Shaken, Not Stirred

            I was teaching English class on the second floor of the school when it all happened. At first, we all noticed the rumbling and didn’t think much of it because earthquakes happen so frequently here. But then it started gaining in intensity. Everyone stopped what they were doing, and you could see it in everyone’s faces as the realization hit that this wasn’t just another earthquake – this was a big one! The building started shaking like nothing I’d ever felt before. Everyone bolted for the stairs. We all ran to a small field right outside of the school and stood or sat there, feeling the earth shaking beneath our feet. A few of the younger students ran straight at me when we got to the field and they wrapped their arms around me, clutching my coat with all of their strength. I sat on the ground with them, holding them as tight as I could. So many scared faces could be seen in clusters all around me.
            As we were all sitting there, prayers could be heard in English and Japanese coming from small groups of students and teachers alike. I had my Bible out at one point and started reading Psalm 46 aloud. A few people came over to listen, including some of the Japanese kids who could only understand limited amounts of English.
            If I had to describe what the earthquake felt like, I’d say it reminded me of when I was little and I used to spin around in circles very fast in my living room and then plop to the floor. The ground beneath me would feel as though it were twisting and turning back and forth. It certainly doesn’t make you react the same way when it’s happening without you being dizzy.
            When the initial earthquake was over, which lasted a little over five minutes, we were told that where we were it had reached 7.8 on the Richter scale, and that the epicenter was at 8.9. Most of us rushed into the school to see if everything was okay. Some of us went to the third floor of the school where we keep all of our books and curriculums. They were strewn across the floor. Pieces of shelves lay there with nails sticking up dangerously. It was a mess. We all went back downstairs and I watched as the students tried to call their families and weren’t able to get through due to the lines being busy. I felt odd not calling anyone, because the only people close enough to me that could be in danger were all in that building. (Thank God my family was home in Virginia, safe and sound!)
            As I was in the building, the first aftershock hit. We all ran back outside to the field. The aftershock was long and intense, a lot like the earthquake. At one point, we could all smell a dangerous amount of gas. A couple of adults ran into the school and church to turn off the gas so the buildings wouldn’t explode. Lots of kids were crying, so a couple of the teachers and I were doing our best to comfort them. I was going from student to student until I was sure they were well enough that I could go to another person. There was one little boy in particular who was standing alone covering his face and shivering, so I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly. After a long time, I could finally feel him relaxing.
            When the earthquake and aftershocks were happening, I didn’t find myself scared at all. I was more in awe than anything else. I kept thinking, “Whoa! My God made this!” I could really feel His power as He shook the earth! The lyrics to “I Lift Up My Eyes” kept running through my head as well: “He will not let your foot be moved. He who watches over you will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord Himself watches over you; He is your shade at your right hand. So the sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by the night.”
            Parents began to show up at the school gradually and took their kids home. Those who were still at the school went into Honda Chapel next door because it was a very cold day going on an even colder evening. Everyone had cell phones, iPods, and laptops out to keep trying to get in contact with loved ones or to read articles and watch videos from the news. At one point most of us were crowded around one laptop and watched live footage of the tsunami and all the destruction it brought with it. We watched as a giant wall of water chased after cars that were desperately trying to escape on the roads. At one point it showed an aerial view of the water encircling a few cars that immediately stopped driving and just stayed there as the water closed in around them. The video feed ended just before it hit the cars. We all started praying right then and there and many of us were crying, including me. It really changes your perspective on things when you’re in such close proximity to a historical natural disaster as it unfolds. The footage we’ve been seeing has looked just like something out of a natural disaster movie. But this was really happening. Real people were dying and it was happening so close to where I was staying. And the chances of those people being Christians was so slim. We were all praying for them, that somehow God would have made Himself known to them in their last moments.
            I was able to pull my computer out and Skype with my family at one point. As I was talking to them and assuring them that I was okay, everyone in the chapel went crowding over to the windows. I looked out and saw a mound of fire shooting into the sky. An oil refinery just five and a half miles from the house I’m staying in had exploded. 100 foot high flames could be seen easily from the chapel. I was able to show my parents some of the flames as it was happening. I talked to one of my English students and he told me that he was counting when the explosion happened, and five seconds later the doors to the chapel slammed shut with the force of the explosion. I saw two other explosions after the first one come from the same refinery.

                We think this may have been the sun setting behind the fire

            Aftershocks just kept coming and we would all run out of the building if it were a particularly strong one. Those of us still there at the chapel were fed by some of the moms there who cooked up some rice and heated up whatever other food there was on-hand. We entertained the little ones so they would be distracted and not scared.
            After what felt like ages, I left the building with my host family and Jenna and Jessica. Jenna and I were spending the night at the house where Jessica is staying. We had been planning on having a movie night and shopping this weekend. That was the last thing on our minds then. We spent the entire night informing family and friends as they began to wake up in America that we were safe and sound, and also kept reading and watching the news. There were six of us in the house and each of us had our laptops out, spitting out facts and statistics whenever we’d find something new online or sharing pictures we’d find of the damage. One of our team members here had taken video footage of some disturbing cracks in the ground where he was working. You could see the ground moving as the cracks increased and decreased in size. The ground looked like it was breathing! His video was picked up by CNN, so some of you may have seen it.
            At 10:00ish, Jenna, Jessica, and I decided to try to go to bed. There were still frequent aftershocks, so we didn’t know if we’d be able to sleep or not. We were exhausted enough to try, though. As we were climbing into bed, we decided to read the Bible, pray, and just talk about some things that really impacted us that day. We all came to the agreement that it was the longest day of our lives. We started talking about some things that had happened earlier in the day prior to the earthquake, things that had bothered and irritated us. Those things seem so petty and insignificant to us now! We prayed for a long time after that. After shocks just kept coming, so I prayed, “Lord, could you please have these aftershocks stop soon? We’d really appreciate some sleep-“ and at that exact moment, a huge aftershock started, so I continued, “or, that works too!” We all started laughing so hard. (God really does have an interesting sense of humor!) I looked down at my watch at one point and saw that it was midnight. We all sighed in relief that the day was finally over. We fell asleep a little bit after that.
            At 4:30 in the morning, I was awoken and told that we were all going to go downstairs to the living room. There was a loud announcement we could hear, but we didn’t understand it because it was in Japanese. We decided to be safe and stay on the first floor just in case. It was freezing. We all bundled up in blankets and waited. An hour later, nothing had happened except more aftershocks, so we all went back upstairs to sleep.
            We slept until 8:15, then we got up and Skyped with our families. After that, I went to the grocery store to buy some things with the wife of the couple we were staying with. The lines at the store were ridiculously long. There was absolutely no bread or eggs on the shelves.
            I’m now back at my host family’s house. For those of you worried about the close proximity of this house to the oil refinery, things are just fine here! Just a few things fallen off of shelves and a little bit of broken glass. Aftershocks just keep coming. I’ve lost count of how many have happened just as I’ve been writing this. I was woken up a couple of times last night by some pretty intense aftershocks. We were listening to the news today and they’ve said that the 8.9 earthquake was actually a 9.0! After going over the seismic waves, they realized it was more intense.
            Today has been the warmest day we’ve had in a while. There are no clouds in the sky, but instead of a bright blue clear day, there’s this dark hue to the blue. The sky looks dirty. It’s a little scary. We’ve been warned that if it starts raining sometime and we get rained on, we need to wash ourselves off immediately because of toxins in the clouds. Please keep us in your prayers that we would all stay healthy and that we would not get affected by the toxins or radiation in the air. We’re far enough from the coast that we haven’t had any effects from the tsunami, thank God.
            Thank you to those of you who have written to me to see if I’m all right, to those who have called my family for updates on my safety, and to all of you who have been praying! I love each of you dearly, and I’m so glad you all are safe back home in America!

*~*Melanie

PSALM 46

 ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
   God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
   he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
   the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
   to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Internationally Traveling Oompa Loompa

        My goodness, it’s been quite some time since I’ve written anything here on this blog! My apologies! I just know this is going to be a rather lengthy post, as usual, so I may as well just get started! My last update was at the beginning of January, so I have two months of activity with which to catch you all up to date!
        Our school had a mochi pounding event a while back. Rice was boiled then put into a large wooden basin where it was then smashed with a very large hammer. In the end it is smashed into a doughy consistency and is rolled into balls and then topped with various edible things. I can’t say I enjoyed it very much. It was far too sticky and difficult to chew! (Apparently a certain amount of people die each year due to choking on mochi. And when choking on mochi, I was told the only way to get it out of your throat is with some kind of vacuum. Hm, that sounds pleasant…) Overall it was a very cool cultural experience!

        The church in Tokyo here wanted to start a youth group, so I went to Tokyo one weekend and helped in the decision making process of the group. We were all trying to come up with a name for the youth group, and eventually I came up with a name that everyone really liked: Band of Grace. (The church’s name is “Grace City Church Tokyo,” so they wanted “grace” in the title. And everyone in the group loves music. Tada!) I love witnessing youth groups come into existence! And it really made me excited that one was starting in Japan while I was there! That was super cool!
        God answered a lot of prayers and sent a new intern to our team here to help at the school! Her name is Jessica, and it’s been so wonderful meeting her and fellowshipping with her. She and I really hit it off when we first met, and we’re growing closer and closer all the time! God also sent yet another teacher (not an intern) to help at the school! The Lord has definitely been providing!!!
        A girls’ Bible study has finally come into existence after about 3 months of talking about it! Carol, Jessica, Jenna, one of the other teachers at the school – Megumi – and I are reading through the “Prodigal God” together. It’s a much needed time to grow together.
        While Jessica has been here, she has wanted to go to as many of the churches planted by the team here as possible. I tagged along with her because I’d only actually been to 3 churches, and I wanted to see the other ones. It’s been really neat seeing how God is using each church here for His glory!
        Back in January I went to kabuki, which is Japanese theater. It was definitely another cultural experience! It was all in Japanese and very, very odd, but I loved it! (I’m always a fan of weird stuff.) I think the only way to describe it is to say that it was like watching the members of the rock band “KISS” performing a play… with spears and a giant spider thrown into the mix.
        At the end of January I flew to Taiwan for a week because of my visa situation. It was the week of Chinese New Year, so there were many festivities going on. I stayed with one of Carol’s close friends, who was very kind and hospitable to me! The MTW team there tried to recruit me, but I had absolutely no draw to go there as a missionary. We can just say that country isn’t exactly my cup of tea. I tried many different foods while I was there, one of which has me permanently scarred to the point where I would not be disappointed were I never to mention it to anyone ever again! (Just this subtlety is grossing me out!) I was very happy when I was on a plane back to the country I loved so dearly! I literally got teary eyed as the plane descended over Tokyo. “Lord, I love this country! May Your love be made known to all of its inhabitants!” I prayed these words aloud as I gazed excitedly out of the plane window.

Taiwanese dollars, Japanese yen, and US dollars.

        My excitement to be back in the country was shattered when I was pulled aside at immigration and was questioned in a side room as to why I was coming back into the country for another 90 days. That definitely scared me out of my wits! But as I was sitting there, I was praying the whole time that God would give me wisdom in what to say. I wasn’t keeping track of how long I was held there, but it was probably half an hour or more. Then they let me pass through with another stamp in my passport! I was shaking as I ran for the escalator down to customs. So many emotions and I didn’t know which to express first. So I just shook. As I was lying in bed that night, heart still racing furiously, I wanted to pray so many things, but I could only pray this prayer over and over: “God, hug me, please! I need a hug, and You give the best hugs! Please hug me!” My heart rate began to steady itself, and I felt God’s comfort enveloping itself around me like my blanket, which I pulled tighter around me. Then this single thought raced through my brain: “God wants me in Japan, and He’s bigger than immigration!”
        The day after I returned from Taiwan, I went to school in the morning and was waiting in the teachers’ office for the other teachers to show up. As I was in there, a bunch of the younger kids ran into the office just to hug me and welcome me back. God is awesome! He really does hear our prayers, and then tops it by giving us things we didn’t even ask for! He gave me physical hugs along with the feeling of His hug.
        I’ve gone to two more college ministry events, and one jr. high/high school Valentine’s Day event, where I received the title of “Best Oompa Loompa.” Band of Grace had a fellowship time in Tokyo at karaoke. I’ve really enjoyed all of these events where I get to meet new people, especially when they’re closer in age to me.

Jessica and I at the college Valentine's party.

Friends at Crossway Valentine's party.

        On Valentine’s Day I went to Harajuku, which is a fashion capital of the world. It was Jenna’s birthday, so Jessica and I were spending the day with her. We did lots and lots of window shopping, and occasionally bought a couple of things. It was a lot of fun!

        My mom has been sending me sermons by Pastor Jack, my pastor back home, which has been so wonderful! For a little under an hour I feel as if I’m sitting in church back home with those I know and love dearly. (I love when the congregation laughs and I can pick out the different voices.)
        One day at school I took my 7th grade algebra 1 class out for ice cream when they finished all there work. It was lots of fun, and everyone kept exclaiming that it was the "best math class EVER!!!" Haha! I really love working with these kids!

        Last week I went on a ski trip with the middle school and high school classes from school. It was a lot of fun! I attempted skiing this time, and it was much less of a failure than my attempt at snowboarding! Yay! Although it wasn’t a complete failure, I did have an encounter with one of the slope patrol men. Apparently you aren’t supposed to walk down the slopes. Hm, who’d have thought? So, Mr. Patrol Man and I had a nice adventure back down the mountain on the ski lift. Hehe! Well, Mr. PM was very nice! He spoke to me in broken English, and I spoke to him in what Japanese I knew. It was such a fun trip overall!

        I’ve been put in situations where I’m watching kids a lot since I’ve been here. It’s so awesome! There are all the school days where I’m surrounded by youngsters all day, and on top of that I’ve babysat, I’ve taught younger kids English outside of school, and I’ve watched over kids while their parents are in meetings and things of that sort. As I watch over these kids, I grow more and more attached to them. The kids at school always run up and crowd around me to hug me if I’ve missed school for any number of days, whether it is because I was in Taiwan, I was on a ski trip, or there were holidays where there was no school, they always act like it’s been forever since they’ve seen me. This makes it so hard for me to think about leaving.

        It seems like we have a date nailed down for my departure. It’s been decided that I will probably come back the first week in May. Now that I have an actual date of departure instead of all this uncertainty, I feel like there’s a huge load off of my back. While there are very positive things about me coming back in May, I can’t help but grow sad at the idea of leaving. These kids definitely have me wrapped around their little fingers. A piece of my heart is definitely going to be here in this country for a long, long time!
        Well, I think this is a good place to stop. I’ll leave you with these prayer requests:
1) Please pray for my emotional state of mind as I grow closer to leaving. It’s going to be so difficult to leave this country.
2) Please pray that there would be no complications with getting me a ticket home.
3) Please pray that new interns would come in May! It sounds like there is at least one girl who wants to come then, which would be wonderful to have someone replace me!
Thank you all again and again! I love you all and I’m definitely looking forward to coming home and seeing my America people!

-Melanie =)

*~*Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.” – Acts 10:34-35*~*

Have A Holly Jolly New Year!!!

              

                HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD!!! There is so much to update you all on and only a limited amount of time in which to do it, but hopefully this satisfies my “frequent readers.”
                December was such a busy month! I experienced many new things, and had a wonderful time in the process! I went to Disneyland Tokyo earlier in the month with Jenna and Hannah, the two other interns here. We also went with two kids, Yukiho and Satoshi, from the church I had been going to in Tokyo. I was excited out of my mind that I was at Disneyland! I’d never been to a Disney amusement park in the States or anywhere else. When you take into consideration the fact that I am a die-hard Disney fanatic, it’s quite surprising that I had never been to any form of Disney establishment. But the fact that my first experience was in Tokyo, Japan made it totally fine by me! The entire park was alive with Christmas music and decorations! It was also packed full with people. (I suppose that’s our mistake for going to the park on a Saturday.) The longest line we waited in was a 2 and a half hour wait. After that ridiculous line, we all were starving and our feet were aching, so we sought refuge in a restaurant styled after Alice in Wonderland. (Hannah found companionship with one of the guards as we waited in yet another line for our food.) 

After resting our feet and satisfying our hunger, someone had the brilliant idea of riding the tea cups! I feel inclined to say that we all heard that voice of reason in the back of our heads (sounding strangely like each of our mothers) telling us, “You’ve heard me tell you you’re supposed to wait half an hour before swimming after eating. What do you expect me to tell you about riding colorful tornadoes of amusement after eating a hefty lunch?!” And yet, in a rebellious manner, we carried on to our doom. The line ended up taking half an hour though, so we felt as though that were justifiable. I’m happy to say that our lunch stayed down! The tea cups were SO MUCH FUN!!! It was my second favorite ride at the park! My favorite ride at the park ended up being the Winnie the Pooh ride! While waiting in line, they played nothing but Winnie the Pooh music and, being the girl that I am, I had no problem singing the lyrics loudly in English to the embarrassment of my friends and the odd looks tossed to me by our fellow line-standers. (There was actually one little girl in front of us who kept falling asleep where she stood in line. It was so funny/cute!) As you get closer to the ride, you actually get to walk through a huge version of the Winnie the Pooh book. Inside there were pages with the story written on it in English. When we got to the honeypot-shaped ride, we sat down and went through the story of the “Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh,” but it was all in Japanese! And the ride smelled like real honey! SO COOL! 

We stopped in at the Winnie the Pooh store and I had a chance to show some Pooh Pride and got to hug a large Pooh Bear plush doll! 

For dinner, we went to a pizza shop that was far from normal. The idea behind the shop was that they delivered pizza throughout the universe at light-speed so it would arrive to your planet and doorstop steaming hot! Seeing how I worked at Domino’s Pizza for over a year, obviously I was intrigued as I watched the cartoon characters on the TV screens and the cool moving doohickeys that “made your pizza.” Here is a video to explain what I’m talking about:

Right after dinner, our rebellious side got the best of us yet again, and we decided to ride the tea cups for a second time. I know, I know, have we no shame? No. No we don’t. :-)

As the day came to a close, we started to head to the exit, stopping at the Disney Castle to take pictures. Everything was so pretty, decorated with Christmas lights. Here are pictures taken at the end of our adventure at Disneyland Tokyo. :-)

                The following day we went to Grace City Church Tokyo. Afterwards Hannah, Jenna, and I went to Starbucks in the city. It was our second to last weekend with Hannah before she had to leave to go home to the States so we wanted to spend as much time as possible with her.
                The last week of school before Christmas break came to the excitement of both students and teachers. My English students were especially sweet that week! I asked one of my students in my 1^st-3^rd grade class to pray at the beginning of class, and this is how she prayed, “Dear Lord… thank you for… this day… and… this day… and thank you for…” and another of my students piped in with, “thank you for TEACHER!” The next day, I was asking those students if they knew what the word “pretty” meant. They said yes, so I asked them to point at the correct flashcard I was holding with a picture of someone “pretty” on it. The same student who said he was “thankful for teacher” ignored the flashcards and pointed at me and said, “TEACHER is pretty!” Aaaaw! Yeah, they’re the best! Then in my next English class with my 4^th-5^th graders, I was passing out Christmas gifts to them and one of my students said, “Thank you for present! I don’t have present for you… but I have LOVE!” and she gave me a big hug! I really love the kids at the school. It’s sad thinking that I’ll have to say goodbye to them in a few months. I try not to think about it, though.
                I went to a College Ministry Christmas party one night and we did a White Elephant exchange. I ended up getting a shnazzy scarf out of it. We also played games, one involving opening a present if you rolled two dice and the number equaled six. But you had to open the present wearing winter gloves. It was so hard! And the team member - Brent - who wrapped the present ended up wrapping so many boxes and putting them inside box after box after box. (The game ended once you held the actual present in your hand.) Guess who ended up unwrapping the final box and getting herself a new USB mouse for her computer? Yes indeed! That would be me! When the party was over, I helped clean up a bit and those of us who were still there started goofing off a bit. We made Brent wear a Christmas tree base skirt around his neck. He didn’t look like the happiest of characters. We put it on someone else and they didn’t seem to be very amused either. I found it very frustrating that they couldn’t wear a Christmas tree base skirt without exuding some form of Christmas spirit, so I had to show them how it was done, of course!

                The last day of school came and many of my students gave me presents. It was so sweet! Then a few people went out to karaoke after school. It was a nice way to end the day.
                That weekend, Jenna and I met up with Hannah at the train station in the morning. We went to Chiba to eat lunch at one of the best ramen shops in the country, and it just happens to be owned by the father of one of the teachers at our school! It was amazing! Then us gals took the train to a place where there was a recycle shop. Hannah and Jenna both found inexpensive kimonos, and I found a Christmas present for someone. After that, we went to a mall in Tokyo. Then we went to the apartment Hannah was staying in where there was a “surprise” going-away party for her. (She already knew about it.) That was a lot of fun! We had tacos, played Uno, and talked for a long while.
                On Sunday we went to Grace City Church for Hannah’s last Sunday here. We went to the apartment after that, and later that night we girls got our traditional Dr. Pepper from our favorite vending machine and walked along the river. We found a place decorated with Christmas lights (you can actually see it from the apartment window) and spent a good amount of time there together, taking pictures and being ridiculous.

 

                When we got back to the apartment, we helped Hannah pack (I played the role of “sit on the suitcase to make it zip all the way”) and then we watched Kiki’s Delivery Service and went to bed.
                In the morning, Jenna and I escorted Hannah to the airport by train, helping carry her luggage on the way. We checked her bags in and we all ate a nice lunch of ramen together at the airport. When we were finished eating, we walked with Hannah to the security gate, then huddled together and prayed. Hannah left as Jenna and I stood there watching until we couldn’t see her anymore. (I don’t know if she knew that or not. ;-)) Jenna and I took the train home after that.
                The next two days I spent painting the house of a missionary family here in Japan. They lived pretty far away – two hours by train. I also helped move a refrigerator while there. It leaked all sorts of unknown fluids onto my leg. :-/ But all in all it was a good experience!
                I went to a Christmas candle light service at Honda Chapel on the 23^rd and got to see a lot of the kids from school that I hadn’t seen in about a week! They all crowded around and hugged me at the same time. It was so sweet! It’s been very strange being on break and not seeing the kids 4 days of the week!
                On Christmas Eve, Jenna and I walked to Starbucks, which is very close to the house we’re staying at. We thought it was the perfect thing to do on Christmas Eve! One of the employees at Starbucks wrote very nice Christmas greetings on our cups in English and spoke to us in English as well! It was really cool! After our coffee, we went to a late Christmas Eve candle light service at Oyumino Chapel. It was very nice and I got to see a lot of people! When we went home, I ended up staying awake until 3 in the morning just finishing up some last-minute Christmas things.
                Christmas day was so much fun! We all woke up to the smell of cinnamon rolls and sausage, which also happens to be what my family eats on Christmas morning back home! 

We all opened presents, and then I got to Skype with my family for 3 hours! (They were celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve their time - Christmas day my time – due to my Dad’s work schedule.)  When I was done talking to my family, I started helping to clean the house and set up tables because we were having a lot of guests over for Christmas dinner. Dinner was amazing and the night was a lot of fun! Once everyone left, I walked to Starbucks with Jenna and Micah for a nice Christmas coffee.
                The following Monday, I left with the Iverson’s for their annual family ski trip in Nojiri. I was so excited because we hadn’t had (and still don’t have) any snow in Oyumino yet, and I was dying to see some! We got to their cabin, which had no running water, a very interesting bathroom, and some lovely rodent inhabitants. I actually really enjoyed the rustic-ness of it all! Plus I got to see snow. :-) I attempted to snowboard our first day at the ski slopes, thanks to the patience of 6 different people trying to teach me. (I’d never snowboarded a day in my life.) I eventually gave up and decided not to try the next day to spare my poor aching muscles from the beating.

 

After both ski days, we all went to a sentou (bath house.) It was my first experience, and everyone kept telling me that the ones we went to weren’t that good. They were like shallow hot tubs, and they were burning hot! (Hotter than was natural, they said.) On Thursday, we all left Nojiri and went home.
                On New Year’s Eve, I got to meet Jenna’s mom and sister who were here visiting for about a week. We went to karaoke with them and had dinner at a yakiniku place. Yakiniku is fried meat. Each table has its own burner grill thing and you get to grill your own food. It’s delicious! This was the second time I’d had it.

When we got home, we played card games and then we watched TV just before midnight to watch the Japanese countdown. Instead of watching a ball drop in Times Square, we all watched Japanese boy-bands perform, then countdown, then they sang some more. It was rather odd, but HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!



                I’ve gone to Oyumino Chapel the past two weeks, and I think that’s where I’ll be going from now on. I really love it there because I’m surrounded by people I interact with more frequently than the people at Grace City Church. There’s nothing wrong with Grace City, but I like being closer to home and the people here.
                This past Sunday, Carol and I had a much needed girls’ night! We had popcorn and watched chick-flicks. It was a lot of fun, and we had a nice break together.
                On Monday I helped a family on our team move into and clean their new house. Then I went home and we had yakisoba (fried noodles) for dinner. I love yakisoba! It’s amazing! After dinner, Carol drove me to the train station so I could meet up with Jenna and her family in Tokyo. I rode the train all by myself! That’s a first. It was actually a lot of fun! I observed how everyone avoided me, the strange foreigner! It was really funny. No one would sit next to me and they stood far away while waiting for the train. ;-)
                Yesterday, Jenna, her family, and I went to the Studio Ghibli museum in Mitaka. Studio Ghibli makes all of my favorite movies by Hayao Miyazaki! (Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, etc.) It was so cool being in Japan and being able to go to the museum! 

When we were done there, we all got lunch at a curry shop. I love Japanese curry! It’s so different than Indian curry and is so delicious! I took the train home by myself again because Jenna and her family wanted to go shopping. When I got home, Carol and I made pizza for dinner. It was so nice making a pizza after not having done so in such a long time! It was amazing! When Jenna and her family got home, all of us ladies went to the onsen near us. It was so incredible! Much better than the sentous we went to in Nojiri!
                Jenna’s family is leaving today, so we took them to the ramen shop Jenna, Hannah, and I went to a couple of weeks ago for lunch. And now I’m sitting here writing this blog!
                As usual, I want to thank you all for the prayers, and I have more prayer requests!
1) School is starting tomorrow, so please be praying for the transition for both students and teachers back into academic mode.
2) It looks like I will be going to Taiwan for a few days in 3½ weeks because of the visa I have. Before I go, I will be working on paperwork to get a COE which will make it possible for me to get a work visa. It takes a while for the COE to process, so please be praying that everything would process quickly and that I would get the COE before I leave for Taiwan. If I receive my COE before I leave for Taiwan, I can apply for a work visa in Taiwan, which means I would have to stay there for a week waiting for it. Please be praying that all would go well! If I get the work visa, I’ll be able to finish up the school year here, which is what I’d really like to do.
3) We will hopefully have a new intern coming here this month to work at the school. Please pray that all would be going well on her end so she can come and help us as soon as possible!

                I’m missing you all so much, and I hope you had a wonderful holiday season!

-Melanie =)

P.S. Hannah, I know you’re reading this, so HI!!!! We miss you here! Tell your family I say hello, unless you’re reading this aloud to them, in which case… HI HANNAH’S FAMILY!!! Thanks for sending her here! She’s awesome!  \(^_^)/

“But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.” – Psalm 33:11