(I know how she feels!! This is my friend's daughter Mihiro riding her big girl bike for the first time--at her home/Kunitachi Nozomi Kyokai last weekend.)My goodness!! It's May 21st already!! I've been in Japan for six weeks now! This is hard to believe, even for me!!!
I apologize that so much time has passed since I've updated this blog. (Were you worried?) ;)
Allow me to explain. ...In order to get Internet at my apartment, I needed a Japanese bank account. In order to get a bank account, I needed a Japanese Residency ID card. In order to become a resident, I needed to live here for one month. Add those hoops to my already hectic schedule of settling in, traveling around, meeting new people, learning new things, AND having my 30th birthday, and, well, I've been doing a lot of jumping...and I don't even start teaching for 2 more weeks!?!! ;)
(Mrs. Sakoda, from Kibogaoka Kyokai, made me a birthday cake--gluten-free Angel Food with powdered sugar on top! It was fluffy and indescribably delicious!)
I'm happy to report, though....All is well. I love my new home and am amazed, though simultaneously not surprised, at how quickly I'm adjusting to my new apartment and new routine, to new foods and new places and new experiences. I have so many really, truly GOOD friends here already and am so loved and well-cared for that I get a little overwhelmed at times. There come times in life when we can feel--when we just KNOW--we're on the right path. For me, this is one of those times. I arrived in this place at EXACTLY the right time and I am falling right into the flow of EXACTLY what I'm meant to be doing.
(Here I am with my two best friends in Japan--Anna, whom I met when I visited here 2 years ago, and Yuria, a kindred spirit. This was at dinner on my birthday, which was a WONDERFUL 2 days of celebrating. ...You get a birthday on Japan time AND United States time, you see...at least that's the way I figured it.)
No one can tell me how to do this, not exactly, so by-and-large, I'm finding my own way...and loving every minute of it! So much has happened since last I wrote, I hardly know where to start in sharing it with you!
Perhaps I'll let these pictures speak for themselves:
(This is my street!)
(This is my neighbor Sami! Her grandfather is my landlord and the pastor at Izumi Kyokai. I often have dinner with this family and laughing with Sami is a special treat.)
(Dinner with my "sister" Urara's daughter and students, plus an afternoon excursion to Cosmo World with her other daughter. --This is a popular type of souvenir photo called purikura. You can change the background color and add text and designs. Way cooler than the photo booths of my youth!)
(The sights of the city: 1. The trains--primary source of transportation for me and millions of others--are often VERY crowded. 2. This is Shibuya in Tokyo--home to the busiest intersection in the world. I visited here with two pastors and a pastor's wife for my first Japanese KARAOKE as a missionary! 3. This is the Cosmo Clock in downtown Yokohama, my town. This is right along the bay.)
(But even in such a busy and crowded place...there is quiet! 1. A quaint street near a shrine near the Motomachi-Chukagai Station, where Anna and I wandered in search of a place to picnic. 2. A shady pond near my home, where I like to sit and read or draw. 3. A lovely view of the bay bridge and surrounding area from the Yashamita Rose Gardens in Yokohama.)
(My home is VERY cozy! I have earth-inspired colors throughout my apartent and a me-inspiring garden--my first ever!--right in the backyard!)
(Part of my job is visiting various churches in the Presbytery and attending various church functions and events.)
(Here I am with my friend and interpreter, Pastor Iwao Satoh, giving a speech at my "inauguration.")
(I also got to go to Youth Camp...as a youth! The music was AWESOME!)
(Late at night...my friend Daisuke learned my favorite praise song "Sanctuary"--the chords to which I was able to pull up on my iPhone--and we sang together.)
(During communion at Den-en Kyokai, Masaki and I laughed--almost out loud--because my gluten-free cracker was MUCH crunchier than the regular bread!)
(Sometimes people visit ME! ...On my birthday, I had a house FULL of guests!! It was lovely!)
(But sometimes it is just me...and I like that too.)
I can't wait to share with you all that I've learned!! Look for some stories from me in my next update (within a week.)
In the meantime, I ask for your continued prayers for my friends and loved ones back in Tennessee who are dealing with the aftermath of the floods earlier this month.
It's bedtime in Yokohama. That means a quick soak in my tub which I lovingly call my "bathcup" then settling into my freshly made bed. Ahhh, I love my life. :)
(If you'd like to see more photos, feel free to add me as a friend on Facebook. I'll also be creating a Flickr page and uploading pictures there. Stay tuned! And if you don't want to miss a thing...Be sure to subscribe to this blog! Many blessings and much peace to you!--RA.)
11:07 PM |
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