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.

 

Eating lunch with the Kunneckes!

 

A Japanese Train

After our time with KCC,                                Steve and Janet Kunnecke took us out to lunch and then on an afternoon tour of Tokyo! Part of Tokyo, anyway. It's a pretty big place!
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 :)                         



Jonathan's; the restaurant we ate dinner at.