Cows, Music boxes, & Laughter

Mt. Fuji in the distance

Last month David Copely, the director of Global Missions, came to visit Nicole and me in Japan. There is nothing like getting a visit from someone back home. He flew into Nagoya on a Monday. We spent the next two days visiting the various ministries I work with and chatting about my time here. He even braved a couple hours in Mitsuba (the pre-k class). Since the children are always surrounded by women, the boys were instantly drawn to David’s presence. It was fun watching them play with him. 

On Thursday we boarded a train to Kiyosato where we met up with Nicole (my fellow volunteer in northern Japan). In Kiyosato we stayed at Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project. KEEP is an educational facility complete with a farm and retreat center. During the summer they hold many camps to teach children about the environment.  KEEP was built after WWII to help build relationships between the US and Japan. It also helped rebuild the local economy. 

Nicole, David, and I got to relax. We ate ice cream, milked cows, went for a hike, and saw Mount Fuji. On Friday afternoon, the Presiding Bishop Katharine Schori arrived along with Peter Ng (coordinator of Asia and the Pacific Anglican Relationships), Richard Schori (the Bishop’s husband) and many other church officials of the Japanese Anglican Church. Everyone was a blast! I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time.

Nicole and I got to share our experiences of the past six months with Bishop Schori. She was such a great listener. I love hearing stories of Nicole’s experience. Nicole works at the Asian Rural Institute. It is a place where people from all over the world come to learn sustainable agriculture. They then return home to teach others how to live within their means. At ARI they live in community, share ideas, their cultures, and their lives. Her stories of community are so beautiful. On Saturday, after we said goodbye to everyone, Nicole and I went to a music box museum. It was definitely one of the coolest things I have seen. We saw a giant music boxes that was over 100 years old.

That week came at the perfect time. It was nice to see everyone and get to share our stories with others back home. It reminded me how much I love my work here and how thankful I am for this opportunity. 

Music box that played at the World Fair in Paris in the early 1900s

Our amazing guide around KEEP and Kiyosato

We got to play with the music boxes ourselves!

Leaves, Stools, and Fires

Every Friday my friends Kaori and Chazu Mitake come to Nagoya to deliver vegetables. For about an hour Kaori comes over to practice her English. Although a lot of the time she teaches me Japanese culture and language. A month ago I finally visited their farm. We ate, laughed, and shared stories. I even helped a bit on their farm. The work involved dancing in a container full of leaves, chicken manure, water, and something else having to do with wheat.  It was exhausting but a blast!

The oh so kind neighbor.

At one point during the day we visited their neighbor’s workshop. This man grows mushrooms, makes bamboo charcoal, and is a carpenter. He showed us around his work space, explaining how he makes the charcoal and pointing out the various furniture he had made. Halfway through the tour they showed me one of the stools he made. He asked if I liked it and of course I did. So he gave it to me without any look back. Once the tour outside was over we went into his workshop. He showed us everything he could inside. He wanted to share as much about the Japanese culture with me as he could. It was great. By the time we left this sweet man (I had just met) had given me a hand-made stool, a beautiful plant, and a box of cookies. I was completely overwhelmed by his generosity. I hope to visit him again someday soon and in some way repay his kindness.

That evening while Kaori made dinner Chazu and I had wonderful conversations about culture, religion, and world problems. Chazu told me a Buddhist story about hospitality. One day some animals of the forest wanted to practice hospitality. A beggar man came their way and built a fire. Seeing that this man was hungry the animals decided that they would provide for him. The squirrel gathered berries, the fox gathered some meat. But the rabbit didn’t have anything to offer besides grass. So he decided to offer himself to the man and jumped into the fire. The Gods were so amazed by his-selflessness that they saved him from the fire and placed an imprint of him in the moon. The moral of the story is to help others as much as possible even if it means offering yourself as a sacrifice. I have thought about this story every day since he told it. For some reason this story of hospitality struck a chord that I can’t quite get over. In the Christian religion we have several stories of sacrifice. Our faith encourages us out to go out of our way to help those in need. But how often do we actually do this? The story of the rabbit haunts me. It refreshed that need/calling to serve. I keep thinking what would it mean to jump into that fire myself ? What would such an act of sacrifice for someone be like in my life? 

That weekend at the Mitake’s Farm was full of so much love, delicious food, and wonderful conversations. I would say the time I spent at their farm was productive. Not only did we solve all of the world’s problems but I left with a challenge…jump into the fire.  

Kaori and I about eat the most delicious dessert..zenzai!

Chazu making room for more leaves to be collected.

Getting ready to dance in the leaves

God's Peace,

Katie

Tigers, Mermaids, & ELCC

Their hand prints...sort of

On Tuesdays I work at the Ecumenical Learning Center for Children, ELCC. The center is a school for Filipino children. For some of the children the school is preparing them to go to Japanese school. For others it is preparing them to go back to the Philippines. They take music, Japanese, Tagalog, English, history, math, science, home economics, art and PE classes. I teach English and art to the 4-5 years old. I teach English and PE the two 12 year olds. 

I am never fully prepared for what Tuesdays will bring. I never know what is going to happen. The moment I walk into the building I am surrounded by the noises of very energetic children. My first class of the day is the English class for the four and five year olds. The children speak Japanese and Tagalog. With my little Japanese and their short attention spans, it is always an experience. They love singing so I try to use songs often. One day we sang the song Old McDonald Has a Farm. We had the usual animals you know cows, ducks, tigers and pigs…what you didn’t know that Old McDonald’s farm had tigers? Well it does now. This is what happens when you let the kids pick the animals. 

The next class I have is with the two very bright middle school girls. They are a blast! The three of us are very talkative girls so we get off topic a lot. But in the end the point is they are talking in English. In the beginning one of the girls was a bit shy and relied on the other one to communicate. Luckily she has grown more confident or maybe just more comfortable with me. She now will speak English with very little assistance from her friend. Both of these girls will be graduating from ELCC in March. They will go on to Japanese school. It's going to be so strange without them. I am not looking forward to it but I know that this will be a great thing for them.

What they want to be when they grow up

When I was first asked to help with the elementary art class, I was hesitant. I am not a crafty person and felt very much out of my element. But now I look forward to those classes. I love seeing what their imaginations come up with. One of the projects was to draw a picture of what they wanted to be when they grow up. I kid you not, one of the girls wants to be a mermaid. In her picture the only beings that could talk to the mermaids were the aliens that visited earth… it was glorious. I would have loved to frame that picture. Among the crafts we have made adventure hats, multi-colored elephants, paper chains, colored dragons, multi-colored snowflakes, and an attempt at God Eyes. I love seeing their personalities come out in these projects.

Being with these kids is a highlight of my week. Since the children are so lively and always want to play between classes I tend to become a human jungle gym. Also I fear for my hearing. These tiny kids have some very powerful lungs and they love to use them any chance they get. Tuesdays on long days but well worth the exhaustion. 

God's Peace,

Katie

Mallets, Soybeans, & Tears

Mitsuba, the pre-k class, teaches children all sorts of things including customs of Japan. Over the past couple of months they had two special events. 

Making mochi

In January it is a custom to make mochi, which is rice cake. Mochi is used in so many meals especially during the winter. Basically you beat the rice with a giant wooden mallet, adding warm water ever so often. In the end you have a every mushi blob. Each kid got the chance to pound the mochi. It was a very entertaining site watching these tiny children trying to hit the mochi with a mallet that was the size of them. After we finished making the mochi we feasted. We ate mochi in about four different ways. As with all Japanese food it was delicious!

Some of the masks the kids made

In February they have a custom where they throw soybeans at an evil creature, Oni, who is considered to be bad luck. By throwing the soybeans they are banishing the bad luck out and welcoming the good spirits in. To prepare for this custom the children made masks of Oni. Being the 2 and 3 years that they are, they came up with some very creative faces. Once all of the masks were made we prepared for Oni to come. The kids sat in two rows with their masks on their heads and peanuts (soybeans are too small for these children) in their hands. When the Oni came into the room about five of the children burst into tears. It was quite a site. Luckily the other children were up to the task and threw those peanuts at the Oni as if their life depended on it. 

Going to Mitsuba twice a week I get an insight into Japanese culture, language and traditions. When I think about it, my understanding of the culture is at the same level as the two year olds. But they have a better handle on the language, well for now anyway.

God’s Peace,

Katie

Daibokin (the Great Adventure)

For winter break a couple of my wonderful friends in the Young Adult Service Corp and I went on a crazy trip. Nicole and Kathleen made it safely to Nagoya on the 30th with only a few little hiccups. Little did we know that these hiccups would set the pace for the rest of the trip. Here is a little summary of the adventure.

Things that we did:

Osu Kannon Temple just minutes into 2012

We were among the first people to pray in a temple in 2012. We also got our Omikuji, which is basically a fortune for the upcoming year. According to mine, this year will be one for the books! On New Year’s Day we were invited to one of my fellow teacher’s houses to eat delicious traditional food. Later on that day we helped out a bit at Takidashi (which is the soup kitchen that I work at). During the week leading up to and the week of New Year’s they put on special events. Every day one of the organizations (that usually helps out on Tuesdays or Fridays) prepares entertainment during the day and food for the evening. It’s a great organization. Even though it is in Japanese please check out the link to their website http://sasashima.org/.

Memorial to the children victims of the Atomic bomb

The next day we woke up really early to get on an eight hour train to Hiroshima. The train ride was exhausting but we got a lot of time to talk and see more of the country. That night Nicole and I wandered around the beautiful illumination in the city. The next morning we headed out to the Peace Memorial Museum. For us, the Peace museum was a must see. It was overwhelming but well worth it. We learned a lot more about WWII and the events leading up to it. The museum did a great job of showing every side of the war. While I have conflicting opinions about that piece of history, I now feel as though I have a better understanding.

The gates of  Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima

After the museum we went Miyajima. We were told it was one of the best views of Japan. Itsukushima Shrine is on the Miyajima island just outside of Hiroshima. The gates to this temple are in the water and when tide is high it appears as though they are floating. After all the pictures were taken and lunch was finished we headed out to Kyoto.

In Kyoto we saw Rokuon-ji Temple and Ryoanji Temple. Also my friends Makiko and Mitsuru showed us around Gion, the Geisha district. We saw a woman dressed as a Geisha which fulfilled my friend Kathleen’s lifelong dream. Although it was debated whether or not she was a real one. For the sake of my friend we are counting it as an official Geisha sighting. After we said our goodbyes to Nicole, Makiko and Mitsuru so kindly drove us back to Nagoya.

Rokuon-ji Temple

Things that some might say went wrong on the great trip…

The very helpful Station master that helped find my luggage.

While on this great adventure we missed subways by mere minutes. We had found out the day of our journey that the cheap tickets we originally wanted were no longer available for purchase. I also left my bag of clothes on a train. This led to us sitting in a very cold train station for two hours while they called all the stations in search of the backpack. Luckily I got it back two days after the trip thanks to my friends Makiko and Mitsuru and the wonderful train station masters. At one point I put us on a train that took us 30 minutes in the wrong direction. Nicole’s bag broke which caused her to stuff all of the contents of her backpack into an already overstuffed suitcase. We got caught in a snow storm on the way back to Nagoya. So a drive that would have taken two and half hours normally, took us six hours.

With all of that being said every time something went wrong on the trip something good would happen. We met many people and had many conversations that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. In the end the trip was a success. I am more than grateful for the time that I shared with Nicole and Kathleen. We brought the New Year in with great stories that we shall never forget. 

Rock garden at Ryoan-ji Temple

Atomic Bomb Dome

Iluminiation in Hiroshima

Deer in Miyajima

God's Peace

Katie

Nabe, Reflections, & Community

One of my favorite places in Japan is my friends Makiko and Mitsuru’s farm. Every time I visit them I feel a since of peace. I love being away from the noise of the city and I love the people that fill up that house. They have been a huge blessing to me. A few of weeks ago I was invited to their house for their Year-End Nabe party. We spent all afternoon/evening eating and talking. Everyone there was so passionate about life and their roles in the world.

When invited, we were asked to bring a small gift for gift exchange. After each person opened their gifts they were asked to share their happiest moment of 2011. Everyone had very different years of course but the common thread was the joy they found in community. They were all thankful for the support system of friends and family; the people that they could share their struggles and triumphs with. 

As I sat nervously waiting for my turn to share my joy of 2011, I realized that community was my happiness as well. Last year was a great one.  But it was not the places I went to or the things that I saw that were the best; it was the people that I shared those moments with and the conversations that I had. And now as I sit in Japan I am blessed once more with an abundance of wonderful friends and great conversations.  

I looked around at the faces that were sitting in my friend’s house. I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by their presence. Some of them I might never see again but I am thankful for that time we shared together. 

I hope that this year you will encounter amazing people and have conversations that stick with you. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Peace,

Katie

Carols, candles, & Christmas

Wonderful ladies from St. Stephen's church

I definitely missed my family this Christmas. But for my first Christmas away from home it was way better than anything I could have ever dreamed up. On the morning of Christmas eve I went to the youth center and made a couple of chess pies for that evening’s party. The rest of the day I cooked, ate, sang carols, and laughed a lot with the other members of the church. I felt like I was home. 

he first church service of the evening was a lessons and carols service. There were so many people that came that night. Everyone got a candle and a book of the readings and songs. The hall was so beautiful with the candles lit. There were several kids that were eager to play with the hot wax. Since St. Stephen’s is very involved with the homeless, many of the men that we serve at Taki Dashi were present at the service. After the service we readied the room for the Christmas feast and party.  There was more than enough delicious food for everyone to share! There were several different performances of songs throughout the party. Once everyone was done eating and the festivities were over we cleaned up. In between cleaning and the midnight mass, we sat around talking and drinking tea. It was great. Midnight mass was a relatively normal mass. Afterwards we sat around some more, drinking tea, eating sweets and talking. 

Snow the day after Christmas

I upheld our family tradition of waking up unreasonably early on Christmas morning due to the excitement of opening presents from my parents. As I sat on my bed contemplating this Christmas, I saw big fat snowflakes falling outside my window. It was so beautiful! Eventually it was time to go down to church. We had a Morning Prayer service and there were a decent amount of people considering that we were all just there 7 hours before. After church I got a lesson on Japanese culture from a couple of my friends. 

Later on in the afternoon I met up with some of my friends that are international students to watch Christmas movies. I only got to stay for the Muppets Christmas Carol but it was great to celebrate Christmas a little with people that were far away from their homes as well. After the movie Claire and I went to the wonderful Smith family’s house for a traditional Christmas meal. The delicious meal was complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, carrots, stuffing, homemade gravy and pumpkin pie. I was so thankful for their kindness and going out of there way so that we could share in their family’s Christmas festivities. 

After we were sufficiently stuffed Claire and I met up with other church members at St. Mark’s Church. Once there we all walked over to the prison for caroling. We sang several carols to the walls of the prison in hopes that they would hear us. This is the time that prisoners who are on death role tend to be sentenced. This has not happened in many years but there was a fear that this year would be the one. After the caroling we returned to the church where we drank tea, ate sweets and talked. As you can tell that is a trend around here. After everything we gather for fellowship and reflection.  

I am so thankful for my church family here and my friends. They helped make this Christmas incredibly special. I know we are now in the season of Epiphany but I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas!