Christmas traditions

(A Kansas sunset in December)

Many of you are blessed with innumerable family traditions during this holiday period. The Conyer's have a Swedish tea ring breakfast, The Elliot's- sushi at midnight w/ root beer floats, others gather around the tree, Christmas Eve services, hot chocolate, enjoying each other's company. For many reasons, I have a hard time enjoying Christmas time. I would rather not have to be dealing with old problems, family silences, overlooked words and stifling feelings. Today there are no presents or a happily-lit tree. Perhaps it's even harder to see other's families who at least appear to have a sense of togetherness.

However because I've been able to experience so many wonderful places and friends, I've always been included in celebrating with others and I have a clearer view of what joy, thanksgiving, and love should look like during this season. I suppose over the years I've also amassed many traditions that I hope to have with my own family and friends.

So my hope, joy, and thankfulness comes from so many people who make this time special for me. Myron's family- for the salmon Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas Eve service w/ Althea at the Lutheran church, pizza and the Hairspray musical at the Reynold's, coffee and a bagel w/ my mum and making pies w/ her, helping at the Christmas community dinner, Meagan- wine and The Office, helping Amy and Emma wrap presents, visiting w/ Jess at her store... I have so many friends for which to be grateful, God does provide His love in ways we don't even realize.

So my own traditions... what will they be? Well for a start: Cinnamon rolls, Mexican hot chocolate, reading my favourite "Peace Begins with You" book, Midnight Service, making cookies to decorate the tree, serving at the community dinner, and so many others... but especially seeking out other friends who may not know that Christmas can be a very special time of sharing God's love and life, even if you have to walk through the valley of shadow and death to see it.

Facebook

So it seems like eons since I've posted on my account... it has been. I thought I'd give that Facebook thing a go, but it wasn't for me!!! I couldn't say anything meaningful on it like I can here. And I think it just sucks you into distractions... I have ENOUGH of that in life, right?

God has been working miracles in my life since June 2006 when I last logged on here. I also have been running from God at times as well. Running and not even realizing it, 'cuz I didn't wanna face what He had to say. So I tried the good old diversion tactics, not good. Recently, I found myself standing smack dab in front of Him, but the good thing was... I didn't wanna run this time. I just waited for His embrace, which He gave undeservedly.

So what does all this mean? I don't exactly know. But I can say I feel so much better waking up in the morning having Him to talk to. My Bible is FULL of lovely highlights, notes, and wisdom that somehow I temporarily forgot, or only listened to when I wanted, and now I feel like diving back in and knowing more. To me that is the nature of life and spirituality... to go through peaks and valleys, but to always end up on top-- a renewed spirit. And the top is a bit higher each time, like you gain just a bit more understanding of life and your innerself.

A snapshot of my memories with Mom

Ok, well there's no way that I can recount all the different adventures that my mother and I had....so I'll just let you enjoy a part of our days during her trip here. She mastered the "doomo" or thanks in Japanese. So much in fact that she kindly told a little girl at the park "doomo" instead of "konnichiwa". But regardless of that....she moved onto the more formal thank you, "arigatou". However, this one never came out so well...it was always "aribato". This caused many chuckles by me and probably some confusion to the receiver of the thanks. We then tried to move on the very formal thank you very much, "arigatou gozaimasu". This one never went down. But I love my mum and all the great memories we had together...she was definitely a up for doing anything and everything. I think what she enjoyed most, though, was just being my mom (and I treasured up being her daughter ^_^)!!

Mamà さん arrives...

I spent Thursday running down to pick up my mum from Tokyo... it began at 5:00am with a one-hour drive to Aomori City. Then a 4-hour train ride to Tokyo Station. As recommended by Steph, I diverted my time there cruising around the grounds of the Imperial Palace. As the gates and bridges were well-guarded and closed to the public, there was no means for me to scale the rock walls and cross the moat...but it was amusing never-the-less.

God blessed me with a wonderful mother and she arrived safe and sound with luggage in tow. We also had many more miracles in the travel back home...besides lugging 2 massive suitcases (not what I would recommend in Japan), we made a 10-minute transfer in Tokyo Station to the shinkansen. I would have loved to get the look on our faces when we spied the 2-stories of steps we had to carry her luggage up...but the happy ride back up north made it all worth it. She's one brave traveler...and so cute when she says "どうも" or "thanks" with her little practiced bow ^_^! To be continued....

Sports day...HOORAY!

For the second year running, I attended Minami Elementary School's Sports Day (南小学校の運動会). Besides watching all the kids run their hearts out, the day was filled with lots of cheering, a couple traditional dances, some random relays, and (I think the best part) the special bento lunch. Granted I didn't take as many pictures as I would have wished...maybe you can enjoy a few moments. Having laryngitis over the past few days diminished my abilities to participate much (not that I would be expected to under normal conditions), BUT I did get out there and do a relay with my 4th grade class teacher and one of the dances with the kids where we hold origami flowers. And a newly discovered favorite...lychee (or lichi, a type of fruit from a Chinese tree) throat lozenges...I wish I could tell the old man who gave them to me how much I love them! I will have to stock up for my trip home!

(This guy had the right idea on his back even though he wasn't out there running.)

(Two of my favorite 4th graders...so sweet!)

Bowling is NOT boring

When I looked up the correct Japanese translation for "bowling", I found it had the same pronunciation as "boring" (ボーリング). However this can easily be clarified with a few pictures that show not only a brilliant time, but also a very Happy Birthday to Niqie on May 31st! So here's to my first ボーリング experience in Japan...

(Steph inevitably with the best Japanese out of us gurls had the most amusing misspelling of her name as "Stella", she's also appearing quite serious at this whole bowling thing ^_^. We were digging the 80's velcro shoes. Niqie enjoying her balloon surprise in the car.)

(The cutiest ballgirl ever....that would be Yukie of course in the striped socks! Aaron gives his thumbs up approval...as does the rest of the gang.)

(What more can I say?)

The seven-onsen-in-two-days trip!

(This is a sampling of all 7 onsens...)

So the gurls (Bethany and Stephanie) and I went on a brilliant weekend adventure to the lost lands of Shimokita. The purpose of the trip was to visit as many onsens as possible, of course to enjoy ourselves with some Godly fellowship, to see Luke & Yuko (and soon-to-be Emma), and to squash as many frogs as possible. Seriously, we drove through a freak frog storm on Friday night. It was raining madly, causing huge pools of water to form on the roads, and this in turn attracted hundreds of little hoppers to frolick happily across the pavement until squashed by a passing car--mainly ours. We also saw an abundance of other creatures, viz.-- a red-faced monkey, a fox, a Japanese pheasant, a bird that flew alongside our car in a rather strange fashion, the before-mentioned frogs, beware of bear signs (but no bear), and a foreigner on bike (this being the most uncommon sighting in the far reaches of nowhere land hahaha). So for all of you that are a bit leery of the Japanese onsen or "public bath", you may be missing out on one of the best parts of Japanese culture. And in case you can't enjoy them at the moment, maybe some of these pictures will inspire you for the future!!

(Inside of a couple joyful onsens.)

(A lovely view of the bay, strait, and ocean farther off.)

(Can anyone say trash? The Japanese coastline...impossible to keep clean as garbage daily washes up from Japan, China, Korea, Russia....)

(Enjoying some gyoza, tofu donuts, and strange ice cream that I believe was really herb flavor!)
(And of course hanging out at the Elliot's...lil' Emma is getting QUITE big now, but Yuko is as energetic and joyful as ever!!)

Rice seedlings, ready for the taking...

So the fields are glistening under the sun. They water has been poured in, the dirt tilled underneath, and the baby rice seedlings are ready to meet their master. This is my favorite time of year. The rows of fields reflect everything that lies above and beside them. Here's a sampling of the greenhouses and transport of these precious seedlings...they are after all a national treasure in some respects.

Tomomi ちゃん shows off a spry little sprout....
...while I attempt to not trample the babies.
( I had thoughts of jumping onto the fresh, soft "grass" with bare feet and frolicking around joyfully. But I believed the Takahashi family would've had most unhappy thoughts of this adventure and banished me from their farm forever.)

The real festival...

...is enjoying the beauty of God's creation.

So the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival is packed up, leaving behind garbage, empty stalls, and the best part- the cherry blossoms in brilliant bloom. The park is particularly beautiful now that the tourist mobs are gone, the rambunctious noise is lifted, and you can hear the soft pad of feet upon gravel as the admirers drift lazily by. The wind softly blows petals to the ground or into the moat creating a pink polka-dot dreamland. It being my last "hanami" time in Japan for the near future...I'm going to indulge you with all the pretty pictures I can.... Diviertete!

The after effects....

Once upon a time...

Hirosaki Castle

Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival

(with lack of cherry blossoms at the moment!)

Easter fun time with Marc and Dinah!

There was a 28th birthday in there somewhere!
(which called for some crab and tomato spaghetti celebrated with Steph)

Some things....

that made me happy today...

(They seriously need a "rainbow" button for text font colors...come on Steph/Jenn...gurls, I'm waiting for you to invent it!)

1. the sun shining thru the clouds this morning...God said "good morning, sunshine"
2. the Yakult-selling office lady had my favorite lemon yougurt drink
3. I studied Spanish and read a book for most of the day...and tried not to bust out laughing in my relatively quite office about a Mexican white meringue treat that is nicknamed a "nun's fart"
4. I got an email from my mum
5. My supervisor skipped and danced around the office on random occasions
6. A few of the office workers were humming "high, ho, high, ho...it's off to work we go". I thought about chimming in with the English but decided against it.
7. On my walk I saw the old man that smokes a cigarette while "walking his dog" on his bike that always says "konnichiwa" to me, he has the small Japanese dog. I also saw the man that walks his dog w/ his K-truck, he has 2 very large Clifford type dogs. And then I saw one of the younger dog walkers, he has a small type dog and we politely give a little nod of a bow.
8. I saw the apple trees begin to have buds. I touched the pussywillow branches that grow wildly along the waterway.
9. 2 ducks flew up and quacked at me
10. the 8 o'clock jingle is playing over the city intercom and I've made and eaten a lovely dinner
(diced chicken, steamed veggies, and soba noodles...with my favorite wasabi/seaweed/sesame seed sprinkle topping)
11. and now I'm gonna have a bit of quite time with God and knit some more on my scarf...

Let the planting begin!

My friend Tomomi now lives with her in-laws, the Takahashi family. So she not only gets to live in a HUGE, new house; she also lives on a farm of sorts! A Japanese rice farm. Please note that she is a city gurl, and so when I came to visit her new place I insisted on getting the full tour...which happened to be the first time she explored her own backyard. I harvested rice back in the early autumn last year...so this spring I wanted to also learn the basics of planting rice. Here is where it begins!!

The greenhouses are being prepared for the seedlings. The soil trays are ready to have the seeds planted. Those maggot-looking things are the rice seeds that are being heated in an "incubator" to expedite their ripening. They are planting 3 types of rice this year, hence the 3 different colored bags. Can you imagine how many seedlings will come from 60 bags of that size?? No...well me either, but time will tell!!

And this is one of the BIGGEST doggies I've ever seen. You realllly can't tell by the pictures, but Hana-chan ("little flower") is a "REALLY BIG flower" dog.

"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor." ~1 Corinthians 3:6-8