Japan



Japan... in a word beauty. Beautiful people and places.

 

Arriving here just in time for the end of Sakura (cherry blossom festival) I got to see some lovely trees before all their blooms fluttered to the ground. Kaoru and Yuka took me about, the day I got there to see all the pink frosted trees
laden with blooms, dusting the ground with snowy petals. And being spring we got to enjoy a plethora of blooms from fruit trees to people's personal gardens and flower blooming here and there and everywhere. Spring came early this year so by the time I arrived we were nearing the end.  



 

Cherry blossoms are all the rage in Japan in fact during my stay we ate cherry blossom cake, bread, sweets, ice cream and even  tea.
One evening two sweet pioneer sisters, Ikuko and Misako, came over and I taught them to how to make tacos. They did a really good job on the tortillas, mixing the dough and separating the dough and rolling it out, while Yuka made the guacamole. We had to improvise a bit, as I couldn't find all the ingredients at the local market. At one point I was in the leafy greens section sniffing all the different bunches trying to locate something similar to cilantro. I got several weird looks- surprise, surprise. Trust me to blend in at a local super market where no foreigner has been seen before. It's funny how you never know what will be expensive from one country to another. Limes, tomatoes and canned beans were horrifyingly expensive, while avocados and cabbage were super cheap. Go figure! So we made loads of guacamole to make up for the lack of other ingredients. It wasn't very spicy but then I'm sure Masa was grateful for that. All in all it turned out really well and everyone enjoyed their tacos with the aid of chopsticks (man I thought I'd have a night off from these) and some steamed Japanese veggies. Misako has an incredible spirit of perseverance, her mother is quite sick and she has to ride 50 minutes on bicycle each way to check on here several times a week. Ikuko lately traveled to Cambodia to visit a friend serving there and they had a really lovely time,
even took these great Cambodian glamour shots, looking fresh out of the King and I. When Christina and I go we are so doing that! For dessert we had fish pastries filled with vanilla custard or red beans and sakura tea. The blossoms are actually quite salty on their own and the blossoms are preserved in salt so it actually tastes like warm sea water. Misako took a sip and said "yuck" and we all burst into laughter, since I'm pretty sure we were all sipping it thinking the same thing. It's really pretty to look at and when you add a bit of sugar it's not so bad. Yuka explained that sakura tea is served at special occasions like weddings. I said "OK, so when you took me to Yokohama harbor you showed me all the romantic date spots and where your dad jumped off a pier to save a dog when he and your mom were dating. And now you're giving me wedding tea...what are you trying to tell me here." We all started laughing so hard I nearly had sakura tea come out my nose. While in Yokohama we also saw the boat that Br. came to Japan in years ago. After we wandered about bit we made a our way to Chinatown and ate really yummy pork buns and bought sweets. Then we headed out for some authentic Ramen. Yuka's father is a man of few words, but he is incredible sweet and generous. He had a deadline for work that week but he took off early to take me around to see the sights.
With my few Japanese words and his English ones we managed to communicate a bit. We also went to visit Asakusa, an old part of Tokyo. It was lovely and Masa was a good sport and came with us even though he was worrying about his bible reading. So he read on the subway and practiced as he could. He did a wonderful job, with audience contact and all! I'm pretty sure they think missionaries starve, because the whole congregation fed me till I couldn't fit into my clothes anymore. We had tempura, sushi, curry and green tea ice cream. Masa wanted to see if he could get a rise out of me with strange food, so I had nato, which tastes like fermented soy sauce and is extremely sticky/gluey like stewed okra, we had it for breakfast with a raw egg and rice. All with chopsticks!! I think the air in Japan seriously improved my chopstick skills, usually I can't even maneuver a sushi roll without having fish and rice explode across the table, like I was eating with a slingshot. I also tried sour plums which were well... sour and really salty, not a huge fan :)

I have to say my favorite though was Takoyaki a little crepe ball with squid in the middle. The Katayama family came over and we made them together, Masa was definitely the pro. The mom learned the truth in Hong Kong in an English congregation, while her husband was working there. Her girls are now nearly grown, Hikaru is pioneering and hopes to
move to a neighboring country under ban. Akari would like to start pioneering as soon as she finishes school and maybe serve in South America, while Nozomi hopes to serve somewhere in Africa. We had a lovely afternoon all together, even poor Masa whom we outnumbered 7 to 1. When I asked him what his goals were he said he wasn't comfortable in front of all these girls. I teased him and said we were greatly outnumbered by Jehovah, Jesus and all the angels. We finally managed to get it out of him and he said he hopes his skills as an engineer will be useful in Bethel or construction. It was a really busy week as they also had the CO visit so we went out in the ministry and Yuka helped me with a presentation.
 Service is mostly through intercoms so that worked out well as I could read my presentation and I even managed to place a magazine. Yuka said I did great even though she stepped in several times to explain what I had just said. I teased her saying I tell my students they are doing great too... so I know what that really means. It was freezing and everyone was freaking out that I would catch my death so I ended up wearing Kaoru's coat full length on her knee length on me :) and these nifty hot pads you stick between the layers of clothes that last 12 hours. Thankfully we had spicy Nepalese curry for lunch that warmed us up too. In the afternoon I preached with Aki and two pioneer sisters and we had a great time. We talked about life in DR and how things are there. Like how most things can be fixed with caulking :) So when the brakes started making noise we all agreed it just needed a bit of caulking. We headed to a return visit the gate was really noisy and I, of course being the most coordinated and graceful of creatures, had a bit of an altercation with it and made a racket. Then we started giggling. The TV was on so I was a bit embarrassed that they might have heard me but no one answered, so we left. When I asked about the TV she said O the grandpa is basically dead, so don't worry, it was probably just him. Nice! We won't worry about him since he's barely alive... we all cracked up again. It was a really lovely day in service with very zealous brothers and sister, despite a difficult territory. We greatly enjoyed ourselves and had great chats. One brother asked me who I hoped to speak to in paradise. I said a couple of names including Abel, when I explained why he said o I just figured he was closest to perfection so he'd be good looking... astute brother, he will go far :)

Yuka did everything in her power to make me feel like I belonged, translating comments and full conversations, she even wrote songs out for me phonetically and made me a mini songbook so I could sing. We both got teary eyed at the meeting when I could sing with everyone in Japanese. Some things definitely got lost in translation like at a coffee shop where they served coffee jerry. Who's Jerry I don't want his coffee... I repeated it several times and asked again if that really was what they were serving, Yuka said yes like a jerryfish...I totally kept it together I was so proud of myself. I said yes jellyfish, so coffee jelly, maybe coffee jello or gelatin. It was delicious tasted like Tiramisu, I wonder if I added gelatin to cooled sweetened coffee if it would be the same?  Another time a sister asked where in Thailand I was going and I said Bangkok... Bangkok? Bangkok? Aaaaaahhh Bankoke ahh so... When I told the story later everyone was in stitches, because all things can be summed up in 3 basic sounds in Japanese. Aaaaahhhhh so- which is a sign of agreement or understanding. Ehhhhhhhhh... going up in tone it shows amazement, going down in tone shows sadness or disappointment. Finally m...m...m... like little semiautomatic bursts m...m...m... is like saying right, got it. This got me into trouble several times as I could make the appropriate sounds even when I had no idea what was going on. At my first meeting I realized that while Yuka and Masa had taught me many helpful phrases I had no idea how to say yes and no or make negative sentences. I teased her about this and she actually never taught me how to form a negative sentence until the end of my stay. So I could say are you doing well? I am well but not I am not well... the morning I ended up taking a cold shower they said how are you all I could say was I am well with chattering teeth, they all teased me greatly about this.

I have to say this is my first time in a country where the first question is often when were you baptized and when did you become a pioneer. I never met people so deeply interested in my spiritual history. In fact within just a few days everyone knew my stats, mom and dad's stats and our entire spiritual history starting with Grandmas on both sides. It was strange to hear my story being told over and over again in Japanese in front of me. And they were so touched by the fact I had come all the way around from the other side of the world to go to Thailand to preach they hugged me, commended me, encouraged me, thanked me... I have never experienced anything quite like it. The Kishinos were hospitable, generous and solicitous to the point that I was embarrassed at times.

One family invited us over for curry at lunch my second to last day. And when they heard I had yet to eat sushi that didn't come from the 7/11 they took us out for dinner after the meeting too. They ordered so much food I thought was were going to burst but

thankfully we had Masa and several other boys who finish every meal with "What are we going to eat now?" We even had sake, yum! served warm and cold. When they ordered a third round of food they said OK the restaurant is closing so order anything you want it's your last chance. My eyes got big and I thought what else can I possibly put away we've had every kind of sushi known to man, soup, tempura and half the menu. Seriously I'm going to have to be hauled out of here by crane. This family were so sweet and the brother thanked me over and over again. I wanted to say it's nothing more than you are doing and so many others are doing. In fact the same day I left we went to a

going away party for a sister heading to a remote Japanese island to help the few isolated publishers there. She has a twin and she talked about how she has had to learn to trust completely in Jehovah and not depend on her sister's support.

This little guy was just too cute. I love him with his little star wars light saber, they are actually what they use to direct parking at the kingdom hall. You know because people routinely come to meetings in planes. Well those are the highlights, I have so many more pictures and stories but this will give you a taste. If I move somewhere where there is no need- it's Japan- hands down. One of the most incredible experiences of my life.