Pleasant Surprises

This past week has been full of pleasant surprises. Blessing number one came on Tuesday. After losing a family of three beautiful children (English students) on Tuesday, God blessed me with two new English students all at the same time, or within 24 hours. Also, my Tuesday Junior high class held pleasant surprise. There are two girls: Ran who is in 8th grade and Miyu who is in 7th. Ran stated that on Wednesday she wanted to make instant fried noodles (yaki soba) in the rice cooker. Ran invited Miyu to participate. Ran comes on Tuesdays and Wed. to learn English, Miyu comes only on Tuesdays. Miyu treats Ran with a lot of respect as Ran is the older one. Ran wants to break that respect and simply talk as equals, so Ran initiated this yaki soba party. It was a joy to see them talk about who would bring what ingredients, and that they wanted to come earlier to make it so we could eat and play games in English. It was truly delightful to see these two young women cutting and washing veggies, feeling comfortable together, and receiving dinner that was made by someone else. Tuesday was a Delightful Day.

Blessing number two came along on Friday; I now have my Japanese drivers license! God's hands were all over that. My prayers were that I could understand the Japanese and that I could accomplish this goal in one trip. My Japanese "mom" volunteered to come with me to driving school to make sure I understood the Japanese. The teacher called Koriyama to confirm that I could go to Koriyama for the test instead of Fukushima (much further and troublesome) as well as requesting information on the driving course and what skills I would be tested on. My husband was confident that I could do this, supportive that it would be OK if it did take three trips to get my license, and patient as he did the majority of the talking to the officer in Koriyama- that I couldn't have done. And, it started to rain as we drove up to the driving center, so I prayed that it would stop until after the test. It didn't rain until we headed home around 3 in the afternoon. I am thankful for the multitude of ways God answered my two simple requests.

Blessing number three is quite unexplainable. Three weeks ago I noticed something strange growing in my zucchini and cucumber pot; I pulled it out. Shortly there after, I spotted it ago and pulled it out again, but only getting the stem out and not the root. This caused me to wonder what it was. It looked like it would be tall with with leaves. The only thing that came to my mind was corn, but I knew we did not plant corn; we didn't buy corn. It surely was stubborn, for again, up it grew, this time Masato saw it and too wondered what it was. His suggestion was to pull out the root and plant it seperately to see what it was. He too was puzzled. At this time I also noticed a smaller version growing in my little oregano pot. Truly confused, and certain that it was a weed, I re-potted the larger version in a pot by itself. This week Wednesday a Calla Lily bloomed. It is beautiful. This made me wonder what a weed truly is. A weed is something that is not wanted. so, in this instance, was this Calla Lily a weed? But it is a beautiful flower. Then the question of science also pops up: how did it get there? We didn't purchase Calla lily bulbs. And I don't think that cross-breeding a cucumber with a zucchini results in a Calla Lily. Nevertheless, it is probably the most beautiful and welcome "weed" I have experienced.

As I sit back and look back over the past week, God has truly blessed me in a multitude of ways. Praise be to God!

Tidbits of our Lives

I have tried for the last week to write a new post and attach a slide show to it. I have given up. For some reason it is not working. This morning, Saturday the 12th (I think), Japan had a major earthquake at 8:43 in the morning. It was the largest one I felt during my awake hours. We are OK. In Iwaki, there was no damage done. Just a bit of shaking. There was one man killed in Iwaki as a result of the earthquake; he was fishing on the ocean side and a big rock fell over and crushed him. That was the only casualty in our area.

Garden News:
Masato takes great delight in looking at our veggie patch every morning. The tomato plants are very tall. They stand up to my shoulders. We are proud "parents" of one little bitty green tomato, about five or six zucchini, and the cucumbers are now blooming, with two shapes that promise to be cucumbers. He is just now realizing that we could get many zucchini, and is surprised by the quantity we could get from two plants. The eggplants haven't blossomed yet, but there are many buds. The zucchini leaves don't look healthy. If anyone has suggestions, I am interested in some assistance.

Lighthouse News:
Our friend Junko has been going to church with another one of our friends, Orie. About two weeks ago, Junko made a statement that she believes in Jesus Christ and God. Hallelujah! It is exciting to see friends accept Jesus, and to see their enthusiasm.

Nina is in Norway for the next two months as her sumer vacation.

I am excited about next week's Saturday night event: a potluck party. I cannot wait to see what people will bring.
On the 28th of this month, I am hosting a bridal shower for one of our faithful volunteers, Tomoko. Her wedding is on Ocean Day, the 21st of July.

Our News:
Masato has another opportunity to perform in Tokyo in July. This time it is a one time event. It is a jam session; an experience he hasn't had. He is pretty excited and unsure about this opportunity.

I started the process of obtaining my japanese driver's license. I completed step one yesterday; maiing a copy of my drivers license, and other documents to JAF (Japan Automobile Federation) to translate my American license into Japanese. The next step, which is about one month from now, I take some private driving lessons, and then off I go for a written and a driving test. I would appreciate prayer that this process is fairly painless and that I only have to take the test once. Usually, from what i have heard, Americans take this test about three times before passing.

And that is the news from Iwaki, Japan.

A Picnic in the Mountains

Monday was such a fine day that I woke up, deciding we would go on a picnic. I dug out the picnic basket we purchased last fall at a kindergarten bizarre, and packed up tuna sandwiches, a lettuce salad, rice balls, and cold chai. Off we headed to the mountains, for a picnic.

Before heading out the door, Masato wanted to take me to a place we went last year that had clean water. We stopped to puchase some containers. The water was so good, that we searched our car for hidden liter bottles that I always forget to bring in the house after a road trip.

Although this spot is well known for good clean water, it is truly well-hidden. I loved the sound of the birds and running water.

My Garden

It is Spring time, and I caught the bug, again, to try some container gardening this year. Last year I tried flowers, with a little luck. This year, Masato got into the excitement once we went to Daiyu 8. I was hoping for one tomato plant and a couple of herbs. We left with two large containers, tomato, cucumber, zucchini, and eggplant plants. My patio is full and smells good. The zucchini are doing amazing well, the tomatoes look promising, the eggplants are hopeful, the cucumbers might be late bloomers. I also might be lucky to have four or five blackberries this year.

Here is my patch of aloe and flowers, In the background I am hiding the kerosene containers. And on the side is my garbage can for glass, plastic, and the unburnable garbage.

Needless to say, it is fun to sit outside and observe my little garden on a daily basis. I love having coffee out here while the day is still young and quite, undistracted from the daily busyness of life.

It's Cherry Blossom Season

The cherry blossoms have finally arrived! Everyone is now enjoying picnics in the park.

Totoro's tour of Iwaki

Our friend, Mariko, and I took a day to shoot pictures around Iwaki for her to bring back to England. The day started in our favorite coffee shop. Masato was the cheerful taxi driver and photojournalist.  Here is a bit of Iwaki with Totoro (from the movie, My neighbor Totoro.

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Picnic Season has Begun

A very busy weekend ended with a romantic, dusk-lit dinner on our little balcony this past Monday evening.  By the light of stars and a soft aroma oil burner, we enjoyed nachos and a bottle of wine. As it was still a bit chilly for Masato's liking, we brought out the kerosene heater.  This was our first picnic of the year; the very first out on our little balcony with hopes of more to come.  

This is where I often have my morning coffee, along with my quiet times, journaling, phone conversations, and recently, quilting. However, I usually sit in a very comfy foldable camping chair.  

Notes of interest:  To the left of the little yellow table is where we keep 3 bright orange tanks of kerosene. Behind Masato is a container that hides my soil and pots for planting. When we do laundry, it gets hung on a pole above Masato's head. And in the left background you can almost see our recycling garbage can.  It has three components to separate our glass, pet bottles and jars, and the unburnable garbage. Then hanging on the side is our dead batteries.  Our little balcony is quite multi-functional.  

Dessert Viking!!

Friday afternoon- what a better way than to spend the afternoon with friends, eating all the dessert one can eat in one hour!  Needless to say, none of us really had a good lunch. The woman on the right is Noriko Suzuki. She and her family are moving to Trinidad for three years. The woman on the right is Keiko; she was my landlord and now very good friend.  She also happens to be my personal hair stylist.

These are the children that accompanied us on the  outing.  Asahi, the boy in the front is Noriko's oldest son, with baby Takashi . Then the other two are Keiko's children Shouma and Minami.  Takashi definitely had the most popular dessert as all the children preferred his selection:  seaweed.

Cold Remedies

What does one do when one wakes up with a sore throat?  Here are some of the common remedies I have heard:  go to the doctor, gargle with iodine- mixed with water of course, drink a concoction of ginger, honey, lemon juice, and hot water, tie grilled green onions around your neck, soak cubed pieces of daikon (Japanese radish) in honey for several hours and drink the juice, relax, eat vegetables that grow under ground such as carrots, potatoes, daikon, Chinese cabbage, and buy new shoes cuz new shoes always makes one smile. 

I have drunk the ginger, honey, lemon juice drink - not so bad if you get the right combination. I have also soaked the daikon with honey and am surprised at how good and easy that goes down, soothing the throat. And we definitely bought new shoes cuz - well, new shoes always makes one smile :)  

Tanaka in Tokyo

Masato  spent one week in Tokyo DJing for a Gospel Legend event. This event consisted of various artists ranging from hiphop to dance to musicians. I, along with seven others drove down Sunday morning, the last day of the event, to see him and cheer him on. It was a very cool event.  Sad to say,  I couldn't figure out how to turn off the flash so I could a few more pictures, but here is one with Masato in his prime element: DJing.

BBQ at Misaki Park

It was a perfect day, so off we went to a BBQ with friends from Lighthouse.  Along the way, we took a detour to a car show. The ocean was a perfect backdrop for the old cars.  We enjoyed grilled meat (slices of meat),  squid, jumbo shrimp, oysters, cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, onions, soup, and the finale - grilled noodles. A common BBQ in Japan.

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The Church Checklist

On my way out the door, I had to dash back in because I forgot my down vest. Which made me go through my mental checklist, and I thought, people back home might find this interesting.

• Japanese/English Bible
  
• Pen
  
• Electric dictionary
  
• Fleece socks to go over my cotton socks
  
• Bottled water
  
• Fleece Blanket
  
• Fingerless mittens
  
• Down vest
• Jacket
• Brown sugar, cinnamon, pot full of apples, whisk (ok, this was my treat which we cooked on the kerosene heater during service. not a normal bring-to-church item.  By the end of service, everyone was hungry and wondered what the sweet smell was. they loved the applesauce.)

Everyone in church today either brought their own lap blanket, or wrapped their jacket around their legs during the service. I continue to find this interesting, the challenge of staying warm and being eco friendly by conserving (?) on heat resources. Or maybe it's just plain crazy and the heat needs to be turned up, or more evenly dispersed. Anyway, that is my checklist of items to bring to church. I forgot the kleenex this week; didn't know allergies started up again.