon to read while he was preaching, which helped. After the service everyone packed up and had a quick lunch. I said goodbye to all my friends as they left and then went back to Tsuchiura with the Stahmanns.

If you want to look at pictures from the Bible camp, here's the link: http://ghdunn.smugmug.com/gallery/3228853#178385055.