Just a Bit of an Update

I can hardly believe it is already March. I have been rather busy recently and the time seems to have just flown by. I am doing well, through with the coming of spring, my allergies have started again. In February, I enjoyed going to Hawaiians, an indoor water park and spa, with the other missionary families as well as Rachel, the teacher in Ashikaga. It was so much fun to have her visit. Next week I hope to visit her too. I am also looking forward to my mother visiting. She will be coming the week before Easter; and I have been having fun making plans for when she will be here.

Teaching at Nozomi is going well. We have been doing many fun things in school recently. The girls sang the hymn "Were You There" in church this past Sunday. We went to an Art Day in Tokyo at the CAJ school in which the girls all learned about different fairy tales by Hans Christian Anderson. We also saw the play The Emperor's New Clothes that same day. In art, we are working on paper-mache Easter eggs in which the girls are enjoying the fact they can be messy. Because the weather has been warmer, we have got to the park near the school and enjoyed playing on the playground there. Rachel is having fun learning addition and subtraction recently. I have hopscotch set up and she enjoys jumping to the different numbers we use. Rebekah and I have been discovering the different properties of matter and the interesting ways that they can be changed. Hannah is becoming very good at reading and sounding out words. I have thoroughly enjoyed having her read actual books to me. All the girls have been working with money recently. It is a bit more difficult for the girls because they don't use or see American money regularly and don't know the value of it. But I have a grocery store set up, and they all are improving rapidly as we play store. Recesses have been spent riding bikes recently. Both Hannah and Rachel want to have their training wheels taken off, but I laugh and tell them to ask their parents. Soon Hannah will graduate from yochen and I will have both her and Rebekah for the full day. I am looking forward to starting the new and more normal schedule. In April Rachel will start yochen and sadly I won't be teaching her regularly any more. I know that she will enjoy her new school immensely though.

Teaching ESL classes has also been going well. In my kids class in Tsuchiura, we are almost finished with our book as well as the teaching year. In April the new classes will start. We are having an Easter party also which will be lots of fun. The students will learn about the true meaning of Easter as well as play games and dye Easer eggs. My adult class has been going well, although recently the attendance has been rather low. I am told though that this is normal for the time of year. I always enjoy hearing what my students have been doing and how their weeks have gone. It is very interesting because it is sometimes very different from life in the states. We are about to start a new chapter on restaurants which will be lots of fun. I think I might suggest that the class all go out to dinner so they can practice. In Mito, the preschool class is very large and attendance very high. We have been working on the alphabet, colors, and numbers; and last class we read Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I have also introduced the game Red-Light, Green-Light to the class with much success. My elementary school class has been enjoying Go Fish, while working on colors, and Around the World, while working on the alphabet. Recently, I have been focusing on feelings and expressions too. My jr high class is small and I am currently trying to help get Kengo, Pastor Haga's son, ready to go to the United States. He will be touring the different WELS colleges and high schools at the end of March I believe. My adult class has been growing. I have gained two new student since the beginning of the year. For part of the class we are going through a devotion book on the book of Mark, and I am always amazed at the good and deep questions my students ask. I am also very relieved that Pastor Haga is there too because sometimes even I am unsure of the answers.

I hope everyone is doing well as I am and wish you all a blessed Easter.