I am in Japan!
I am safely here, but because of many internet issues I have
not been able to post, or email until now.
It is so wonderful to be in Japan again and here with such a
great team.
There is so much to say and so this post may be very long! It has
been great getting to know my teammates, and spending time with
the students has been so fun and in many ways refreshing.
Friday we spend lunch
time eating and hanging out with students and then Friday night we had a Karaoke
night with all of BEST club. I had to sing, which was pretty hilarious, but the
time of many laughs with new friends really made me go “Ah! And this is why I
came back to Japan!”
So that is a summary for those of you who don’t have much
time to read, but here is more detail for those who would like to know more! Pictures are at the bottom.
We got to Tokyo on Tuesday during a typhoon. We rode the
train for 2 hours to get to our apartment. I am rooming with the other female
teammate, Kelly from San Diego. We've had a lot of fun together! We have a very cute, small apartment (but
bigger than the guy’s). We’ve enjoyed having time at our place as a team
because it is a good, bigger place for us all to meet up. Japanese apartments
are very small. Our kitchen has one small burner and sink and no counter space, but we are hoping to learn from some of the students how to cook!
Wednesday we had a time of orientation in the morning and
then we had “Lunch Table” with the BEST club students from Chuo
University. It was great to see some friends from last year as well as meet
many new friends. We spent the afternoon
with Keiichi, a leader in BEST club. In the evening half of our team went to
Bible night and discussed the story of Zacchaeus, while the others spent time
together.
Thursday, Mark Rood (BEST club leader for 11 years) gave us
an orientation and we studied the book of Daniel together which was amazing and
I saw things and learned things that I never had before from hearing those stories.
Orientation lasted most of the day.
Friday was full day spent with the students and it really
reminded me of why I came to Japan. I love Japanese people and investing in
friendships with them. We went to Chuo University to meet our friends. Chuo has
a four floor cafeteria and it is said that their campus has the best food in
Japan. At lunch table I was able to see a good friend from last year and help
her with a presentation. Then the team prepared for karaoke by choosing songs.
Then we went to Shaberanaito (which is our Friday night large group event).
This special event was Tokyo BEST idol (“American Idol” style). It was very
intimidating because the Japanese take karaoke very seriously and have done it
since elementary school, so we American’s do not compare! I told the host, our
Japanese friend Jack, to not make me go first, and of course, he choose me to
go first. I was voted off first round, but it meant I was able to enjoy the
other rounds without fear of singing again… haha! Then we went to Saizeriya,
which is an Italian restaurant near our apartment. Many students came and I
enjoyed eating with and getting to know more students. They love practicing English
and it is so fun getting to know what type of music they like and what
activities they enjoy etc.
Saturday we slept, a lot, which was great because I needed
it to recover from travel and jetlag. And then the team meet and we got
Starbucks and talked more about our time here in Japan, our highlights, challenges,
and hopes, so far. I feel like the whole day helped me get to know the team a
lot better.
Sunday was also a great day and I feel like it was the first
time that we just “hung out” in a natural and fun way. We meet a graduate
student as well as a few BEST students and we all hung out for a
while before going to sushi together! It was spontaneous and fun, and I enjoyed
getting to know some girls better as we walked together.
It has been so great and refreshing just to hang out and
spend time with students and my teammates. Loving Japan as much as ever! J
Japanese people are so polite and kind and their culture is so beautiful! I
loving being here! More updates coming soon!
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The whole team before leaving LAX:
Kyle, Chris, Walter, Michael, Timmy
Lisa, Kelly, Elsa
FINALLY all together :)
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Our apartment, in Osuka Teiko, from the outside.
Our window is the one visible here.
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The view that I see every morning when I check the weather.
It is pretty beautiful! |
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The main room of our apartment.
My loft is above and the picture is taken from the kitchen. |
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| Walking back from Chuo University to our apartment |
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| Walking around campus as a team after Lunch Table |
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| Girls hanging out after Karaoke night |
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| Lunch Table at Chuo |
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| Sushi with Yui and Natsuki on Sunday |
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| Hanging out at Tama Center... the place to be! |
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| Part of the team in front of Hello Kitty's Palace in Tama Center! |
