Given that it’s the beginning of Month 8, I thought it was about darn time that I finished my reflection of Month 5 in Japan. Japan provided everyone with a nice taste of home because of the cooler weather, the changing leaves, and the first world atmosphere. In a way, it was a reprieve from some of the crazier aspects of the Race in that we were extraordinarily physically comfortable. That brings with it a new set of challenges because when we are comfortable we have a tendency to get complacent. Anyway, it was a great month and we felt extremely loved by all of the families, particularly the moms. Given the tardiness of this post, I’m going to keep my top 11 list fairly brief. Here you go!
1) The best part about the entire month of Japan was the fact that we got to live in host homes. Tina and I were placed with the Yoshida family. We had two little host sisters, Saki and Yuki. They were as mischievous as they were cute. Their father is the director of a tutoring company and is typically away most of the week. We got the opportunity to spend lots of times with Yoko, the mother, and she loved us well. The first morning we were there we walked downstairs to a full and I mean full breakfast with eggs, salad, bread, soup, coffee, and more. It was delicious and set the tone for the month. The Yoshida family welcomed us with open arms and loved us well while we were there despite the challenging language barrier.
2) God knows my heart and love of water. The Yoshida family’s home is located very near a marina so it was wonderful to see the water every single day that we were there. The pre-school where much of our ministry was located was also situated next to a river. All water, all the time. Tina and I were able to walk a block from our house to reach the edge of the ocean in all of it’s expansive glory. So amazing!
3) Japan was unusual in terms of transportation. In order to get anywhere, rather than riding in taxis, we biked or walked. I loved it! It felt so quaint to get up in the morning and take a bike ride to ministry. A funny note that needs to be made is that I ended up using three separate bikes during our time there. The first two each had tires pop…I’m shocked I was given a third with that sort of luck. Funny and frustrating all in one! Our final ride involved venturing out in the pouring rain. My strategy was to ride with an umbrella in one hand. Don’t worry, I made it safely!
4) One of my favorite parts of the month was the Friday evening movie nights that we had with Yoko. It felt like three girlfriends getting together for a girls’ night. Two of the movies that we watched included The Notebook and Shawshank Redemption. Saki and Yuki would play by themselves while we watched a movie and ate snacks. Sometimes they would use us for entertainment (see picture below) but those nights were among my favorites in Japan.
5) I got to play tennis on the World Race. Mid-way through the month our original host family went on vacation so Tina and I lived with the Wazaki family for five days. They treated us well and one of the most exciting things about being with that family was the opportunity to play tennis. The father, Hiroshi, used to compete and is quite the player. I loved being able to hit with him for an hour or so. Not only that, but it was on grass courts and we got to play on two separate days! Two bucket list items checked off!
6) Another fun family outing with the Wazaki family included going to Ninja Village. It’s as cool as it sounds. We donned our ninja attire and set about our ninja training which consisted of scaling walls, learning to throw weapons, and climbing walls. It was fantastic and hilarious all in one.
7) Shortly before I left on the Race, my dad, being the incredibly thoughtful man that he is, bought me a stuffed animal known as International Puffy. Let me give you the backstory: when I was a baby, my Aunt Sandy got me a puff-a-lump stuffed animal which was what I became attached to. Being the creative child that I was, his name became Puffy. Puffy has been with me through my 23 years of life. When I went to college, I tried to leave him at home but quickly retracted my decision and brought him to Hope with me after Thanksgiving break. Puffy even made the trek to Israel with me for a summer. I almost lost it when they took him to be scanned going through security because I was certain he would be returned to me in a shredded heap. For those of you sitting on the edge of your seat with that story, he survived. I decided that I was going to leave him at home for the Race because 11 months seemed like a far too strenuous journey for the old man to make. This brings us to International Puffy. My dad presented him to me with a flag from each of the countries I would be going to tied to each arm. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. I knew that I would be leaving him behind in some country, fully anticipating it would be Africa because that is our last continent. Well, things changed at the Wazaki household because their young daughter took a liking to Puffy. After a brief discussion with Tina, I knew that International Puffy would become Japanese…and so he did.
8) Each of the kids that we encountered in our homestays were incredible. One, in particular, touched my heart. His name is Taka and he was a member of the Wazaki family. Tina and I knew that he loved being around us because he was content just to sit while we read or got whatever we needed to get done in our room. One of my favorite nights was when we cooked macaroni and cheese, pigs in a blanket, and veggie salad for the Wazakis because Taka helped. When we left, he got tears in his eyes because he was sad to see us go. It was incredible that we could connect with him on such a deep level in just 5 short days.
9) Our last day of ministry at the pre-school, the moms took all 14 of us (Team Boxcar Children and Team Kairos) to karaoke. They were so kind to us and wanted us to have the chance to experience as much of Japanese culture as we possibly could. The fact that they took us all to sing obnoxiously in English and laughed with us just goes to show how much they loved on us while we were there. They constantly checked on us and shared their cold weather clothing when the temperatures got to be chilly. It was sad to say good-bye.
10) This year marked the first set of holidays that I would not be at home with my family. Thanksgiving was the first round and turned out to be a great day, despite missing home. We coordinated with one of the other teams from our squad who were doing ministry on a mountain with a British man. Their job was to help clean up a large home that their contact ultimately wants to use as a place to host retreats. The 14 of us who were in Ashiya all managed to get up to Rokko Mountain (not necessarily with ease) to celebrate Thanksgiving with well over half of our squad. While we did not have all of the Thanksgiving staples (green bean casserole was simply not an option because the ingredients weren’t readily available), we did have turkey and loads of incredible food. Given that many of us were bummed to not be with family, it was so nice to be able to celebrate with most of our World Race family.
11) A different part of our ministry involved conducting a women’s bible study for the moms at the pre-school. These generally turned into discussions and the coolest part of the month was the fact that one of the moms gave her life to Christ while we were there! That’s what it is all about and the fact that one person found Jesus during our time there made the month that much more worthwhile and incredible. Come on Jesus!
That just about wraps up Japan. It was a wonderful taste of home in the fall before we headed to the hotter countries that Southeast Asia has to offer.
