Thank You!!!

 
(At the park next to the Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine we went to yesterday. Peter really likes the sweet potato snack that he's holding. :) Juhee's so used to being in that baby carrier now she tries to put it on when we're at home and when she sees one of us put it on, she becomes very excited. So cute! :D)


Thank you for your prayers!!!

Since we sent out the last newsletter, none of us have had a single mosquito bite, the ones we had are all gone, and Juhee hasn't had any teething problems (and no new teeth which can definitely wait till we get home!) so thank you 'cause God's definitely answering prayers.

We also know for sure that our well-being, our safety, and the divine appointments that God has put into our lives during our time here is due to your prayers too.

We have just one week left. Can't believe it! Time's gone by sooooooooooooo fast.

Emotionally, I've been switching between extreme joy and extreme sadness as I become excited and so happy about moving here but then so sad about the thought of leaving family and the friends I've finally made and started to get close to behind. Sigh... Moving is never easy but Peter and I have done it before and I'm sure we'll be doing it again. It's different this time, 'cause this time we're the parents, not the children, but I'm sure God will be with us and with your prayers - what more will we need? :)

So thank YOU so very very much.

Shichi-Go-San Celebration for Children

 

(A little girl waiting for her mom to finish praying in front of the main temple. They'd just placed coins inside the metal thing in front of them before praying. Some of the adults would put coins in, put their hands together, clap three times, and then pray.)

(Entrance to the Shrine. Juhee just woke up from a nap so wasn't in the mood for pics yet. :D)

According to Kansai Time Out, November 2008 edition: "This is an annual celebration for children who have reached three (san), five (go), or seven (shichi) years of age. Throughout the month, but especially on Nov 15, children are taken by their parents to a shrine to receive the blessings of the gods. The children are given chitose-ame (1,000 year old candy), which is like salt-water toffee and stretches to symbolize long life and good health. There are various accounts of the origin of this festival, but the one most frequently cited is the belief that children of certain ages were especially prone to bad luck. Traditonally, three-year-old girls would be given their first obi, and boys would wear their first pair of hakama at five years."

We went to the Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine (supposedly houses the Shinto gods of the sea, famous for its red Sorihashi bridge) in Osaka and I was a bit disappointed on our way there 'cause we didn't see a single child wearing kimono, but once we got there, there were so many! They were so cute in their colorful kimonos! There were a few dressed western style too but not very many.

The chitose-ame is the same as Korean yut 엿 which we give on special occasions like for college entrance exams (because it's sticky, it symbolizes the person taking the test "sticking" to the test, i.e. obtaining a good mark / score). We didn't see any, but we think that it's what the children were carrying around in long thin bags from one of the special stalls inside the temple area selling goods (toys, snacks, hot food were sold outside the actual temple area).

There were also groups of 2-4 women sitting on mats wearing kimonos in front of a sign and the parents were taking their child(ren) to them. We tried to wait around to see what happened but only caught the end of whatever was going on. We think that they were praying / blessing the kids.

Everyone seemed to have arrived in cars and no wonder. By the end of the walk around the temple, most of the kids were in their parents' (usually dad's!) arms or in a stroller. It can't be easy walking around in all that clothing and those Japanese sandals! There were lots of proud grandparents around too which was great to see.

It was great seeing so many families together celebrating this annual festival. :)

Tempozan Area - Home for Now

(Osaka Aquarium is famous for its two huge whales. The Giant Ferris Wheel is also a big attraction and the Tempozan Market has lots of shops and a food court too. They're a 5-minute walk from where we're staying so we like to take walks there when we can.)

This is the area where God has led us to stay for 28 days. It's at the very end of the green Chuo line (Osakako subway station) and is home to the Osaka Aquarium, the Giant Ferris Wheel, home to many Japanese, and a surprisingly large population of foreigners. There are at least a few in our building alone and it's not so uncommon to see foreigners at the station, walking or cycling around the area.

The day after we arrived, we met a Korean-Japanese gentleman who owns a Korean merchandise shop at the big market we go to. He told us how to get to Korea Town (Tsuruhashi subway station) and since then, we've dropped by for a chat almost every time we go to the market. Last time, he said that he was praying for us, which surprised me 'cause he told us that his grandmother's Christian so he attended church when he was a kid but hasn't been since. Today, he said (amongst other things) that God is going to punish humans for making things like airplanes ('cause we're not supposed to fly) and the internet, like He did with Noah and his Ark. He then joked and said that us four (three Ohs plus him) were going to be the only ones saved. I have no clue why he thinks that or said that but every time, something new comes up and we seem to get a bit deeper. He told us that there are lots of red neon crosses in the Tsuruhashi / Minami area as there are lots of Korean churches and Korean residents in that area. He said that there are also a lot of drinking parlors with Korean and Chinese women (providing a particular service) in them - no Japanese women - and that after a few drinks you can't tell whether you're in Japan or Korea. He said that the men go there during the week to drink and then go to church on Sunday and pray...

Please pray for us as we continue to visit him in his shop and speak to him about a variety of issues. I believe that God's placed us here and made our paths cross for a reason.

Week Two Review

(Top: "Happy Smile Xmas!" Couldn't resist capturing this rather unique season's greeting at a huge shopping mall in Hiroshima.)

(Bottom: In the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. Sara Juhee's sitting in her own seat too! She's been a little trooper during our travels.)

God's been really blessing our time here with divine appointments and the beginning of life-long friendships. So much has happened, it's hard to process and to summarize but I'll try...

Tue, Nov 4 - Met a friend of Peter's sister-in-law and had a delicious Korean meal. After the meal at her restaurant she took us to the store next door and helped us buy some essentials so I could cook for us better, especially for Sara Juhee. She gave us lots of helpful information on education of little ones in Japan too.

Wed, Nov 5 - Rest and preparation for the following few days.

Thu, Nov 6 - Travel to Hikone, just north of Kyoto to meet a family who have been serving in Japan as missionaries with WEC for over 10 years (I think closer to 20).

Fri, Nov 7 - Travel to various locations in Kobe to look into English school franchise opportunities and then off to Sanda to meet a family who have been serving in Japan as missionaries for 20 years with Asian Access.

Sat, Nov 8 - Travel to Hiroshima by shinkansen!!! to meet a family who arrived in Dec 2007 as missionaries with Pioneers, the missions agency we'll probably be coming to Japan with.

Sun, Nov 9 - Time out to rest and family worship at home. Needed time to process, reflect, discuss, and most importantly, pray thru the many things we'd seen and heard during the previous 3 days.

We were able to use our 4-day pass for only 2 days but we still ended up saving - yay! :) We've been trying to write down the things that we've learned from all of these amazing people that God has connected us to and allowed us to meet during our 4 weeks here. We've been challenged a lot by the things we've heard and learned as there were some things we were so sure about that we've had to question. Am I making sense? For example, we were very keen to have "bible study" groups David Watson style, using the CPM Discovery Bible method, but we're learning that it's probably not the best fit for this particular culture group and in this urban setting. But we still need to look more deeply into this 'cause we know that there's at least one Korean church trying this and the Korean learning style is the same as the Japanese (both rote).

God's opening more doors for us and haven't closed any yet... There seem to be many many things that we can do here. But which one? And where? Osaka? Kobe? Hiroshima???

It didn't rain (on us)!

It rained a lot here from Thursday night to Saturday evening but it didn't rain while we were out. On Friday, the day we walked outdoors the most we've ever had to so far, it didn't rain a single time while we were out in Kobe and I think it was just barely raining when we arrived in Sanda, so we maybe got a couple of drops of rain on our heads as we went from the station to our new friend's car.

On Saturday, not as much rain in general compared to Friday and we only got a couple of drops of rain going from another new friend's car / garage to their house in the beautiful mountains of Hiroshima.

You've obviously been praying really hard and your prayers have worked miracles. Thank you! :)

Love from Osaka

Forecast - Rain

It's raining tonight. Thankfully it started raining after we arrived home safe & dry.

The forecast is for rain tomorrow (Friday) & Saturday, two of our busiest days so far! Please pray for little to no rain, safety, and health...

I always get a bit nostalgic when it rains... Memories of life in the UK... I can't even remember the last time it rained in San Jose. Apparently it rained during the past week though!

Guess we'll need to get used to living with more rainy weather. No time like the present! :)

Looking Ahead

Just a quick one... This is actually part of an email I just sent to a friend:

*****

Today (Thurs) was a busy day - left home around 10:15am for Hikone, got back around 8:45pm, 2.5 hr trips each way. Tomorrow's going to be another busy day - leaving home around 9:00am (we're going to get squished big time!) for Kobe, after looking around the two English teaching franchise sites we'll have lunch and then head to Sanda, and then get home late again. Sat morning we need to leave home around 10:00am, be in Hiroshima around 12:30pm and then will prob get home late again. Sun morning we're going to the 100+ yr old Korean-Japanese church and then going to the annual festival taking place in Osaka's Korea Town so will get home hopefully not too late. Monday we may need to go to Kobe again, but we'll see.

No travel sickness so far and hopefully none during the next few days - please pray for me as it tends to get worse the more tired I am and with Juhee waking up so often during the night, carrying her around in the baby carrier everywhere, climbing up and down all those stairs, trying to keep her quiet and preoccupied during our subway and train rides - it's hard work! I'm physically exhausted but I'm so happy I think I'm going to burst. :)

We learnt so much today from the missionaries that we met. We have lots we want to share!

*****

The sharing will have to come at a later time but please pray for us (safety, health, proper meals esp for Juhee, no travel sickness) as we do a massive amount of traveling over the next few days.

With love and a grateful heart... :)

Week One Review

(Went to Shitennoji Wasso festival at Naniwanomiya-ato Koen on Nov 2nd after church; according to Kansai Time Out, Nov 2008 edition "annual event to recreate cultural exchanges btwn Japan and other East Asian countries in early Japanese history. The terms wasso derives from a Korean word meaning "has come" and is believed to be the origin of the Japanese wasshoi, which people shout as they carry portable shrines at festivals." They had great performances, including children doing the Korean head twirling thing, sword routines, Korean dancing, musicians - lots of fun!)

Before I review our first week, I just want to say a big thank you to all of our friends thinking of us and praying for us. If you only knew how touched and strengthened we are by each and everyone of you, your words, your prayers... Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!

Our first week looked like this:

Mon, Oct 27 - leave ICN, S. Korea (bought a box of Shin ramen, kimchi, and seaweed before we left!), arrive KIX, Japan, "check-in" to apartment we're renting for a month, dinner (bought bento boxes), sleep.

Tue, Oct 28 - Shin ramen for breakfast, went for a walk looking for 100 JPY store but failed and returned to apt, tried again late afternoon and found big marketplace and 100 JPY store, bought 5kg sack of rice, chicken, fish, cereal, milk, eggs, veggies, Korean side-dish, marmalade, sliced bread, etc so we can eat at home as much as poss, had broiled fish (very bland) with rice for dinner.

Wed, Oct 29 - ate toast with marmalade and cereal for brekkie, took subway for first time and went to Korea Town, ate lunch there at a restaurant called Arirang and met 4 Japanese women crazy about Korean drama and pop culture :), walked through Korea Town, tried a snack called takotamasen sold around the corner from our apt, sent Peter to buy vegetable oil and he came back with EVOO as it was the only one that had English on the label :), had curry for dinner.

Thu, Oct 30 - Peter had leftover curry for brekkie, I had toast, ate diff types of donburi with udon for lunch (I had buns too), went to Osaka Aquarium, curry for dinner.

Fri, Oct 31 - ate toast, eggs!, and cereal for brekkie, did our laundry, went to Umeda Station to meet Bobby & Claire (we were so blessed by them and everything that they shared with us!!!), tried out some Japanese bread at one of the bakeries in the huge shopping area "Hankyu Sanban Gai" surrounding the station to wait for the rush-hour madness to die down so we don't get squished, saw people-pushing guy with white gloves for the first time!, bought juice (was going to try to not drink anything other than water to save money but so hard...), bananas (Sara Juhee needs fruit...), more sliced bread (this time one with EIGHT slices!!!), blueberry jam (another small jar), etc, finished leftover curry for dinner.

Sat, Nov 1 - my birthday! :), toast, cereal and eggs for brekkie, laundry, had lunch at small restaurant around the corner, stopped by local park on our way to marketplace and bought gifts, groceries, etc, ate donkatsu (pre-cooked, from supermarket, yummy!) ate rice for dinner.

Sun, Nov 2 - ate toast with sausages!!! and cereal for brekkie, went to New Hope International Fellowship Osaka Church (very interesting!), went to the Wasso Festival and had dduk-bok-ki that didn't really taste like dduk-bok-ki (maybe a Japanese version?), had rice and grilled chicken cooked by Peter at home.

Mon, Nov 3 - cereal and toast for brekkie (no more sausages and eggs :(), rested and cleaned at home, Shin ramen for lunch, mapo tofu for dinner.

Things we've learned / observed about Japan this past week:
* Food expensive confirmed, experiencing "to the max" as our youth kids would say. Buying groceries and eating at home is expensive, eating out is even more expensive. There's no cheap alternative - or maybe we just haven't discovered it yet? Or maybe when we stop comparing to the US... :)
* Everything sold at the 100 JPY "dollar store" store actually costs 105 JPY. Even so, it's still a bargain!
* There isn't a god statuette-house thing at every street as we were told by someone.
* It's not pristine here like so many told us it would be. It's probably definitely cleaner than most big cities, but coming from California, I think the hardest things for us to get used to will be the air pollution and cigarette smoke being everywhere. Also, the water at the park was murky and there was even an old man peeing on the flowers in full view (no bushes or anything) - completely shocked and grossed me out.
* A lot of signage within subway stations are in at least Japanese and English and sometimes in Korean as well. Every station has its own map of the station itself (the various exits, location of bathrooms, etc), the immediate surrounding area and major attractions.
* People cycle everywhere and with no helmets. Saw first helmet today and it was on a 3-year old Korean girl (friend's daughter). Our initial impression of people not locking their bikes was wrong - they do, it's just tiny and so easy to use we didn't even notice them locking their bikes as they got off! Apparently bicycle theft is very common so locks are a must.
* If you don't bike, make sure you have a good pair of shoes or prepare to pay a lot to travel using public transportation.
* In terms of fashion: anything goes!
* Suit pants lengths are shorter than in Korea, the US and Europe.
* Baby items are really expensive (as in Korea).
* Most people are extremely polite, especially the older generation and those in the service industry.
* A 3,000 JPY subway ticket will get you 3,300 JPY worth of rides. :)
* Despite what both Peter and I were taught when we learned Japanese during uni (college) and 6th form college (respectively), Katakana is used almost everywhere!!! We were always taught that Kanji and Hiragana are the most used but there is sooooooooo much Katakana everywhere. This has made things a bit more difficult for us as my Katakana's not as good as my Hiragana.
* Students wear uniforms on Sunday too - didn't think they had school on Sundays but maybe they do???
* Young people here are becoming more western in terms of PDA. We've even seen a young couple kissing in public.
* There are lots of physically disabled people and they seem to be very well taken care of. I guess it's one of the advantages of living in a socialist society. As in the UK, the healthcare and welfare system in Japan seems to be very mindful of the elderly and the disabled. At the aquarium, there were young adult volunteers taking the physically disabled around in wheelchairs and in Korea Town there was a shop called "Wheelchair" with disabled people in wheelchairs at the shop working.

Lots more to tell!!!

Good night~

Osaka Aquarium

We visited Tempozan Marketplace ("a shopping and dining arcade that includes the Naniwa Kuishinobo Yokocho, a faux-Edo-period food court where you can sample all of Osaka's culinary specialities" Lonely Planet), had lunch there in the big cafeteria food court area overlooking Osaka bay, and then visited the Aquarium next door. It's an amazing architectural structure in that the entire middle section is one huge big tank which holds two whale sharks (main attraction), lots of huge sting rays, as well as huge and smaller fish. The rest of the sea creatures are on the other side of building, spread out over 8 floors (you start at the top and walk down a continuous slope and a few stairs) and holds everything from giant crab, penguins, monkeys, otters, jellyfish, etc wonders of the sea. Sara Juhee was asleep for the first 30 minutes or so but then was awake and very excited the rest of the time. I think Peter had the most amount of fun though. :)

There were lots of groups so it was a bit crowded - field trips from schools and a group of physically disabled in wheelchairs too - but I don't think this aquarium is ever not crowded.

Quick side note - We each had "regular size" (as opposed to the normal small size) set menus for lunch which included a donburi (rice dish) and an udon (noodle dish) each but I ate all of mine and then most of Peter's udon too. I was still hungry so I went to buy two buns and ate 1.5 (Peter didn't like one of them). Peter's been doing much better than me with adjusting to the smaller portion sizes here. My excuse is that I'm still nursing (actually nursing more than before!) so need to eat more as I'm eating for two. :)

Bedtime. Good night!

Walk, Walked, Walking

(Our local market "parking lot" is basically the middle section of the walkway in between rows of small shops inside one big building. People cycle inside from shop to shop too and re-park. One more thing that surprised us: no one locks their bikes.)

We walk everywhere. We have walked an immense amount since we've been in Japan. We will be walking to many more places over the next few weeks.

Most people here cycle everywhere, which really surprised us. I don't know about you, but when I think of countries in Asia where people cycle around everywhere, I think of places like Thailand and China. I always associated Japan with bustling streets full of busy people... But maybe it's because we're not in central Osaka, or even in one of the main areas... We're in a tourist area of Osaka, right next to the Osaka Aquarium and the Giant Ferris Wheel (apparently the world's biggest / tallest), the last stop (Osakako station) on the subway's green chuo-line. There aren't very many people out on the streets during the day, and even in the evenings it's not that busy. We haven't been out in the morning so I couldn't say what it's like then, but I'm assuming it's similar to the evening. Today, our first weekend here, we saw the most amount of people we've seen here on a single day so far. Lots of tourists! :)

Our property manager did ask us if we wanted to borrow a bike from him at no extra charge on our first day here. At the time we politely declined as I don't cycle and we didn't think there would be much need... Well, we're reconsidering now but we probably won't take him up on his offer as we're not used to the one-person-pedals-while-other-person-holds-on-to-baby-and-person-pedaling-with-no-one-wearing-helmets-or-being-buckled-in culture. It's for this reason we're kinda glad that we didn't bring Sara Juhee's stroller 'cause it's hard enough trying to walk next to each other while dodging cyclists on narrow sidewalks and bridges! On the entry way to the bridge we always have to cross to get to the big local market, there's actually a sign instructing cyclists to walk across the bridge, but no one does. On some of the sidewalks there are areas allocated to cyclists, but they cycle in the pedestrian area too. But even without the cyclists, when we've visited more central areas, we were glad we didn't have her stroller 'cause it would've been hard to maneuver so the baby carrier thing we strap on is more work for us physically but much easier in a place so busy and crowded with cyclists and pedestrians.

So we'll continue to walk everywhere... And, for the time being, Peter will have to continue to lightly step on my calves every night when we get home to massage the pain away... :)

Cycle, cycled, cycling - NOT! :)