Jesus is a Carrot

So I'm officially naive. Even my soap says so. No jokes. I bought bars of soap for my sinks when I first got here, and when I got home I read the package. Right on the top where "Dove" gets printed, mine say "Naive". How appropriate; I laugh to myself every time I wash my hands.
But...the CLBI team bought me a de-humidifier before they left. My apartment is not unlike a sauna when I wash clothes because they just hang dry in there all day. I tried hanging things outside at first, but I would never be home to watch them dry (watching paint dry, no?), and when I got home my laundry would always be soaked from the rain, or blown off the pole on my balcony, dirtier than when I put them in the washing machine. But I just don't know how to work a dehumidifier on a good day, and when the instruction manual and all the buttons are in Japanese, I'm even more in the dark about how the thing functions. So I decided to make it up (welcome to my life). How was I to know that you don't fill the dehumidifier under-bucket with water?
I went to the onsen tonight. No this is not a change of topic. I left my jacket in Atsuko-san's car. So when Arnie was up here tonight telling me which buttons to push, of course she had to bring me my jacket. And of course Arnie told her what I had done. And of course they laughed at me, cuz really...who puts water INTO a dehumidifier? Apparently those who have never had a (Japanese) dehumidifer before.
And I also mix up words in my head when I'm talking. You all know I have a speech impediment; Japanese doesn't disguise that. Today I called Jesus a carrot. Good thing he has a sense of humor so I don't get struck by lightning. Or get run over by an 85 year old driving a dual-basket bicycle.

junk brain

I just love this bag. The English is just ridiculous here. I wonder if this is the way they actually think, or if something (or everything) gets lost in the translation.
Just a gentle reminder to take good care of your junk brain.

suggestion for the Japanese food guide

Tis the season...for mountain vegetables.
People spend hours picking them. One of my students has spent the last two weeks getting up at four in the morning just to go deep into the mountains to get them. And she's 62. She spends all morning hiking through the mountain bush picking these things, then she stops at lunchtime to eat onigiri. Just in the middle of nowhere. She sits in the forest and eats rice balls. Then she goes home. I asked her where she goes to get these mountain vegetables, and all she would say is 'the mountains'. She wouldn't tell me. It's like asking some diehard fisherman where his secret fishing hole is.
Some other students were at the park the other day for the bbq, went for a walk, and came back with handfuls of green. Of course, mountain vegetables.
They call them mountain vegetables, but really they're not vegetables at all. Anything that's green that you find on your plate, pickled or not, is bound to be a mountain vegetable. They're not particularly tasty, in fact they all kinda taste the same. Bitter...and maybe not unlike a dandilion. Actually that's kinda an accurate description of them. And not unlike a dandilion, they're rampant. They grow all over the countryside, and in the ditches along the roads. Pretty much anything that's green and grows is classified as a mountain vegetable. I don't really think that's fair to the other vegetables in this world. I think they should just adapt their food guide and create a new category for them.

Rearview Mirror

A weird thing happened the other day. Yesterday. There was an adult camp type thing this weekend at the church, kind of an evangelical English type program. During a discussion time we were sharing some memories we had. Someone asked me about elementary school...I couldn't recall any specific memories. Then high school...again I couldn't get any clear pictures. All I could see in my head was Japan.
I guess I could take this as a blessing.
If you drive while looking in the rearview mirror, you will undoubtedly get into an accident. It's the same with living life. I have to take what I have now and keep looking ahead, no matter how much my heart wants me to look back. Someone once said, "I have to be a pillar, though I'll not be made of salt." You can't live life looking backwards. You have to be fully in the present, satisfied with where you are, open to how God is using you now, and not wishing you were back in the safety of your comfort zone.
I really haven't forgotten my life that ended three months ago. Life up to that point has shaped me into who I am now. Everybody who I've laughed and cried with are deeply engraved in my heart. I have a lifetime full of memories and amazing people that my heart will never forget, even if it can't always see.

Sunrise

I woke up early one morning to watch the sunrise. These are some pictures of rice fields in my area I took when I was walking around.

Here are some pictures of a Japanese graveyard.

homestay

Last night Sara and I slept at my oldest English student's house (she's 75). She's been studying English for about 10 years with this English program through the church, so she has a long history of hearing God's word, but is very non-committal. At least from what you can see on the outside.
But after supper was amazing yesterday. She randomly showed me a wall hanging in her living room, a bible verse in Japansese; "love is patient, love is kind..." from 1 Corinthians 13. Then she puttered away to another room, and came back 5 minutes later with a Japanese bible. I showed her where that verse in the bible was, and then she underlined it. Then we did the same with her English bible.
That day's chapel after English class was the Isaiah 1:18 verse about being cleansed whiter than snow. In my Japanese-English bible I showed her John 3:16 and explained that was the only way to get your heart cleaned. I told her about God's big love that he sent Jesus, who died, but rose again and is still living. I explained that when we believe in that, God looks at us and sees Jesus, not all the bad things we've done.
The amazing part is that this was all in Japanese.
Actually maybe the more amazing part was that her husband was in the room too, listening. From what I've heard, he's been very opposed to her being connected with the church. It probably wasn't her first time hearing these things, but it may have been her husband's first time.
Then she saw the book Sara had left on the table when she went to have a bath. It was called The Father's Gift; it's all about the Holy Spirit. She didn't know really what it was, so I explained that to her too, that the Holy Spirit is always with us and leading us every day.
Again in Japanese. Again with her husband listening.
Remember to pray for this couple, that the seeds that were sown will not be snatched away, and that they will grow inside of them into an amazing faith.

Hirosaki Castle

Here are some pictures of Hirosaki, Japan's number one place to see the cherry blossoms. Me and Sara, Chris, and Jeff all went there last Monday on our day off. We may or may not have missed the train and the bus, but we eventually got there. This is definitely Japan.

The Language Barrier

There is something about not knowing anything that is frustrating. This is my life in Japan not knowing Japanese. It's kind of like watching people from far enough away that you can't hear what they're saying, just trying to figure out what they're talking about by their hand gestures and facial expressions. Or watching the french channel.
I occasionally get grumpy because of it. But there's always two ways to react to situations, and being grumpy isn't the fun way.
I'm not gonna lie, I've prayed and asked God to let me be bilingual. I think it would be neat if I could wake up and just know Japanese. Kind of like the Matrix. It would certainly be the easiest way. But that's not how life works. The most rewarding things have to be worked for. God can make them easier, but you still have to work. God can open my mind to learn Japanese, but I still have to take the time and study it.
There is something about communication that is so...essential. Often I feel like I am kidnapped because people take me places and I just have no idea where we're going, or why we're going there. It's exhausting. Being able to talk to people at the same speed about things that actually mean something is quite refreshing.
I'm getting sick of shallow conversations. Shallow conversations with my english students, and shallow conversations with people at my church, in either English or Japanese. I think the whole language thing is what makes me lonely.
People weren't meant to be alone. I'm not alone cuz I always have people around me, but I think there are two different types of alone. Body alone and soul alone. People need other people to talk with, to communicate with, to share time and space with on a heart level.
Do hearts need words though? I guess I'll just have to let my smile talk for me until I know Japanese.

no. 1

So I'm in Japan......