...two weeks late. :) Again, I apologize for the delay.
Tuesday was a big day for us! We were up bright and early and hopped into Pastor Taizo and Yukiko's cars and headed out for Okutama. (Yukiko is a counsellor for Fukushima refugee children. She had two boys, Akira (13) and Taka (11), who became our translators.) Along the way, we stopped at a little bakery. We all had our share of mysterious filled donuts. (A big hit was a custard-filled donut. It was like eating battered and fried creme brulee. Oishii~)
Okutama is a lovely little corner of Tokyo; full of green and surrounded by mountains. The Okutama Bible Chalet is located here; a pretty little compound that hosts many camps during the summer. Just up the road was our destination. I can't remember the name of the camp itself, and the sign was in Japanese. No help there, either. But anyway, it was a small, but tidy and scenic camp; as well as the current residence of a large group of refugees from Fukushima Babtist Chruch. We were greeted by and introduced to Pastor Masashi Sato, who showed us a PowerPoint about his church--its history, its members, and what life has been like for its members since Fukushima was devistated. Sensei, as we called him, always had smile on his face and was a fantastic host :) We also started getting to know the other refugees who were living at the kids. There was everything from facsinated toddlers to excited school-aged kids to mild grandparents there at the camp; all of them very polite, gracious and extremely hospitable.
As we worked on getting settled in, our luggage arrived. We were happy to see it and everything, but I personally (and I'm sure the team felt similarly) felt a sense of guilt--almost selfishness--after talking with the refugees. Here we had been fuming over our lost luggage for the past several days, but we knew we'd be getting it back eventually. When the earthquake first occured and the Fukushima residents left home, they had expected to be able to return home after a few days and, like us, have all their familiar belongings back with them. That was, of course, before the tsunami and the power plant meltdown. The refugees were left with nothing--and most of them still have very little.
That afternoon, we walked down to a nearby river for some wading with the camp kids and a few of the adults. A perfect way to cool off during Japan's muggy summer! After our river run, we went to work practicing our skits for Bible Adventure Camp, which would be starting the next day. We breaked for dinner, and then continued late into the night decorating our camp classrooms--making mazes out of duct tape, palm trees out of streamers, and taping fish to the walls.
We were all happy to see our beds that night :)
(I don't have any pictures for Tuesday. They'll hopefully be here soon :D)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Japan Day By Day: Monday
Hey guys...so I'm actually home now. I'm so sorry for the delay! Things got so super busy in Japan that I didn't have enough time (when I was coherent) to write a quality blog entry for you all. I will still post the Day By Day blogs, as well as some pictures and videos I have :)
Anywho...
Monday was a big day for us! In the new (and the only clean set of) clothes that we had bought from Uniglo, the store we had visited the night before, we went to Kurume Christ Church (KCC)'s Grace Coffee Hour; a time for church members to gather and chat, sing worship songs, and eat yummy treats. We got to know many of KCC's members (despite the fact many of them couldn't speak English!) and played with their children. It was there and at the Okutama camp later on that I decided "Hit the Gaijiin" (hit the foreigner) was a popular game among Japanese children. Poor Emily got absolutely pelted with little footballs and soccer balls in the KCC playground :D We also got the chance to Meet Pastor Taizo and his wife; our very gracious and helpful hosts. 
Poor Isaac. He made over 1000 T-shirts for a Japan fundraiser, and most if not all of those t-shirts were sold. On the back, a string of Japanese characters read "Support Japan" or something of the like. They were supposed to, anyway.
As we found out at Grace coffee hour, the Japanese words actually read out, to the most sensible English translation, "Do me a favor." The Japanese loved it, and as soon as we found out what was making them laugh, we all joined in :) Our Japanese friends were kind enough to correct the T-shirt with a sharpie.
For part of the coffee hour, the KCC members sang a few praise songs in Japanese. Aftewords, we sang a few of the songs we were going to do at camp ("Super Strong God", "Our Redeemer Lives", "Our God"). I don't think anyone from KCC sang along, but they clapped to the beat with us! Here is a video of the folks at KCC singing "Amazing Grace" first in English, and then in Japan. Absolutely beautiful.
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| Eating lunch with the Kunneckes! |
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| A Japanese Train |
We rode a train out of Higashi-Kurume and stopped briefly in Ikkebukuro, a busy region of Tokyo. Ikkebukuro fit my mental image of "Tokyo" perfectly: big intersections full of people, tons of people walking everywhere, tall buildings, big, colorful advertisiments, etc. etc. etc.
Then we hopped the train again and headed to Asakusa, a large Buddhist temple with a Shinto shrine attached. The temple grounds were gorgeous and the inside of the temple was very beautiful; lots of intricate architecture, painting, and decoration. Outside the main temple, there was a large street market. So, we did ourselves some shopping! Some of us, including myself, found out we really enjoy sweet potato ice cream.
Later, we visited Akihabara: the techy, anime, video game culture capital OF THE WORLD. I'll have pictures later; I had to borrow Laura's camera for this part of the trip, which she needed for a wedding she was going to this week. The guys went to a Mr. Donut (where they had curry donuts and other interesting treats) while the girls went to a special photobooth called a Purikura, which makes the user look like an anime/manga character (big eyes, flawless hair/skin, etc.) Then we decorated them by adding words, stamps, etc. I'll post those pictures soon :)
That night we went to Johnathan's; a 24-hour restaurant that has TONS of food to choose from. They also offer a drink bar, which is an island full of all kinds of beverages (none of them alcoholic, by the way) to choose from. That's how I discovered iced matcha (green tea) lattes. They look absolutely disgusting, but taste like heaven. The sad thing is, I don't think I'll ever find them in America. I know you can get green tea lattes and stuff from Starbucks, but they just arn't the same :(
After dinner, we visited a sento, or Japanese public bathhouse, as a treat from Pastor Taizo. The sento was beautiful and had lots of different options--there were pools with jets, pools with a little electrical current going through it (which I guess is supposed to be beneficial somehow), long, flat pools that you lay in, and a sauna. My personal favorite was the outdoor pool. It was a cool, beautiful night and it was very peaceful (don't worry, it was well guarded from any public eyes!).
After the sento, we were all ready to crash; so we did :)
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| Jonathan's; the restaurant we ate dinner at. |
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Japan Day By Day: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
And so the journey begins.
On Friday, we all met at the church and were driven to the airport by Jason, Craig, and Terri. Then we hopped a plane to Chicago only to be delayed and diverted, causing us to miss out flight to Tokyo by 10 minutes are so. After a long of waiting and sitting and begging, we got rebooked to a flight going out of JFK the next morning; to get there, we took a plane to Laguardia. All but 2 of our 12 bags were left in O'Hare. We were told that they'd be forwarded to JFK. They wern't.
And so we spent the night at a Holiday Express and got on our 13 hour flight to Narita airport. It was a long flight. We passed through so many time zones and date lines and what not that somewhere in the time-space continuum, we lost Saturday.
So now we get to Sunday.
We arrived in Narita Sunday morning and were greeted by Steve and Janet Kunnecke, and later found out that our baggage wouldn't make it until Tuesday (thankfully, that actually happened). So that day was spent driving through Tokyo and getting settled. Tokyo is a beautiful city; there's definetly more value put into cleanliness and athstetics here in Japan. Everywhere you look there's flowers, gardens, even "farmland" (patches of land, no matter how big, that are bought for cultivating veggies is called farmland). Our first Japanese dining experience? McDonalds! Everything is TINY compared to American Mickey D's fine goods. We went out shopping that evening for new clothes and toiletries, and then went out for gyoza (pot stickers). Finally, we got ourselves MUCH needed showers and sleep. :)
On Friday, we all met at the church and were driven to the airport by Jason, Craig, and Terri. Then we hopped a plane to Chicago only to be delayed and diverted, causing us to miss out flight to Tokyo by 10 minutes are so. After a long of waiting and sitting and begging, we got rebooked to a flight going out of JFK the next morning; to get there, we took a plane to Laguardia. All but 2 of our 12 bags were left in O'Hare. We were told that they'd be forwarded to JFK. They wern't.
And so we spent the night at a Holiday Express and got on our 13 hour flight to Narita airport. It was a long flight. We passed through so many time zones and date lines and what not that somewhere in the time-space continuum, we lost Saturday.
So now we get to Sunday.
We arrived in Narita Sunday morning and were greeted by Steve and Janet Kunnecke, and later found out that our baggage wouldn't make it until Tuesday (thankfully, that actually happened). So that day was spent driving through Tokyo and getting settled. Tokyo is a beautiful city; there's definetly more value put into cleanliness and athstetics here in Japan. Everywhere you look there's flowers, gardens, even "farmland" (patches of land, no matter how big, that are bought for cultivating veggies is called farmland). Our first Japanese dining experience? McDonalds! Everything is TINY compared to American Mickey D's fine goods. We went out shopping that evening for new clothes and toiletries, and then went out for gyoza (pot stickers). Finally, we got ourselves MUCH needed showers and sleep. :)
Isaac's Vending Machine Adventure
I had said during the commissioning that I was going by the motto "Be Brave, Not Safe." I think one of the best ways that idea has personified itself is through the drinks Isaac has drank so far:
~Calpis (carbonated milk):
~Calpis Sour (same as above, but with vodka. He didn't know until the can was empty).
~Deka Vita (Hangover cure)
~Georgia Coffee w/ nicotine (again, didn't know.)
~Dodecamin (normal soda, except it had royal jelly (secretions from bee larvae) listed as an ingredient).
~Cinnamon Ginger Grape (tasted like Welche's grape juice).
~Coke Float (coke and ice cream. In a can!)
~Iced green Tea w/ green tea jello and mollasses sweetener.
~Fanta Mellon
~Qoo (white grape soda)
~Peach nectar
~Ribbon Citron (Tasted like Sierra Mist)
~Pocari Sweat (similar to gatorade; tasted like a citronella candle smells).
~Calpis (carbonated milk):
~Calpis Sour (same as above, but with vodka. He didn't know until the can was empty).
~Deka Vita (Hangover cure)
~Georgia Coffee w/ nicotine (again, didn't know.)
~Dodecamin (normal soda, except it had royal jelly (secretions from bee larvae) listed as an ingredient).
~Cinnamon Ginger Grape (tasted like Welche's grape juice).
~Coke Float (coke and ice cream. In a can!)
~Iced green Tea w/ green tea jello and mollasses sweetener.
~Fanta Mellon
~Qoo (white grape soda)
~Peach nectar
~Ribbon Citron (Tasted like Sierra Mist)
~Pocari Sweat (similar to gatorade; tasted like a citronella candle smells).
Japan Randomness
There's a bunch of things I want to tell you all about, but not all of them are big enough for their own blog post. So, I'm listing them here:
~Milk. It's really good here. Mom, I think you'd be willing to risk drinking it. It's SO rich and creamy. As Isaac put it, "It's like going to Oberweis every morning."
~The sun rises really early and sets really early. It's a very punctual sun. The sunrise is probably around 4:40sish, and it's dark by 8:00.
~In katakana (the Japanese script used for forign words), Laura's name looks like a scoreboard that says 0-7.
~They don't card you if you want to buy an alcoholic beverage. Not if you look old enough, anyway. (I'M SOBER!)
~ Not only do they look really gross, dried sardines are really gross.
~Kids can easily run around the city by themselves without any worry. Same goes for leaving your bike unlocked.
~The Japanese do not hide their risque magazine covers.
~Japanese children are fascinated by freckles.
~Azuki (red bean paste) is delicious.
~Toilets have remote controls here!
~Futons are comfy.
I'm sure I'll think of more, but I have plenty more lists to get going :)
~Milk. It's really good here. Mom, I think you'd be willing to risk drinking it. It's SO rich and creamy. As Isaac put it, "It's like going to Oberweis every morning."
~The sun rises really early and sets really early. It's a very punctual sun. The sunrise is probably around 4:40sish, and it's dark by 8:00.
~In katakana (the Japanese script used for forign words), Laura's name looks like a scoreboard that says 0-7.
~They don't card you if you want to buy an alcoholic beverage. Not if you look old enough, anyway. (I'M SOBER!)
~ Not only do they look really gross, dried sardines are really gross.
~Kids can easily run around the city by themselves without any worry. Same goes for leaving your bike unlocked.
~The Japanese do not hide their risque magazine covers.
~Japanese children are fascinated by freckles.
~Azuki (red bean paste) is delicious.
~Toilets have remote controls here!
~Futons are comfy.
I'm sure I'll think of more, but I have plenty more lists to get going :)
AT LAST.
Sorry about the delay, everyone! it's been a crazy few days here in Japan.
As I'm sure most of you know, our arrival to Japan was delayed 1 day because of a thunderstorm over Chicago. Long story short, we ended up being rerouted into New York, then we flew out of JFK to Tokyo (my mom set up hotel reservations so we could spend our New York night comfortably. Thanks mom <3). And so finally, here we are! We spent our first two nights in Higashi-Kurume. Our days there were absolutely packed with sight-seeing and clothes shopping. (Oh yeah, I forgot to add that our luggage arrived 2 days after we did. Thanks for your help, American Airlines. Psh.) Part of our first two days was spent exploring Tokyo and attending Kurume Christ Church's Grace Coffee Hour. We're now in Okutama, about to eat dinner after our first AMAZING day at camp.
I will go into more detail soon, but the dinner schedule's pretty rigid. Just wanted to say hey :) hope all is well a home!
As I'm sure most of you know, our arrival to Japan was delayed 1 day because of a thunderstorm over Chicago. Long story short, we ended up being rerouted into New York, then we flew out of JFK to Tokyo (my mom set up hotel reservations so we could spend our New York night comfortably. Thanks mom <3). And so finally, here we are! We spent our first two nights in Higashi-Kurume. Our days there were absolutely packed with sight-seeing and clothes shopping. (Oh yeah, I forgot to add that our luggage arrived 2 days after we did. Thanks for your help, American Airlines. Psh.) Part of our first two days was spent exploring Tokyo and attending Kurume Christ Church's Grace Coffee Hour. We're now in Okutama, about to eat dinner after our first AMAZING day at camp.
I will go into more detail soon, but the dinner schedule's pretty rigid. Just wanted to say hey :) hope all is well a home!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Itinerary
For any and all interested, Dean Omori put together a complete itinerary (Japan AND Indiana times included!) for our trip:
Indiana Time | Japan Time | ||
Friday | 7/22/2011 | ||
11:55 AM | Take-off from Indianapolis | ||
Saturday | 7/23/2011 | ||
3:15 AM | 4:15 PM | Arrive at Tokyo Narita Airport & travel to Kurume Christian Church (KCC) | |
8:30 PM | Sunday 9:30 AM | Private Sunday Service for team | |
10:30 PM | 11:30 AM | Travel to Tokyo to visit religious & cultural centers | |
Sunday | 7/24/2011 | ||
5:00 AM | 6:00 PM | Team Dinner & update blog website (http://abbigoestojapan.blogspot.com/) (You Are Here :D) | |
8:00 PM | Monday 9:00 AM | Team Devotions | |
9:00 PM | 10:00 AM | Participate in the KCC's Grace Coffee Hour: - Build relationships with KCC's congregation and coffee hour guests - Sing some worship songs for the guests | |
11:00 PM | 12:00 Noon | Lunch, pack and travel to the Fukushima evacuee camp at the town of Ome | |
Monday | 7/25/2011 | ||
2:00 AM | 3:00 PM | Arrive at Ome, unpack and set-up worship chapel and classrooms | |
5:00 AM | 6:00 PM | Dinner / Finish preparations into the evening / Update blog website | |
8:00 PM | Tuesday 9:00 AM | Team Devotions | |
9:00 PM | 10:00 AM | Finish classroom set-up / Meet & coordinate with volunteers | |
Tuesday | 7/26/2011 | ||
12:00 AM | 1:00 PM | Dry run of Bible English Adventure (BEA) program: - Rehearse Skits - Rehearse Worship Music | |
4:00 AM | 5:00 PM | Dinner / Continue rehearsals and classroom preparations into the evening / Update blog website | |
7:00 PM | Wednesday 8:00 AM | - Attend the daily worship service at camp - Develop relationships with children before their morning classes at the local school - Develop relationships with the parents at camp | |
Wednesday | 7/27/2011 | ||
1:00 AM | 2:00 PM | BIBLE ENGLISH ADVENTURE BEGINS!!!!! (For you night-owls, we will send out a live stream weblink when it gets set-up) - Worship Songs - Skits - Small group classroom teachings - Jesus Feeds 5000 - Jesus Calms the Storm - Jesus Heals the Man (Mark 2) | |
3:30 AM | 4:30 PM | Large group game activities for children and families at Camp & surrounding neighborhood | |
5:00 AM | 6:00 PM | Dinner / Develop relationships with Fukushima families at the camp | |
7:00 PM | Thursday 8:00 AM | - Attend the daily worship service at camp - Develop relationships with children before their morning classes at the local school - Develop relationships with the parents at camp | |
Thursday | 7/28/2011 | ||
1:00 AM | 2:00 PM | BIBLE ENGLISH ADVENTURE -- Day 2 (Will send out a live stream weblink when it gets set-up) - Worship Songs - Skits - Small group classroom teachings - Jesus Feeds 5000 - Jesus Calms the Storm - Jesus Heals the Man (Mark 2) | |
3:30 AM | 4:30 PM | Large group game activities for children and families at Camp & surrounding neighborhood | |
5:00 AM | 6:00 PM | Dinner / Develop relationships with Fukushima families at the camp | |
7:00 PM | Friday 8:00 AM | - Attend the daily worship service at camp - Develop relationships with children before their morning classes at the local school - Develop relationships with the parents at camp | |
Friday | 7/29/2011 | ||
1:00 AM | 2:00 PM | BIBLE ENGLISH ADVENTURE -- Day 3 (Will send out a live stream weblink when it gets set-up) - Worship Songs - Skits - Small group classroom teachings - Jesus Feeds 5000 - Jesus Calms the Storm - Jesus Heals the Man (Mark 2) | |
4:00 AM | 5:00 PM | Spend afternoon cleaning up chapel, classrooms, and camp. Say good-byes to evacuees. | |
6:00 AM | 7:00 PM | Depart for KCC | |
8:00 AM | 9:00 PM | Board bus at KCC for overnight trip to Tohoku (tsunami-effected region) | |
5:00 PM | Saturday 6:00 AM | Arrive at Tohoku | |
6:00 PM | 7:00 AM | Start 12-hour workshift at Tohoku | |
Saturday | 7/30/2011 | ||
6:00 AM | 7:00 PM | Board bus at Tohoku for overnight trip back to KCC | |
7:15 PM | Sunday 8:15 AM | Team participates in KCC's 3 Sunday Worship Services starting at 8:15 AM - Perform 3-4 Worship Songs from camp - Perform Skit or Dance from camp - Testimonies from the team members | |
Sunday | 7/31/2011 | ||
12:00 AM | 1:00 PM | Participate in KCC's Summer Festival - Meet KCC church families - Meet neighborhood families and children | |
5:00 AM | 6:00 PM | Final Team Dinner with KCC's Pastor Taizo & his wife / Evening prayer walk thru the Kurume area | |
Monday | 10:00 PM | Monday 11:00 AM | Fly out of Tokyo Narita Airport |
8/1/2011 | |||
12:10 PM | Team lands in INDY!!!! |
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