Earthquake

I lived in Tokyo, Japan for 222 days (exactly). I never once thought what would happen if a major earthquake or other natural disaster struck while I was there. I simply went about my daily tasks, business, etc. I took walks by myself and with friends. I made frequent runs to the 7-11 as you know from reading my blog. I made it to the trains and missed trains all the time! I never thought: "what if this is my last action?" Often I walked down the streets of Tokyo and Ginza, or Harajuku some of the top shopping places in the world. After being there and seeing all of it I wonder: "How could all of it be completely destroyed in 5 minutes?"


Doubtless you have heard about the earthquake, tsunami, and following aftershocks that hit Japan late last week. That 8.9 earthquake was the largest earthquake to ever hit Japan, and the 5th largest to ever occur. Thousands of people have lost their lives. When they left home or even woke up that morning, I wonder how many of them thought that this would be their last day. Even the people who have not lost their lives have lost much. The Japanese economy will suffer greatly. The Japanese people have lost homes, family, health, jobs, etc. The train systems that were punctual to the second while I was there are not the same now. The malls and shopping streets are all changed. The people I visited are now in bad times. What else can I say? I don't think it has all even sunk into my brain yet. Practically everything that I knew is now changed in some way or another. 


I have heard from many of my friends. The Lowthers are all OK. The Fukuda family (the pastor of the church in Tokyo) is safe. Everyone in Chiba (the MTW team) is safe. To read my friend's blog about her experiences that day go to http://operation-arigatou-jesus.blogspot.com/ . 


All my love,
Hannah

...Rain

I am reclining on my living room couch as I watch the rain pound the ground outside our large double paned front windows on this grey, cloudy, and otherwise gloomy looking Tuesday afternoon. From that intro it might be easy to conclude that I have had a bad, unproductive, or otherwise disappointing day. I assure you, however, that quite the opposite is true! I have had a wonderful day.

 Before I go into details about how my Tuesday began, I want to back up a few hours and tell how my Monday ended, and Tuesday for my friends began. Last night around 8:00 I had turned on my computer to review some pictures, and make sure they were adequate. As soon as my laptop booted a message popped up saying "Melanie Johnson is online!" I immediately opened Skype, and before I could send her a message, she sent one to me! After that she started a video call, and she and Jenna and I talked together for a little over an hour!! I couldn't believe it had been that long - it seemed like we were just getting started! I also got to meet the new intern that's working at the school now. It was kind of sad to hear all of the changes that have been made since I'd left, and all the new people they'd met, and friends they'd made... But it made me thankful again for so many wonderful opportunities given to me by God. It also made me think about how my family must have felt while I was over there. I mean, they could relate to some of the stuff, just like I could with Jenna and Melanie, but some of it seemed so amazing. Sometimes I still can't believe I lived there for so long and did all of the things I did... I can't believe I visited all of those famous places, or met all of those people, or learned so much from/about another culture!!! I can't imagine how left out my family must've felt for those 7 1/2 months!!! But all that to say, I really really really enjoyed getting to talk with Jenna and Melanie last night! Thanks both of you for taking time out of your busy day ;) to chat with me, it really made my wonderful Monday complete!

 So now back to today...... This morning I rolled over and looked at my clock at 7:30. After lying back down and half falling back to sleep, I got up at 7:31. After washing my face and grabbing my house robe, I walked downstairs to make myself and my mother a cup of hot chai tea. Then I took out the dog, brought her back in, and gave her some breakfast. Then I sat down for my quiet Bible time. I am working on reading through Genesis right now. Aside from Romans, Ephesians, Hebrews, and Philippians, I think Genesis is my favorite book of the Bible. It is truly amazing to know that it was not written until far after most of the events recorded in it, yet it gives so many tiny details that are so fascinating.

 After that I went out to check on our goat who looks like she is about to explode if she doesn't have her kids soon! We all wait excitedly for her to have her cute little babies. We're hoping most of them are girls, since they're the only ones you can get milk from! :) After that I decided to go ahead and milk the two goats that are giving milk right now, and do the other 'goat chores.'  When I came in my wonderful mother had breakfast prepared for us. I don't remember what I did right after eating breakfast, but I'm afraid it was going to my room to clean out one side of my armoir. I ended up cleaning out one side of my armior, and one shelf in my closet. They both look much better, but I worked from 11:00 to 2:00 on it, took a break for lunch, and worked on it another hour after that... The middle of my room floor is still not quite clean but, as I said today, it makes a mess to take a mess!

 After I finished that not so little job everything got dark outside, and started raining.... Now it looks quite gloomy outside, and the goat still hasn't had her kids, and it's too wet to go all the way down the driveway to look for mail, and I waited too long to go for a walk. But I don't mean to complain... I've had a wonderful day, and started working on a project (my armior) that I'd wanted to tackle for a long time...

Now I've got to go help a little sister make her special dinner. :)

All my love,
Hannah

Today

Merry Christmas, Everybody!!!!!!!


 I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with lots of fun, love, and laughter... Enjoy this time of the year and remember, as they say, the 'Reason for the Season.'!


All my love,
Hannah

Disneyland!

Hello everyone! I woke up this morning and my first thought was (besides commenting to myself about the gloominess of the day outside) "[GASP] I only have 7 days left!!!" This is true: I am leaving Japan in only seven days. I'm really sad. Last night after church Melanie, Jenna and I went to Starbucks instead of coming back to Tsukishima... It struck me after church was over, and before we left, that this was our last normal Sunday together. Next Sunday is all booked, from just after dawn 'till long past dusk. I'm really going to miss our three-some-ness! I'm going to miss the Lowther family. I'm going to miss the Japanese, and Korean friends I've made here! I'm really going to miss the trains, my ...braveness... to go places by myself without doubting whether I'll be mugged or worse. I'll miss the freedom I have here to hop onto a train and visit friends up to an hour away! ...Being able to walk to the grocery store! (My home is at least 15 minutes away from the closest convenience store, and 25 minutes from the nearest WalMart.) 


 Anyway, that's not what I wanted to write about... I wanted to write about my trip to Disney Land on Saturday... It turned out that Micah and Seth couldn't come, so it was just Melanie, Jenna, Satoshi, Yukiho, and me. We had a great time! We all met at the station gates at 9:00 in the morning. It ended up that I was the only one without a ticket, but everyone else was kind enough to stand in line with me while I bought mine... Actually Roger and Abi paid for my ticket as a gift! I was really surprised. After we got into the park, we stopped to look at the map. First we rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. That was really fun! I think I saw the Captain Jack that I had my picture taken with... :) Then we made our way around the edge of the park until we came to the Western Railway ride. We took a ride along the "Mississipi River Western Railroad". We saw Indians, caribou (which was really funny, because I'm from Mississippi and I know we don't have any caribou down there!), and the Mark Twain ferry boat. Then we stood in line for a record two and a half hours to ride a roller coaster. It was worth it, I believe. That was the longest roller coaster ride I've ever been on, and we got to find out a lot about each other while we were waiting in line... We kept asking questions, and made our own 'get to know your friends' game. :) That was lots of fun! After that we climbed the Swiss Family Robinson's tree house, since that was one of the main things Jenna and I remember from when we went to Disney as small, little, tiny children. :) After that and watching the very end of the Christmas parade where Santa Clause spoke with a funny accent, we walked over to the Queen of Heart's royal banquet hall for lunch. I had a hamburger patty shaped like a heart, a few vegetables, and half a coke. It was so cute! The waiters and waitresses all wore aprons with hearts in the middle. We have some cute pictures from there, but I haven't uploaded them yet. Directly following lunch, we made our way to the teacups! (Don't ask me why that was the one we decided to ride just after eating!) The tree house, the teacups and the Dumbo ride are the only ones Jenna and I remember from our previous Disney trip, so we had to re-do all three of those. All five of us couldn't ride in one teacup, so Jenna and I got dizzy together, and Melanie, Yukiho and Satoshi got dizzy in another cup. To tell the truth, I couldn't tell when the ride actually stopped either time we rode! I say either time, because we did ride it twice! We rode it once after lunch and then, quite by accident, that's the one we decided to re-ride right after dinner! After the first time around, (pardon the un-intended pun) we rode Dumbo!!! I loved it! It brought back so many memories. I think I must've ridden that ride four times when I went to Disneyland when I was three years old. After that I don't remember what we did.... I know we had dinner at some point, so I'll skip ahead to there... We all ordered pizza for supper. It was pretty good pizza, but by the time we had decided where to eat, and gotten our food, there were no empty tables inside... So we tried eating outside at those tables. The wind just happened to be horrible at that time, and it was...7:30....which means it was dark and cold, on top of being windy. As we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed one of those penny mashing machines... The kind where you put in your penny and your quarter, and then press a design onto the penny... As I was trying to find a 100 yen piece to insert, I realized that they don't use pennies here. :) So, instead of a dark penny where you can see Abraham Lincoln's head squished sideways on the back, I got a shiny new piece of copper cut to the right size with Eve from WALL-E on it! I can add it to my squashed penny collection at home! Last time I went to Disney, I believe I had one with... Minnie Mouse on it. After dinner we walked over to the Winnie the Pooh ride. It was a giant book that you walk into and through!!! It was amazing! It had giant 50 foot pages, like from the book. Then when you got to the ride itself, it was a huge honey pot that just happened to sit exactly five people! I loved it!!! Then it took you through the story of Winnie the Pooh's Honey Hunt. We even got to hear the Tigger song sung in Japanese! "The wonderful thing about Tiggers is Tiggers are wonderful things. Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs. They're bouncy, bouncy, trouncy, troucny, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun. The most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one! I-I-I-I'm the only one! T. I. double G. ER - TIGGER!" That in itself was funny. Then we went to the Pooh Bear gift shop. I bought the most adorable hooded sweatshirt there. It has Pooh's face on the front, and lots of embroidered flowers and a honey bee on Pooh's nose! It's soooooo cute. I'll have to take a picture of it and post it later.. 
  
We finally left the park at 10:00 when they pushed everyone out and said they were closing... :) The trains were absolutely packed!!! The Fukudas had to go home, because it was really late... But Jenna, Melanie and I came back here and had ice cream together before we crashed, realized how much we ached, and how tired we were! By the time we finally got to bed we were too tired to lay out futons for everybody... We all just took pillows, lined them up off the edge of my twin sized futon, and slept sideways along it! It was so much fun! I certainly slept better than I thought I would have. We woke up late, and just sat around talking and realizing how much we were going to miss me not being here. :( But we ended up having a great day, and I'm looking forward to going to Chiba on Saturday morning for an early lunch at the best ramen place in the country! Then we're coming back here for my surprise going away party. (Don't tell anyone I know about it...) 


This post is really long, and I know I'll have more to tell when I get the pictures anyway, so I'll go for now.


Lessons from a future housewife:


#3 - Recipe for deliciously baked eggplant. When cooking eggplant on a baking sheet in the oven, it is always wise to put oil of some kind under it. I like using olive oil, because it gives whatever you're cooking more taste. The easiest way to make sure the vegetables are completely coated, and not going to burn, is to pour oil onto the pan, rub the eggplant in it, and then turn all the eggplant over. This coats both sides, and then you can salt the top. Always cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 until it's soft. Pouring the olive oil onto the pan first, saves extra trouble. Since you want them evenly coated, it's much easier to just rub them in the oil and flip them over, than to try pouring it evenly over them. Pouring oil over them doesn't get the oil underneath the eggplant, so they still stick to the pan... See?  


All my love,
Hannah

...Lessons from a future housewife:

Good morning everyone - or good night, as your case may be... I am sitting here taking a short break. Today I have taken a shower, eaten breakfast, answered a gazillion emails, washed a few dishes, folded and put away a load of clothes, made coffee, and started to hang out another load of clothes... And it's only 10:00! Think how productive the rest of my day will be! :) 


 ...Anyway. I didn't get on here to tell you minute by minute about my day so far. I wanted to write, because I suddenly had a brilliant idea. I keep telling people that I've learned so much while I've been in Japan. Well, my 'eureka moment' occurred while I was trying to hang out my load of laundry. (Doing laundry provides the second best time to think.) I decided that I should share some of the things I've learned with all of you! So, in each post I remember to do this in, I will impart one fact of housekeeping etc. that I have learned while in Japan. These may be brilliant revelations, common sense helps I've figured out, or life lessons that should be applied to housekeeping that I've learned by word of mouth or learned the hard way... 


 So since I don't have a lot of time to sit here and write about more, I'll go ahead and close with my new "lessons from a future housewife." 


LESSON NO. 1 - 
           I'm not sure which category this falls under. I think it could be classified as a brilliant  
          revelation, common sense help, or even a life lesson I learned the hard way... 


#1 - Never ever EVER wash a disposable diaper in a load of clothes. (Trust me! The results are disastrous!) This rule should be closely adhered to especially when black articles of clothing are in the load. 


This rule was realized when I found lint all over the load of clothes I was hanging out.. I wondered what on earth could have made so much lint, until I found the remains of a pull-up that had been accidentally tossed in with the rest of the clothes. I'm guessing that when Eastin changed out of his pajamas, he forgot to separate the pull-up from the pants... The rest, as they say, is history.  


That's all for now...


All my love,
Hannah

Hello Again....

 Well hello everyone, whoever and wherever you may be... I am me, sitting at a dining room table somewhere in Tokyo, Japan, with a baby in my lap. I have sad news... Colin is on his way back to Mississippi. Right now he is sitting somewhere near the middle of a Boeing 777 over the Pacific Ocean. My room looks so empty. The entire house seems just a little sadder....especially me... :( I hated to see him go. I wish his stay could have been longer... But why dwell on that when I could be telling of all the fun we had together while he was here! We had 13 wonderful days together, and I hope always to remember the fun we had.  Since it's been too long to go from where I left off last time to today, I'll start at yesterday, work my way backwards as far as I can remember until I get too tired to think... :)


 Yesterday morning started off well. After taking Eastin to school, Colin and I took Baby and left for the Imperial Palace. It was only a short train ride and walk away, and the weather was perfect for a long walk outside. It was overcast (good for picture taking), breezy (good for...something), and cool (to keep you from getting too hot walking for so long). I pushed Baby in the stroller the entire time, and we spent the whole morning just walking around the imperial gardens. It was amazing, not necessarily for the interesting landscape, but just because it was so big! There were actually huge patches with just grass and a few trees! I was continually commenting on the amount of grass! It was pure beauty! :) We took some pictures, but they are all on Colin's camera, so I don't have any to show yet... Perhaps soon. Then for lunch we ate at a little cafe type thing. It reminded me of a small corner place in London in the 1960's. The atmosphere was wonderful (not to mention the hamburger, fries, onion rings, and drink), and the music was all from the late 1940's to mid 1960's American.  Perhaps the prices weren't that great compared to America, but we each got all of those things for less than 1,000 yen. I thought it was pretty good, considering that just a coke in a restaurant here can cost up to 400 yen! Then on the way back we got lost for a while in Tokyo station. But we found our way, and then I picked Eastin up from school and we spent about an hour here. Then, Colin and I went to Hinako's house for a calligraphy lesson from Hinako's grandmother! I learned to make three kanji. We each did the word for 'big', and 'mountain', and 'earth'.  Hinako's grandmother even gave me my own set of calligraphy materials! I love it! I love doing it! She also presented one of her pieces to each of us. The one she gave me is 'mountain', and his is 'earth'. I love mine! :) After that we came home and had a full Japanese meal. We ate rice, yakitori (chicken on a stick), eggplant, fried lotus root, and Colin and I ate some Chinese rolls made by the mother of Eastin's friend! Everything was super delicious!!! After dinner I had pumpkin icecream. It was ok, but green tea icecream is still by far my favorite! We tried to watch an anime movie, but I fell asleep about 15 minutes into it, and didn't wake up until the end credits. :) I think Colin stayed awake for the whole thing, but I still don't have a clue what it's about... I'll have to watch it again some other time. :) 

  The day before that, Monday, Colin filmed me taking Eastin to school. I hope the video turned out well since he was having to film around all the other children and their mothers taking them to school. It was really cool, because the mothers kept saying good morning to us (as usual), but this time he got it on video so that I can always remember these days! My brother is amazing! After that I came back and made some bread while Colin worked on the video he's making for Grace City Church Tokyo (GCCT).  I think it's going to be good! Then we went to take pictures of the outfit I bought on Saturday. I bought the dress, boots, and jacket, and let Colin take pictures of it all. Then he and Abi went to film another part of the movie while I stayed here with Coen. I don't remember what we had for dinner that night, but I'm sure it was good too. :) We also watched an anime called "Princess Mononoke". It was in Japanese but had English subtitles. I really liked it. I had seen it before, but had no idea what was going on. Seeing it that night with subtitles made all the difference! 




On Sunday... Wow... Last Sunday was probably the best I remember since being here. I can't really explain what made it so different, it just was... And so totally better! I felt good all day, and everything seemed brighter and less foreign, and Coen was good during church, and the boys were good after church, and there were English words to all of the songs, and...I don't know... I just enjoyed it a lot more than usual. After church Colin, Jenna, and I went to LaLaport, the mall. That was lots of fun, too. We stayed until about 9:00. After that Jenna had to go back to Chiba and we came back here and went to bed. 




 Saturday was lots of fun. Colin and I spent the entire day out (didn't even make it back for supper), and had loads of fun. In the morning, we went to the Meiji shrine, made when Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken died in the 1960's (I believe). It is truly huge, and took all morning to explore! This picture is one of my favorites. It is me standing beside one of the huge arches outside the shrine. Seeing me standing beside it really helps put it into proportion... and I'm over 5 and a half feet tall (about 176 cm.)! I'm the tiny thing wearing white... Then after that we went to the Oriental Bazaar. I love that store, even though it was obviously designed for tourists. It has everything in it basically, and at more decent prices than you usually find... For lunch we stopped in a little two story cafe and had Italian. We just both happened to be craving something Italian. I don't think the fact that it was after 1:00 and it was the first restaurant we came to had anything to do with our decision. ;) We stopped at a Starbucks for a green tea frappachino after that, and went clothes shopping. Then we came home and had onigiri, sushi, and popcorn for dinner. (Only Colin had sushi. I wasn't in the mood for it. I just had a small onigiri and some popcorn while we tried to watch a movie.) I fell asleep during that movie as well, and Colin was working the entire time it was playing, so he didn't see it either. :) 


Now I'll skip to Wednesday, because I don't remember at the moment what we did on Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday Colin and I went to Chiba for the English worship service at Honda Chapel. I was so excited, and thankful, that I was able to find it on my own. We got to the station and I led the way to the church from there. It was the first time I ever remembered walking that way before, but we made it with no problems. Colin was able to meet the Chiba team (or most of them), and we ate lunch with them. He enjoyed talking to Mr. Drews during lunch. I also loved the English service. It was a full service, with hymns, a sermon, and the Lord's Supper. It was great. 


Well, I'm pretty tired now, so I'll have to fill in on more details at a later date. Perhaps tomorrow...? 


Remember to pray for the safe arrival of Colin!


All my love,
Hannah

Monday Night

Good morning everyone! (I just felt like saying good morning, even though it's afternoon for you.) 
I hope your Monday night goes as well as mine... If you knew the story of my last night, you might take my previous statement several ways... I will explain both my night and my statement.


  Yesterday was a long day for me. I had a headache most of the day and was tired. By the time I went to bed I was a little upset. I was almost asleep when I heard Coen start crying at 11:00 pm. (He has gotten into two different things with wheat in them this week, so he's not feeling well.) After that I couldn't get comfortable on my futon for some reason and tossed and turned until after midnight. Then my sleep was very light and I kept waking up every now and then until around 2:00. After that I was finally able to sleep. Well after consulting with my noise-ometer I have come to the conclusion that Coen must have gotten up around 5:30. I think that I unconsciously register noise in my sleep and when I've heard so much, it's like an alarm clock and I wake up. Well, this morning my noise clock went off at 6:15 rather than 7:15 like usual. (That's why I figured that Coen had been up for a while.) Because it was noisy at 6:15 too. Well, you can imagine the rest of my morning. Between showers and coffee to wake me up, it still took a while! :) 


So after reading that, how would you take my hope that you have a night as good as mine?


I'll explain what I meant... After a while of feeling sorry for myself, I realized how silly I was being. I had a much better night than lots of people around the world had last night! I had a roof over my head, I had an air conditioner to keep me cool, I had a bed and a pillow and a blanket, I didn't lose a loved one, I have another day ahead of me, I have a family back home who loves and cares for me, I live with a family who takes care of me and includes me, my headache from yesterday is gone, and I was able to get at the very least 5 hours of really good sleep (plus some). I am alive, I am loved, I am cared for, I am forgiven! 


How often do we get so caught up in self pity that we don't even have the time to look around and see what we really do have? What if I hadn't realized my mistake this time? How would it have affected the rest of my day? How often have I not realized that I'm sitting in a pool of selfishness? I encourage you the rest of your night and tomorrow morning to take the words of the old hymn to heart: "Count your many blessings see what God has done." If you've had a long day (as I know many of you have) don't let it get you down. One of my all time favorite quotes comes from Corrie Ten Boom. This wise lady once said: "If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest." 
Rest is what I thought I needed last night. But I found out that I needed to look to God first, and not rely on myself to get rest. 


So when I say that I hope your Monday night is as good as mine was, I don't wish that you have a 'bad' night so that you can then sympathize with me. I don't wish that you get woken up early by too much noise (or anything, really :) ). And I'm not being sarcastic! :) I truly hope that you will wake up in the morning knowing that there is a Father in Heaven that loves you, and has given you another night and the start of another day to be with your family and friends. Don't get carried away by a flood of selfishness like I did. Look to God and get rest. Let Him be your rest!


Good night!


All my love,
Hannah

Sorry

Hello everyone,

The past six days have really been worth documenting. So much happened in them, and I wish I could tell everything! Unfortunately, I just do not have the energy right now. The past few days have been a roller-coaster weather wise, and Coen and Abi and I are all trying to enjoy these cool days with a cold! Mine started out as allergies, and now I have a cold. Coen and I both came down with it yesterday. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. I have tried to consume all the vitamin C I can, and about an hour ago I dosed myself up with DayQuil (because I don't have NyQuil), fresh ginger, and a tablespoon of honey. I just hope now I can sleep!

Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't really posted anything that interesting in several days... A lot has been going on here and at home in the States that has my mind a little preoccupied. I hope I can remember all of the things that happened here so that I can write them down when I feel better.

All my love,

Hannah

Gifts From God

Good evening everyone,

I hope your day has been filled with brightness, blessings, and beauty! I know that for my family and myself I can vouch for all three!!!

I had a rather rough night last night, and woke up at least once every hour. I never let my computer turn off last night either because I was expecting a very important email at an unknown hour. Finally it came at around 6:00 this morning. As I opened it my arms were literally and noticeably shaking. The contents of this email were a matter of life or death. When I read it such a flood of relief rushed over me that I just lay back and wept tears of joy, and sent up silent prayers of thanks to my Father in Heaven who never sleeps.

Yesterday the weather cooled off wonderfully, and it was below 80 degrees all day. Last night I slept with my window open and heard the slow rain. It was calming. But last night about 8:00 I went for a long walk. While I was walking, I began praying. Before I got back, such a peace had come over me... I knew that whatever happened during the next 12 hours would be OK.

I just can't describe my happiness today! Even though I didn't get much sleep last night, I feel more refreshed than I have all week.

God is Good!!!

Hannah

Pray

Please pray... Pray for comfort, pray for rest, pray for assurance, pray for calmness, pray for steadiness, pray for precision, pray for God's blessings, pray for life.

The Lord's prayer comes to my mind...

"Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever. Amen"

Thank you.

Hannah

Wonderful Day!!!

Well, I'm at the end of another Sunday... The best Sunday I've had in a long time! The Lord has blessed me with energy, patience, and everything else I've needed to get through my day. :) I started my day by listening online to a sermon from my church. Then, I had time to talk to my family. I actually got to talk to everyone in my family except for one sister! Today, since the Fukudas are in Holland, Roger had the opportunity to lead worship. The only thing that worried me about this situation, was that I would be in charge of all three boys until the sermon started... I was wonderfully blessed when Aidan, Eastin, and Coen sat or played right beside me the ENTIRE time! I was actually able to sing the songs and pay attention to the words, without having to worry about boys running, giggling, or playing loudly in some other part of the room! I even had energy left over to play with the boys and reward them for their good behavior when we got home. I played sword fighting (with balloon swords) for probably an hour after we got back from church. Even though I got the worst of it, I had fun, and so did all three boys! I think this is probably the best Sunday I've had in the past three months!

We had to put the boys to bed early, because of various aches or pains. So then we three adults had planned to watch a movie since it was an early evening. Unfortunately no one could choose or agree on a movie to watch. So some of us are enjoying our evening watching some Japanese film, and some of us are doing things we enjoy better...writing and listening to our music...! :) By the way, did I ever mention how much I love my favorite playlists, and a good set of earbuds? Being able to write like this (basically any time I want) really helps me to stay 'calm, cool, and collected', more that I would have thought. It has been really nice writing for the past few nights, because from where I sit to type, I can see the almost full moon out the window. It is absolutely breathtaking to be able to sit here at the dining room table, in a 'foreign' country, on the 28th floor of a building, at 8:30 pm, and see this gorgeous yellow glow around a beautiful, huge, hunk of rock that God has put in orbit around the planet we call Earth. When you think about it like that, you really feel... treasured. To know that a loving God would allow us to see and appreciate beauty like this is a wonderful thing. Some people say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder... But I say that beauty is something that reflects God, and something that he allows us to perceive.

Well, tomorrow both boys go to swimming, so it'll be pretty quiet around here before lunch. The start of school does mean that I'll have to start getting up before 7:30, which is what I've been doing while we were still in 'vacation mode.' :( Oh well, God has proved to me so many times this past week that He will give me what I need to see through each day! Please pray that I will trust in Him for the strength I need for every day this week, rather than becoming depressed with my own insufficiency. Corrie Ten Boom once said: "If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest." I suggest everyone remember her wise words. Look to God in and for everything! :)

I hope you all have a blessed Lord's day.

All my love,

Hannah

Come....and Gone

Good morning everyone. I have just finished my Saturday, my day off. I feel... kind of sad, to tell the truth.... I didn't do anything today. I was too tired. If I wasn't asleep today, I was wishing I were. I don't know why I'm so tired. I suppose this is what happens if I don't have anything I want to do by Saturday.... I just don't do anything. Part of it I think is that it's too hot to go outside, and if I don't want to stay in the living room with everyone else, I stay in my bedroom... It was nice to have a completely quiet day, though. Sometimes I wish I could just sit and talk to someone (in English, without having to slow down or translate) for hours, about anything and everything that pops into my head. ...Sorry... I'm just sort of rambling... I really do enjoy being here, and being able to experience all of these wonderful things myself! But I do have a bit of advice for anyone who plans to live in another country for more than a few weeks: make sure you know more than a handful of words in the national language!!!!! :)

Well, last night I said I would tell more about the festival we went to yesterday. This festival, in Hamacho, is one of the biggest held in all of Tokyo. If you look at the pictures I have of the past festivals I've been to, put them all together as far as size, and multiply the people attending by about two and a half, then you might can imagine this festival. Most of the things were set up inside a baseball field. The whole field was literally packed with people, so that you could hardly walk! Then there was more on the outside of that!!! The dancing was held on a huge stage, with the drummers about 30 feet up, and the dancing deck below that, and everyone else danced around that in giant circles. I had lots of fun. I also wore the shoes that came with my yukata. I learned that walking in the wooden shoes was easier than walking in my flip-flops when wearing a kimono. They are a little small, but they look better than my black and white polka-dot flip flops. :) It made me feel nice.

Tonight we all watched a Dr. Who episode. Isn't it funny how some things are funner with people who have done them before, and some things are funner with people who don't know what's coming next? It is so fun to sit and listen to all of the guesses as to how a particular episode will end! :D Well, I just finished my cup of hot tea, and tomorrow is Sunday. Do you know how really comforting a cup of familiar tasting hot tea is? A cup of tea, your favorite iTunes play list, and writing (or some other thing you enjoy), are a wonderful combination when you're feeling down. Anyway, I hope you all have a good day! May God bless and keep each one of you.

All my love,

Hannah

Day 105

Wow! It really seems like more than five days ago when I posted 'Day 100'!

Yesterday's decision to have a good day proved to be a good one. I taught my English lesson with pep, and then taught the children (including Aidan) to play mime. I didn't notice my back hurting after about 11:30 yesterday morning, so that was also a relief. In the afternoon when Aidan went to play with a friend, I gave Abi some quiet time by taking the other two boys to the park for a little over an hour. After coming back and talking with my brother, I started dinner. We had baked eggplant, sauted honey carrots, rice and beef. I thought I did well with it, even though the beef did turn out a little tough. :( After supper, I read to the boys a few chapters out of Farmer Boy while the other adults got in some Japanese study time. Then I watched two Andy Griffith episodes while I had my green tea ice-cream, and I finished up the night by learning the vowels in hirigana (one Japanese alphabet). Thinking back over it all now, I can't believe that was all one day! I don't know how I got that much done yesterday, while on the day before all I could do was sit on the couch and feel sorry for myself because I felt so bad!

Today was a little different... I woke up this morning at 6:45, and lay on my futon half awake until 8:00 wishing I had the energy to move! :) When I got up at 8:00, I took a nice, long, very refreshing hot shower. After I went to the 7-11 for milk and ate my delicious fried rice breakfast, I had priceless time to chat with both of my parents! Today Abi, the boys, and I went to Chiba. We left at about 10:00 AM and got back around 6:30. While we were there, we visited with Carley and Matt and one of their Japanese friends who has two sons Aidan and Eastin's ages. We got there at about 11:30, ate lunch, and talked while the boys played. I stayed there until almost 2:00. Then I decided that, for my own sanity, I would go for a walk... You may be wondering what a walk in the heat of the afternoon, on the hottest day of the week would do for my sanity (or where my sanity was when I made that decision)? My choices were these: Either stay in one room with 7 boys ages 7 and under, or go for a walk in the heat of the afternoon. Which would you choose? ...I had intended to go to the home of some other friends while the ladies were visiting with each other, but the other people were not home. So I just walked. :) At one point before I went walking, Abi had leaned over to me and asked if I needed earplugs. My reply was quite accidentally humorous. I hadn't heard what she had said, so I asked her to repeat it. Then she told me she had asked if I wanted earplugs. :) After a 35 minute walk I returned to Carley's house, where they had put the noisy boys outside to play. We left shortly after.

Then we went to Costco. After unloading the van and putting everything away, we had dinner. We ate raw salmon, shrimp, salad, and rice. It was quite good. Now, I am devouring only the second bowl of popcorn I've seen in the last three and a half months! (If you know me really well, you know how much I love popcorn!)

I don't know what I'm going to do now... I'll probably go to bed within the next 30 min since I'm so worn out! But first I'm going to finish my popcorn!!! :)

My love to you all,

Hannah

Monday Again!

Well, it's Monday again here! Last week seems like it was an entire month! But this week is going to be different. Aidan starts back his swimming this week at school. So Aidan will be gone every morning from about 9:30 - 12:00. All of our 'camps' - cleaning camp, piano camp, and English camp - ease up a little this week. I have an English lesson today (at some point) and one on Wednesday too. We can't do one on Friday because of previous engagements concerning my student.

For the past two lessons I have cut out a big square and folded it into a triangle. Then I give them both the A-Bekah reader (we happen to have two copies) and have them read the words to me. Each time they read a word, I tell them what size triangle they may draw on their big triangle. The object of the game is to have drawn as many triangles on your paper as possible. When they're done, I cut along the lines of their triangles while they are copying a short story. If they do that well, I let them unfold the piece of paper and see that they've made a 'snowflake'. It works a lot better than I had at first imagined! I had them do that for two lessons partially so that they could see that no two snowflakes are alike. (Partially because I couldn't think of anything else for them to do.) :) Today I have cut small squares of paper, and each time they read a word, they get to draw a fish on whatever color I tell them. Then while they are writing their stories, I will cut out their fish and let the children glue them to the 'fish tank' I've made for each of them. I hope it works as well...

I woke up this morning rather late, because I couldn't go to sleep last night until really late. :( So I was really tired this morning... I also realized this morning as I was eating my peanut-butter and banana for breakfast that there are things I miss about the States more than I thought. For instance, (and I can't believe I'm saying this) I miss Wal-Mart! I don't know anyone who really likes Wal-Mart, but think about it... Everyone has to go out of town or out of state at some point. You probably don't realize how much it comforts you to find a Wal-Mart in every town! They all carry normal things you're accustomed to, and know what it is, and you can find anything you need in a hurry! I even miss unloading wal-mart bags from the car. Living on the 28th floor of a building gives 'bringing in the groceries' a whole new meaning! It is so easy to just go from the trunk straight to the kitchen!

I also miss singing in the car to my favorite CDs. I miss long car rides. I miss dancing to the Cupid Shuffle. I miss having friends at church that speak English! :)

These are just random things I was thinking about this morning... Besides all of this, :) , you already know how much I miss my family and friends! ...And animals, and grass, and pastures, and hot cattle feed bins, and getting accidentally soaked by water hoses, and stuck in mud, etc! :)

Well, I should go for now... I will post pictures from today's English lesson later...

All my love,

Hannah

Vacation Part 1

I don't have much time to write, but I just wanted to check in and say 'hi' before I leave for Nikko. I made it all the way from Tsukishima to Kamatori by my self, using the train schedule I printed... On the way back, I made it all the way from Soga to Tsukishima by myself without a train schedule! (And I didn't ask anyone for directions either...) I felt proud of myself. :) Last night I had a lot of fun with Sayaka and her parents. (and her dog Chocola.) They let me participate in a green tea ceremony with them, and then we had sushi for supper. Japanese sushi is not like what you get at the local Chinese restaurant. This sushi is a square of seaweed, with some special sushi rice, a slice of raw fish, and sometimes a few vegetables or something. I even tried salmon eggs... Not my favorite... Then for lunch today we went to a Ramen restaurant. I decided that my favorite Japanese foods are probably ramen and gyoza. :) During supper last night, we talked a lot about Mississippi. We talked about animals, farms, visits, and hurricanes. I found out that they heard about Katrina, and remembered hearing how bad it was. Then we all agreed that they should name typhoons something besides 'typhoon 1', 'typhoon 2', etc. :) I also took my first real Japanese style bath... In Japan, you take a bath and a shower. First you get clean in the shower, and then you can soak in the tub. The bathtubs here are really nice! The water fills the tub, and the tub keeps the water warm. I have always wanted a tub where it's so deep that when you sit in it the water comes up to your chin... Thats the way Japanese bathtubs are! :) I have decided that I like it.

Well, I am probably going to be picked up in a few minutes, so I will go for now....

All my love,

Hannah

Off Again

Good morning everyone! Happy first day of August! The title of this post has two meanings... I do realize that it took me a whole week (day off to day off) to post something new. Things have been rather crazy around here this week... Also, I am off again on another adventure as tomorrow is the start of my two week vacation. Tomorrow I am leaving the same time as the family, except I am going to Chiba to spend one night with friends. Then on Tuesday I plan to come back to Tsukishima around lunch time. Between 2 and 3 pm Rev. Fukuda is coming by here to pick up his van. His family is taking me to Nikko where he grew up. We are going to stay there until Thursday. On Friday Yukiho is coming here with me so that we can meet Keiko for dinner. On Saturday we are going to Disney to spend the day and see the fireworks. Then we come back here and Yukiho spends the night with me so that we can go to church together on Sunday. Then on Monday morning I leave bright and early for Kyoto and get back on Wednesday. After that I spend the rest of my time in Chiba. Although it may sound a bit hectic, I think I will enjoy it. Most of it will be spent outdoors somewhere besides big city. Nikko is in the mountains, and Chiba is mostly a farming city, and Kyoto is 'classic' Japan... I just hope I can remember all of the tiny details such as who to call when, where to put what key, and what time to leave... :) Other than that, I'm looking forward to it! I will take along my camera, and hope to take lots of pictures.

My week went well, though, aside from being busy. I had 'English camp' with Hinako and Eastin. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Hinako came over and we had a short lesson. After that, I let them help me make something. On Monday we went to the park and played house. On Wednesday we made peanut butter playdough, and rolled into balls to take on the camping trip. Friday was a little different, since Hinako had to leave a little early. We had just enough time to get some brownies in the oven. I thought it was fun!

One day this week Eastin told me that he was going camping and that I was sad that I couldn't go camping with him, and that I have to stay here by myself until he gets back. I told him I was going on vacation with Hinako and Yukiho and Satoshi. He told me that I couldn't go with Hinako because he likes her. And Aidan told me I couldn't even be friends with Yukiho and Satoshi because he was their friend while I was still in America. :) They both still think I'm sad because I can't go camping with them...

On Saturday I slept until 8:30. After a nice hot shower and belated breakfast, I was able to watch a few Andy Griffith episodes before Abi and Aidan got back from Soccer. I had the house to myself from about 9:00 to 12:30. Then around 2:00 we started getting ready for the party that night. I made (all gluten free) meatballs from scratch, cream cheese brownies, and sweet tea. I decorated a fruit plate, and helped make rice paper/vegi roll things. I was in the kitchen from about 2:30 until 5:30. I'm not complaining, but I do have one suggestion for the future... When you plan to do lots of cooking and then have a party where you stay up 'till 10:00, stand on one foot while you cook. Then, you can switch for the party, and keep going. :) While I was in the kitchen, Abi was at the store getting ingredients and drinks for the party. I kept the boys occupied watching Song of the South, the movie about Brer Rabbit. I told them the Tar Baby story on Friday. They loved it and actually begged for more. I gave them some choices, and they chose to hear how Brer Rabbit caught Brer Fox with the cheese in the well. :) We had a party on Saturday for two reasons; reason no. 1 was that it was Abi's birthday, reason no. 2 was that from our window we have a GREAT view of some of the most famous fireworks in Japan. They were really incredible. They lasted for nearly two hours!

Today went well. This morning I made bread for communion at church. Then I made another batch for the family to take with them on their vacation. Coen got his appetite back today after about a week of not wanting to eat. He has had an ear infection this week, and as grumpy as you can imagine most of the time. Today at church he started fussing, so I took out a jar of baby food to offer it to him. I didn't really think he would eat it, but it was worth a try... To my complete astonishment he ate all three jars I had in the diaper bag!!! He also seems to be feeling much better this evening. This is the first time this week he hasn't minded playing with something by himself, and not insisting to be held every minute... (not that I mind baby hugs at all.)

Well, I should probably let that be all for now, since tomorrow will most likely be pretty hectic too... :)

My love to you all!

Hannah

Saturday

Good morning everyone! I hope you enjoy your Saturday as much as I have enjoyed mine. This morning I quite accidentally slept until almost noon... I had not meant to sleep that long! I guess closing the curtains was not the best idea? I had just woken up when Eastin popped his head in my door, closed it again, and then loudly announced to his mother that "Hannah is still 'sleep. I know she is." Then he started loudly banging on the piano. When I opened my door he was staring intently at it. As soon as he saw me he said "You were still 'sleep. I was trying to wake you up." I thanked him, and haven't told him yet that I was already awake. :)
Before lunch, I had a little time to read The Fellowship of the Ring. After my breakfast/lunch, I left for La Laport (the huge mall that I had visited earlier this week). It is only one station away, so it is easy to get there. My intention was to just walk around and explore the place, and check out all the huge sales. It took me nearly 3 hours to do that! If you have ever taken me shopping before (or, if you're my Mother :) ) you know how I love clothes shopping! I was proud of myself, however... After walking in and out of countless stores, all of which had sales going on for 10-80% off, I only spent about $40! (And that includes the Starbucks.) I bought two shirts from one store, and a cute scarf from another. After I bought my two shirts, I walked into the GAP store and found similar things for nearly twice the price! One of the shirts is dark grey, and the other is a purple-ish blue color. Then I wanted to find a scarf that would go with both shirts... (since I love things like vests and scarfs.) I looked in every store for something I liked, and only found ONE scarf that I thought was acceptable... ;) I was truly surprised that I could only find one that I liked, since Japanese seem to enjoy accessories so much! After that I finished up the trip with a dark mocha chip frappachino. I think I like La Laport! :) I did realize while I was there that going places by yourself is not as bad as I thought it would be... This is the first time I've really done anything by my self since I've been here. I expected it to be boring and lonely. It would have been more fun if I had been able to ask someones opinion about things, I think, but I had fun. I have also found that even though I don't know exactly what people are saying, I usually know the general meaning of it... Did you know that when you go into a fitting room in Japan you are supposed to take off your shoes and leave them by the door? Thankfully I knew that. :) Also, I don't remember any mall I've ever been in in the states where people stand outside their store with loudspeakers announcing their sales. Another thing I noticed was how crowded the Starbucks was. In American Starbucks', there are usually one or two couches and a table or two over by themselves... In this Starbucks, there were lots of tiny tables, and it looked more like a McDonald's than a Starbucks. I keep having to remind myself that Japan is a group society. They enjoy being in large groups where everyone does the same thing. They like being close together, unlike Americans who enjoy their 'space bubbles'. I've learned to accept the fact that people are going to brush past me, and run into me, and sit next to me on the trains, etc.

Well, that's about all I did today... It's after 5:00 now, and I don't know what I'm going to do the rest of the day... Probably not much...

I hope you have as much fun as I did today! I was able to take my daily walk in an air-conditioned area, I bought two really cute t-shirt type shirts and a scarf, I got my favorite type of frappachino, and I got to sleep late, and had lots of time to think. I had my favorite fruit for lunch (peaches) and I get to have rice for dinner. (I love rice now.)

Know that God's blessings and my love are with you today!

Hannah

Too Long

Hi all, I'm sorry it has been so long since the last time I posted anything... This week I have had a different schedule than usual. On last Friday the boys 'officially' got out of school, but they have had half days every day this week... Well, Eastin has anyway... On Monday Aidan got dehydrated from being outside most of the day for soccer. On Tuesday and Wednesday he ran a low grade fever and couldn't go to school. Eastin left at the normal time every morning (8:45) and got home about 11:00. This week I taught Eastin how to play Go Fish with my deck of cards. After that, he nor Aidan wanted to do anything besides play card games with me for three days! I even had to hide my deck so they wouldn't start games without my consent. :)

Yesterday afternoon I kept all three boys for a few hours. We made delicious cookie bars while Coen was napping. Maybe sometime soon I will post that recipe. It was another of my made up successes. Last night I also made the Mediterranean pasta dish that I love to make. I will tell the recipe for that, because it was excellent! I added to and changed a few of the regular ingredients. I also used rice pasta rather than wheat pasta so that it would be family friendly. I think I like the rice pasta better, because it soaks up flavor more than regular spaghetti and because it's stickier. The flavors stuck to it rather than falling off when you pick it up. After dinner, I washed some dishes, and got to read a chapter out of one of my favorite books to the boys. I read Farmer Boy. Then I put all three of them to bed and had time to talk to my family and watch one I Love Lucy episode.

On Wednesday I went with Abi and the two older boys to the mall. It is HUGE! There is a cinema on one end, and the top floor is the food court. The rest of it is small stores like in our malls. There was an L. L. Bean store, and a Uni Qlo, and a GAP, and lots of other stores.

This morning I woke up at 5:00 to the sound of the building creaking and swaying. There was a very small earthquake. This one was smaller than the first one I remember. The after-sway didn't last as long. Roger said that he felt it. I didn't feel it so much as just hear it... I think what I hear every time is the giant springs underneath the building as they move. It's kind of freaky...

I have been able to go for a walk yesterday and today. Yesterday I walked across the river on one bridge (to the left of us), walked along the inside edge of of the neighboring island, and then walked across the other bridge (to our right), and came back here. The whole thing only took about 45 minutes. Today I walked across yet another bridge, to the other neighboring island, and walked along the river about a mile and back. That took 30 minutes. The heat index today is 105 degrees. Thankfully there was a small breeze some of the time to keep it bearable.

Well, tomorrow is my day off, but I don't know what I'll end up doing. I have an engagement from 7:00 to about 9:00 AM tomorrow...I plan to sleep... And I won't be woken up by 6:45 piano lessons, since the teacher(Roger) is on a camping trip this weekend with the oldest student(Aidan).

I have learned the past two weeks that on clear days the sun is really bright by 5:45. So maybe tonight I'll close my curtains. ...This would be a good night for Netflix... :(

Well, next week my days will be even busier since I'm doing three days of English with Eastin and Hinako, and Eastin doesn't have school next week at all.

I may post something tomorrow, depending on what I decide to do...

My love to you all,

Hannah

This Week

Hello all. I hope that your week has started out well. My week has already been busy. On Sunday before church, I helped make spaghetti sauce. We put it in the crock-pot so that it would be ready by supper. We had three people come over for supper, and then a fourth came afterward for rehearsal for the next two Sundays. Monday was another busy day. First, I gathered materials for an English lesson with Hinako and Eastin. Around noon, I walked down half of the stairs in the building and back up. By 1:30 I had not eaten lunch, but didn't have enough energy at the time. I went to lie down for a little while and ended up going to sleep and sleeping nearly 2 hours! Oops! Afterward, Eastin and I went to Hinako's house for the lesson. We had so much fun! I let them make a paper chain using pieces of paper that they had written words on. They liked it. :) Today has been busier than yesterday, considering I didn't have time to take a nap today. :) After my shower I fed Baby and ate my cereal, after which I had about 10 minutes to chat with family. Then I started lunch. Abi had staff meeting here today, so we made lunch for Rev. Fukuda. I chopped 3 potatoes, 1 carrot, and 1 onion, and boiled them so Abi could make curry. Then I washed the leftover dinner dishes and the breakfast dishes. I had a half gallon of sweet tea steeping while I did that. Then I made my chai and made time to read my Bible. I also read a wonderful prayer out of the Valley of Vision entitled Savior. Then I had a chance to make bread. It was another success! I used the same recipe, and we tried it as soon as I took it out of the oven. It's Wonderful! I think most of it is gone already! I also went for a walk today. I walked down the stairs to the first floor, and then went walking in the neighborhood. I walked back up to the 17th floor of the building. After my walk I did English reading with Aidan before he went to karate. After he left, I did reading with Eastin too. After putting Coen down for a nap I sat down here. Today we found out where I can get my hair cut without going to Chiba. I could not believe it, but the salon is in Ginza, the main shopping hub around here. Mrs. Fukuda told us about a place I can get a hair cut for less than I was expecting... Only about 2800 yen, rather than the usual 4000. :) Hopefully I'll get it cut soon now.

I did want to make an observation about Japanese culture. One thing I have noted is rubber boots. Since I come from working on the farm, I love wearing rubber boots. In the Sates, I used to bug my sister when she wore shorts with her rubber boots, and I thought it was funny when she rode the ferris wheel last year at the county fair in her shorts and rubber boots.... I have learned since I've been here that if you are going to wear rubber boots, you don't wear long pants. All the 'fashionable' ladies always wear shorts when it rains, just so they can wear their boots. I thought that was so funny when I realized it! :)

Well, I guess I have written enough for now. The past two days have been so packed that I really can't remember anything else that happened ... Tomorrow morning there is a Japanese lesson going on here, and I think there's something in the afternoon, I just can't remember what it is right now... I'll remember when I need to remember. :)

Good bye for now...

All my love,

Hannah

Day 50

Well, I really don't have anything amazing to say, I just decided to say something, since today is my 50th day anniversary in Japan. As of today, I have been here for 50 days.

This morning after my quiet time, I took a walk. It was really nice to feel the sun on my face and feet. After walking for about 20 minutes, I just sat down to soak up the sunshine. It made me happy. :) I am really enjoying a book called The Valley of Vision. It really is a good book, and I suggest everyone reading it.

Well, that's about all I have to write for now... I'll probably think of something I meant to say later....

Goodbye for now,

Hannah