Thanksgiving with American Friends - Part II

Our second Thanksgiving dinner was at the Murrays' and was a Pioneers Hiroshima Team + one more family dinner.

As you can tell, this Thanksgiving dinner came with all sorts of bells and whistles! We were in charge of appetizers and a fruit dessert. For appetizers, we took Ritz crackers with two types of ham and cheese stacked on top. Jess brought a fancy cheese dip with bread stick type things too. There was mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes with a layer of marshmallows on top, dressing (NOT stuffing! :)), string beans, salad, mac & cheese, bread rolls, cranberry sauce, gravy, and real US turkey that had been soaking in its juice all day. Susan and Mrs. W cooked up a storm! And this was just the main course...

Looks delicious, right? It was! :) Susan even brought back Thanksgiving paper plates back from the US for us to eat off of and a Thanksgiving runner for the table.

The adults minus me.

The big kids and little kids. Juhee really enjoyed playing with the boys. They're a little bit older than her and she's been going through an "I-don't-like-boys" phase, but she really liked those two! :) Shame they live so far away... :(

Dessert: apple pie, pumpkin pie, cold cream, and the fruit that we brought - satsumas, apples with cinnamon, and a strawberry & banana mix.

Everything was delicious and we had a blast! I laughed so hard I was crying. Mr. W is quite a story teller and his kids give him lots of amazing stories to tell! It was great meeting them and being able to have Thanksgiving all together. :)

Thanksgiving with American Friends - Part I

We met the Sargent family during the summer through a mutual friend. I was so happy to meet them as our kids are of the same age and they're also missionaries here in Hiroshima. Just those two factors alone mean that we have a lot to talk about! :) The BEST part, of course, is that we can communicate with each in ENGLISH - phew! It's always a lot of fun hanging out with them. :)

They invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner and we were excited as it was our first one here in Japan and for me, it was my first ever non-fusion-ized American-only Thanksgiving dinner. When we got there, I couldn't believe how much M had managed to prepare! For a family with two young kids and another on the way, cooking massive amounts of delicious food is a real accomplishment. I really really appreciated the amount of effort that went into the preparation of the meal, especially as some of the ingredients are hard to find and/or need to be made completely from scratch. The turkey breast came from a Costco 3 and a half hours away!

As some of the other guests were coming late after work and its hard for us to eat and feed the kids at the same time, we had the kids eat first...

J, the Sargents' oldest, and Juhee both attend Samuel Yochien, but different branches and are in the same "grade". They are SO alike it's amazing. Misty and I often look at each other and just laugh when one of them does something 'cause they're just like two peas in a pod! They'll both often switch from English to Japanese and back and both understand the other perfectly. They both love pink, love Disney princesses, have a love/hate relationship with the camera, are very bossy and independent, yet also very sweet and caring too.

This was Sungjae's first time eating turkey, and as he's my picky eater, I wasn't sure if he'd like it, but he LOVED it! He ate so much turkey, delicious muffins, mashed potatoes, and even a little bit of dressing. He even fed L. a little bit! :) She didn't want her own food, but ate some of his. After having some of his, she sat down and ate too. Both younger siblings finished before the older ones. :)

Our only contribution to this meal was the salad. EVERYthing else was prepared by M & M and it all tasted AMAZING!!! Even the pumpkin pie with German whipped cream. Lots and lots of whipped cream. I love whipped cream. Too bad they don't have the sweet American ones here - yet. The drink in the picture is not coke - it's Dr. Pepper! They shared some of their precious Dr. Pepper with us, which also came from a Costco 3 and a 1/2 hours away. Apparently we can get Dr. Pepper at a foreign import store quite close to us somewhere. I haven't been yet, but I'll definitely need to go have a look someday to see what they have. I'm sure they won't have big multi-packs though. ;)

We made four (one person still hadn't arrived) new friends that day. We'd heard of them from various mutual friends (small international community here :)) and it was nice to finally get to meet them. Juhee got to watch Beauty and the Beast for the first time ever and was completely mesmerized. After the movie, Juhee had fun playing with J and, of course, they fought too. :) Sungjae had fun playing with L. They're SO cute together! Sungjae was really tired toward the end but he was really good about it. When we told him we were going to go and that it was time to put our jackets on, he became so happy! :)

We stayed out the latest I think we've ever been out (as a family of four). I can't remember exactly now, but I think we left around 10:30pm!!! Even then, we didn't really want to leave. I was so glad Juhee didn't have school the next day!

The Sargents' live in a new part of town that is more American in the way its been built (wider roads, shrubbery along roads, shopping centers with big parking lots, more American-style block-type neighborhoods instead of a maze of small side streets and random buildings on random corners) so combined with the hours of English speaking with Americans in an American home eating a (my first ever!) traditional Thanksgiving dinner, I felt like Peter was driving on the wrong side of the road on our way home. I was glad he was the one driving and not me! :)

Thanksgiving with Japanese Friends

Last year, we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving. We'd just arrived in Hiroshima, and had just moved into our new home. Things were a little bit too crazy. We also knew only a handful of people.

But this year, on Saturday, November 19th, we got to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends! Well, Juhee's friends from Samuel Yochien and her friends & families to be exact. It was an international collaboration, and I could not have done it without the help of many.

The evening started around 5pm with everyone writing their name in English on a name tag. One dad was very impressed that with just a little bit of help, her 4 year old could write her name in English. Once that was all done, then came the Thanksgiving Turkey craft! I'd printed out very simple instructions in English and included a "before" and "after" picture of a real turkey and a cooked turkey too. They found it really interesting. :) The turkey craft was a collaboration with Global Harvest Church's House Church, Rising Son HC, in Dallas, TX. The idea came from them and so did most of the parts. They even pre-made one big turkey, lots of completed turkey heads and cut out the webbed feet for me as I knew it'd take too long if we had to do that on the day and I wouldn't have time to prepare it beforehand (or completely stress myself out trying). Along with the craft, they also sent our first ever Thanksgiving decorations!

This is a group picture of the kids and one of the moms holding Sungjae, each holding up the turkey craft that they'd just completed. I was going to take a pic of just the turkeys but I forgot... My bad!

Of course, we took a group picture with everyone too. :) Peter took the pic so he's not in this one. Need to invest in a tripod... 3 dads, 4 moms (hubby was working on a Saturday evening - voluntarily!), 4 preschoolers, 3 siblings, 14 total.

I then read them the "The First Thanksgiving" lift-a-flap book that Jeeyun from San Jose, CA sent me after reading our last newsletter. She responded right away, and together, we found this simple, fun book. :)

The kids and moms were very into it. They found it very interesting. It was all new to them.

Then, I read them the "Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks" book sent by Kim, a dear mommy friend in San Diego. It was a surprise when we received this book and it worked so perfectly together with the one that Jeeyun sent us. God's planning is so perfect! I used Jeeyun's book to give a bit of a background and then Kim's book to tell them about what we do on Thanksgiving Day, what the day is for.

And then, it was dinner time! Pastor Y, one of the dads, prayed for the meal in Japanese. Thanksgiving Dinner was a fusion of Korean and American dishes. We had mixed grain rice with a Korean chicken dish (닭도리탕). I made two types of the chicken dish - a spicy one for the adults and a non-spicy one for the kids. The side dishes were American - mashed sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes (mixed instant from sister Jade & friend Melanie in Dallas with freshly mashed potatoes), spinach salad, and one non-American side - kimchi! :) Kids were eager to play so barely finished while dads enjoyed seconds. Everyone enjoyed tasting the sides but weren't big on them and was astonished when they tried Juhee's slightly rinsed kimchi, especially when they found out that she's been eating kimchi since she was just one!

For most of the evening, the girls played together and sometimes sang together. One of the songs that they sang was one they learned at preschool. It's the Christmas story told from the viewpoint of donkeys and their take on their role in the Christmas story. I don't understand all of it but I know the main parts. The moms knew it, but it was an unfamiliar song to the dads. The awesome little house structure that Peter had made was completely ruined that night... So sad... Our kids LOVED playing in it. He'd made it so that they could go all the way around in a loop and created little "windows" too so they could peep out. The other kids loved it too, obviously.

And for most of the evening, the boys played separately. It was so cute how Sungjae really attached himself to M-kun. I guess even at such a young age, babies know that boys are boys and that they play differently. Amazing, right?

Dessert was pumpkin bread, baked from a mix sent by Bonnie in the Bay Area. It was delicious! Everyone was surprised at the taste and how moist it was. One of the girls had brought little handmade place mats & coasters for dessert time in a little basket. She very happily passed them out. :) They were so cute! There were so many different types, all (I think) created by her mommy.

Juhee was sick for the first two weeks or so of November and then she got sick with vomiting the day before the party so I was afraid we would have to cancel, even more so when Peter got sick that evening, also with vomiting (and diarrhea). So in terms of prep, I didn't get everything done I wanted to get done and the food wasn't perfect (or all hot). But I'm so thankful that both Juhee and Peter were well enough for it to happen, and that despite not everything being perfect, it was good enough for it to be an acceptable, fun, successful evening with lots of laughter, new experiences enjoyed by everyone, and a time of being able to give thanks together with our new friends. It's awesome to be able to share our lives with those that God has brought into our lives.

Thank you God for friends to celebrate Thanksgiving with, for friends who so generously gave of their time and finances to help make it an American Thanksgiving Party, and for making it happen. Couldn't have done it without you and You. :)

Friends

I have people here now that I know for sure that I can call a friend. This means a lot to me. I've really missed having friends and I miss my friends back in San Jose and around the world. With most of my friends here, I still can't have deep conversations with them due to the language barrier. But God keeps on sending moms who speak various levels of English to me and combined with what little Japanese I do know, we share our lives, our thoughts, our troubles, and our prayers.

Last week was the week when I realized how much of a friend I'd become to those that I considered a friend. One friend called and we had a long conversation about her son. She was in tears and later on thanked me "for telling the truth, because Japanese moms only say good things". I so wanted to give her a hug! My heart hurt for her and the shock that she was going through. It made me pray more in earnest for her and her family. It made me want to pray together with her and I prayed that one day, we would be able to.

Another friend called to just chat. That was really nice. :) There was nothing that was urgent, nothing that needed to be discussed. She just called to say hi and see how I was doing. We both just so happened to be grocery shopping while we were talking and that was fun too. It made my heart all warm and fuzzy and very happy that I was her friend and that she was mine. :)

This one's slightly different... A new friend who doesn't speak much English but really wants to was confiding in a mutual friend at church on Sunday. She was in tears as she spoke of something regarding her husband. I knew that she didn't have the English to share with me and I didn't have the Japanese to understand. It was also the wrong setting for in-depth sharing including translation as our kids were playing around us. But I was able to send her a text later on and just let her know that I wanted to give her a hug and that I'm praying for her and her family. She told me previously that she was "happy happy happy" to receive a text from me so I knew that in a small way, without us being able to communicate fully, I could still encourage her. She replied the following day and told about the struggles she's facing right now and asked for prayer. She also ended with writing, "I thank to God, I met Jenny! 大好き(means love) Jenny!" That's special.

And I'm very happy to say that there more! There's a friend who was willing to sacrifice FOUR afternoons so she could come and translate for me for my Japanese driving test and drove me there and back too. There's a friend that I meet regularly who I can ask for help with a lot of the paperwork from Juhee's school. She speaks very little English but she explains everything to me as plainly as possible in Japanese. Another new friend who speaks English pretty fluently invited me to her house and we had a nice chat together over coffee (for those of you that don't know, I don't like coffee!!!). Not liking coffee has become a problem for me since moving to Japan and it might be one of those things I'm going to have to give in to...

My prayer is that the same happens for Juhee. When I went to her school recently, I had the chance to observe her secretly from behind a curtain. It was outdoor playtime and she sat on the ground by herself for most of the time. Pretending not to have seen her, I asked if she had outdoor playtime, what she did, etc and she told me that she played by herself because she doesn't have any friends in her class. Her answer confirmed what I'd feared when I saw her. Not a single kid approached her during the whole time she was sitting there by herself on the ground. Not a single teacher went to her either. I totally understand the other kids in her class and at her school - it's not as fun playing with Juhee 'cause communication's difficult and she still doesn't know "the Japanese ways" of doing things. BUT as a mom, I still want a friend for my little girl. So she won't be sitting on the ground by herself, not playing during playtime 'cause she has no one to play with, no one who cares...

Can you see Juhee in this pic? Do you see one child in a blue hat sitting on the ground all by herself? That's her...

I pray that she has more days like this one, when she's at least playing in the sandbox together with other kids. I actually think (and definitely hope!!!) that most days are like this, rather than the day above.

I also pray that God brings awesome friends for Peter too. Other young dads that he can share life with, men that he can play sports with, watch movies with, do guy-things with, share his faith with, discuss spiritual growth with, maybe even disciple and encourage, and just sit and grunt with :) if that's what they want/need to do. :)

I also pray that God brings godly friends into Sungjae's life too and that they continue to be lifelong friends. I thank God that He's already started to! :)

Sungjae's one-year-old friends from Kabe Chapel, their moms, and older siblings came to our house for Sungjae's first ever playdate. Everyone had a blast! :) Next time, hopefully the dad will be able to join us too. Pray for that to happen please!!!

Friends are SO important.

I thank God that Jesus is our friend. :)

Japanese Driving Licence - Got It!!!

After FOUR attempts, I finally got my driving licence. What an ordeal!

Our International Driving Licences were due to expire one year after we arrived in Japan and just a few weeks before the dreaded expiry date, on Mon, Oct. 24th, we finally managed to get ourselves to a local driving school with a translator. We sat down in a classroom where we went through the set driving course via picture slides that the teacher had very kindly prepared for us in English. He said it was his first time doing so! We then went outside to actually practice driving around the course. The driving test course is the same throughout Japan. At the practice schools, they have miniature versions. Our super nice, very smiley teacher gave us a lot of helpful tips like checking the back and front of the car before going in, opening the door in two steps and closing it in two steps, even if you don't have to adjust the back mirror you still have to at least touch it, make sure you speed up whenever you're going straight (even if only a short distance), slow down before a turn and release brake going into it, stay within 1m of the curb on left or drive on line depending on distance between line and curb, drive at 10km/h or less when turning, etc. One thing that he told us which surprised me was that the "feeling/impression" that the examiner receives is very important. The test is not so much about skill as it is about the examiner feeling like you know the rules of the road and are a safe driver. I had no clue how significant this bit of advice was...

That following Thursday, on Oct. 27th, we went to the driving test center with another friend. There is only ONE center that serves for all of Hiroshima prefecture. Our practice cars at the driving school were BMWs. The cars used for testing foreigners were old Japanese taxis! The Japanese testers had fairly new cars. Foreigners, or more specifically, those with a foreign driving licence, are also tested after the Japanese but we all have to arrive at the same time as the registration counter is only open for 30 minutes in the afternoon. Peter and I both passed the paper test but failed the driving test. A very nervous Peter didn't speed up enough and my left turns were too wide. The examiner was kinda scary. :P

The next Monday, Oct 31st, Peter passed! Yay!!! The new examiner said that he was very good, asked if he'd gone to driving school, and was surprised that he'd only been once. I failed. The examiner said my driving was overall very good but my left turns were wide in the areas where a left turn was made right after a right turn. He was super nice. I appreciated his feedback. :)

(Every time I went, I had to fill in paperwork in Korean (Peter's were in English) and go to a counter to receive actual stamps that I had to wet and stick on to the paper as proof of payment. Surprisingly very old school, right? This pic is actually from the day that I passed. :) Fingerprint is only needed on the day that you pass.)

The following Wednesday, on Nov 2nd, our friend who had gone with us the previous two times, came to pick me up and drive me there, waited, and then drove me back. This time, for the first time, I was actually nervous 'cause I really wanted it now. The previous times, I only half-heartedly wanted to pass 'cause the dates were right before my birthday, which would have meant that because of a few days, I'd be losing a year in terms of my first renewal period. But this time, my birthday had passed, I was feeling much more confident, I'd already lost so much time and money on the testing, and it was starting to get embarrassing, so I really really wanted it! That made me nervous too. I got an elderly examiner this time and he said that my driving was very good, just a little bit fast when making right turns. Because he said I was very good and because I knew that my driving had been pretty good, I got my hopes up - only to have them dashed when told "no pass" (in English) at the counter... :( I was crushed. So super disappointed. I'd really wanted it that day. I also couldn't help feeling like the system was unfair. It's definitely not opaque like the driving tests I'd experienced in the UK and the US. You don't get any paperwork back telling you exactly what you did wrong, how many times, if it was major/minor, etc. There are guidelines like a major mistake is worth 10 points and you're allowed to get 30 points off, but no one shows you anything after the test.

The following Monday, Nov 7th (NB: 3 days after my Int'l had expired!!!), our friend and I went again. My driving was OK, as it had been the previous 3 times. The examiner was in a bad mood (or so it seemed) and actually fell asleep while the person being tested before me was driving (the next person rides in the back seat while the previous person drives). He gave me a ton of feedback, most of which I didn't really pay attention to/couldn't understand. With a sinking heart, our friend and I sat down. Soon after, we discussed when would be a good time for us to come back for test #5... When we were called to the counter, I expected the examiner to say "no pass" but he said a full sentence in Japanese and our friend started bowing saying "Ah! Arigato gozaimashita!" so then in disbelief, I started doing the same! I'd passed? I'd passed!!! Hurrah!!! :) I had to fill in paperwork, give them a pin number for my driving licence, do a few exercises (no joke, I had to like lift my arms up, turn them around, do squats, etc), get my eyes checked, get my picture taken, wait for my licence, and then we were off! I went to the counter to ask if I could take a picture with the person who processed my paperwork most of the time, was our 2nd examiner, and always told us so gently "no pass" but he declined. I took the opportunity to thank him though for always being so nice, even when telling us "no pass". :)

Don't have to go back there again for THREE YEARS! Yay!!! :)

A few things...

A few things that have happened recently that I wanted to jot down (in no particular order)...

* A very close friend of mine just gave birth to her 3rd child, a beautiful baby girl, in China. We miscarried at almost the same number of weeks, at almost the same time a couple of years ago and now we've both had healthy babies and are both living far away from where we used to live in obedience to God's calling. Praise God! :)

* Juhee's started washing dishes with me. She wanted to do it last month while Peter was away in Tohoku but I told her we had to wait till daddy got back so he could watch / distract Sungjae while we did them. She brought it up again last week so we washed the dishes together. She soaped and then did a preliminary rinse while I did a final rinse and then stacked them. She was great! The second time she did them, I folded laundry in the living room while she soaped. It was AWESOME!!! My dishes were being done while I was folding the laundry! Life was good. :) I'm so glad she likes doing dishes and hopefully she'll ask to do them now and again. When she was doing them the first time, Sungjae was trying to get on to the stool that she was standing on and she very loving told him in a very big-sisterly fashion, "Sungjae, you can wash the dishes too when you're older". ;)

(Pic of Juhee & Sungjae and their bags in our entrance area (genkan) on Sungjae's first day of daycare, Oct. 3rd.)

* I'm usually up with or before the kids but one day earlier this week, I got up, moved a little bit, and then just laid back down again because I was so tired. Juhee just came to me, sat down by my legs and started to massage them! AND Peter got up and made toast for the kids. Felt like a spoiled queen that morning! :)

* Juhee's been saying lots of very profound things recently. So profound, I can't remember any of them right now... ㅡㅡ; The conclusions and logic of a 3 (almost 4) year old are mind boggling. Really makes you realize how many "facts" and "norms" of life we take for granted.

* When I told Juhee last Sunday that "Auntie Susan" wouldn't be at our team meeting because she was in America with her mom, aunt, and grandma, Juhee asked if she going to have a team meeting with them. If only!

* That same Sunday, in the car on our way home, Peter and I asked Juhee what she did with Sydney (Sydney and Taylor look after Juhee during our team meetings) and she said she was drawing. We asked her what she drew and she said,
"A~nything, a~nything I want to."
"Oh, I see. But what did you draw?"
"I told you, a~nything I want to."
"But what "anything" did you draw?"
"Oh, um, I can't remember." ㅡㅡ;

(Sydney and Juhee helping to make a special Japanese dessert eaten every year in September, pic from Sept. 4th.)

* Again, that same Sunday, soon after we arrived at the Murrays', I noticed they had their Happy Birthday banner up... For me... We had a wonderfully delicious Mexican dinner and then when I got up to help clear the plates, Scott said, "Jenny, why don't you just sit down" and took the dishes I was going to take to which I replied "Oh" and sat down. Only thoughts crossing me head being, "Wow, Scott's really on the ball today and really going all out with being the host..." But then Peter/Sungjae finished so I stood up to take their plates and the Jess came over and tried to take them from me, told me to sit down, and actually blocked me! I turned around slightly to try to talk toward the kitchen at which point Scott said from the kitchen, "OK, Jenny. You need to stop right there!" with both arms out and something long and thin in his hand. It was then that a light bulb went on in my head and I realized what was going on, further confirmed by the comment, "Well, there goes trying to keep it a surprise!" coming from the kitchen. Oops!!! I had NO clue until I caught a glimpse of what was in Scott's hand. We had a good laugh about it afterwards. =D Scott had bought really nice chou (pronounced 'shoe') cream (like at Papa Beard's but much nicer, I think) for my cake 'cause I LOVE chou cream. Our Pioneers Hiroshima Team members are so sweet. :)

* Sungjae loves sticking out his tongue and he's so cute when he does it, it's hard to scold him for doing it. :)

* My relationship with the other moms of Juhee's class has just really blossomed during the past few weeks. Part of it is because I've had lots of things going on at Juhee's school which meant increased frequency of meeting and the chance to chat. My relationship with other moms not of Juhee's class has also taken off thanks to the "club"s that I am a part of - Bible Class and Mary Poppins (flower arrangement). I finally feel like I'm making friends and getting to know people that I can be comfortable with, learn things from, and share our lives with too. I've also been able to give many of them a copy of our church's quarterly-ish newsletter, the Good News, as I've been teaching recently so have been using the ads on the back to let them know of the dates, etc info.

* Recently, the thought that I'm so ready to throw in the towel and move back to San Jose fluttered through my mind and the thought shocked me. Life was and is hard. Very hard. But was I really ready to give up? A friend from the US emailed just a couple of days later letting me know that she's been thinking of and praying for me, especially that I will experience JOY. God used my friend to speak to me and encourage me at the perfect time. Thank you friend and thank you God! :)

* Mosquitoes really like biting Sungjae on his ear every since we started clothing him in long sleeves / pants. :( He's the only one that usually gets bit now. Mosquitoes love fresh new baby blood... :(

* Juhee very often asks us what a Japanese word means in English. Very often, we don't know the answer to her question, especially when she's speaking in the Hiroshima dialect. Peter knows the most Chinese characters so is probably the best reader and Juhee is definitely the best speaker. I can read and speak but at different levels to Peter and Juhee. Sungjae is doing pretty well learning three languages at once. It's so cute when he talks! :) Sometimes our conversations on one topic include vocabulary from all three languages.

* Every night, Juhee runs into her daddy's arms for a big good night hug. The game is to try and run so hard and fast that she knocks him over (while he's sitting on our futons) with her giving him a hug on top of him. Peter pretends to resist and then fall over, very much to Juhee's delight. She then gives him a big good night kiss, sometimes with another run over to him. Sungjae's started doing this too during the past couple of weeks. He's always so proud of himself afterwards! =DDD

* Juhee's becoming a daddy's girl. Recently, she always wants daddy to sit next to her at the dining table and wants to go to daddy, play with daddy, pray with daddy, etc, "because I like daddy today". :) Sometimes, she likes both me and Peter "today". And sometimes, we wonder if she's 3 or 13! :)

(Peter took Juhee & Sungjae out one sunny Sunday in Sept. and tried to teach Juhee how to ride the used bike that he bought for her. The wheels, pedals, and seat are rusty though so apparently it was hard to pedal. We might have to buy her a new one. She enjoyed her first ever lesson though and some precious outdoor playtime with daddy too, something that he didn't have the time or energy for during almost all of Apr-Aug while studying full-time at the YMCA.)

* During the past couple of weeks, ladies in two different States have been helping me organize my first ever Thanksgiving Party. Like my first ever, not just first ever in Japan. They've helped me with the craft and the meal. Today, I made mashed sweet potato for the first time in preparation (as an experiment) for the meal with Christian & non-Christian Japanese friends from Juhee's preschool. It was pretty yummy! :) I'm so looking forward to receiving the packages that they've sent and finalizing the details. One of them will also contain 4 boxes of Pumpkin Bread, of which at least 3 will probably be used to give to the students of Juhee's preschool in the 3 classes that I read the Thanksgiving book too. If I have enough (time and mix), maybe I'll bake one for the teachers too. :)

* Sungjae had his first ever playdate. It was so much fun! Two moms + 2 one-year-old boys + 2 older siblings + Jess came to our house to just have fun and eat dinner together. We did just that! It was a great time of getting to know the moms better (both attendees of Kabe Chapel) and for the kids to be able to play together in a bigger environment with more toys as it's a bit small and crowded at church. The moms would speak to us foreigners in proper Japanese and speak to each other in Hiroshima dialect. :) One of the best things for me was that one mom brought two types of salad and another brought two types of dessert so I was able to try yummy, healthy food from other moms too. Everyone enjoyed the chicken dish (닭도리탕) that I made too which was awesome and us 3 Korean-Americans got a lot of Japanese practice that evening too. The Japanese moms were very happy to get some English practice! :) It was so awesome to see Sungjae "playing" with the other 1 year olds too and have hope in them all growing up together. It was nice to feel connected, to know that he would have friends, friends of families that we would be friends with, friends that will hopefully keep him accountable in his Christian faith. Another "best" thing (is one allowed to have so many "best"s?) for me was that the husband of one of the moms had said that morning that he really wanted to come too! The reason why we had the playdate on a Friday evening instead of a Saturday evening was because the husband had previously been very closed to attending any church / Christian events. Because he works late Mon-Fri, the mom & kids couldn't leave him alone at home on a Saturday late pm / evening so we had it on a Friday when he wouldn't be home anyway. But apparently he wants to come and be friends with us! Praise God!!! :) So next time we have a playdate, it's going to be on a Saturday and hopefully both dads will be able to join us, and maybe one other family with a one-year-old that just started attending Kabe Chapel.

* Whatever Juhee does, Sungjae wants to do. Whatever Juhee is playing with, Sungjae wants to play with. :)

(Juhee had just taken off her pink Dora pajama dress so she can put on her golden Belle dress. When Sungjae saw what was going on, he stopped playing with his cars and asked that he be dressed up too in Juhee's pajamas...)

This post turned out to be way longer than I thought it would be and I know I've forgotten a few things that I'd originally wanted to write about in this post, but I'll have to jot them down for another post when I remember, if I remember. There are always so many things I want to blog about but never have the chance to. My life is so "interesting", so busy, so blessed. :)

7-9월 소식지

이제는 전체적으로 다 올리지 않고 일부분만 올리기로 했습니다. 소식지를 받고 싶으신 분은 연락을 하시거나 우측 칼럼 Newsletter Sign-up 부분에 이메일 주소를 기입하시면 받으실 수 있습니다. 관심을 가져 주시고 기도해주심에 감사드립니다.  꾸벅~ ^^

Wednesday October 19, 2011

새로운 경험들, 새로운 축복들

안녕하세요!

저희가 뉴스레터를 발송하기 시작한 지난 3년이래로 이번에 최고로 오랜 기간 동안 뉴스레터를 발송하지 않았습니다. 그만큼 7, 8, 9월은 새로운 경험들과 축복들이 가득찬 석달이었습니다. 많았던 일들 중 몇 가지를 함께 나누고 싶습니다. 함께 나눌 축복의 이야기들이 많은 것도 하나의 큰 축복으로 생각하며 하나님께 감사를 드립니다. 그리고 저희 뉴스레터를 관심 깊게 읽어 주시는 모든 분들께도 감사를 드립니다. 한분 한분의 기도와 후원 없이는 저희가 일본에서 주님의 역사하심을 경험하며 함께하지 못했을 것이기 때문입니다. 감사합니다! ^^

신실하신 주 안에서,
Peter Oh 선교사 가정 드림

Jul-Sept Newsletter

Instead of posting the whole newsletter up here on our blog, I've decided to just post the intro portion. If you would like our e-newsletters sent to you, please email us or sign-up using the newsletter sign-up box in the right-hand column of our blog. :)

Friday September 30, 2011

Many Firsts & Many Blessings

Dear co-laborer in the Lord,

Hello!!!  It's been the longest ever that we haven't sent out a newsletter ever since we started sending them out almost 3 years ago.  Did you miss us? :)

Thank you for partnering with us and journeying alonside us in ministering to those in Japan. July, August, and September have been very full and exciting months with many "firsts", and we'd like to share with you several stories that highlight our experiences. We are blessed to have so many blessings to share with you. Thank you, because without you, we wouldn't be here experiencing God's awesomeness.

Blessings,
Peter, Jenny, Juhee and Sungjae Oh

Hello Jess! :)

Say "Hello!" to our awesome new teammate Jess(ica) Lee. I would introduce you to her myself, but she does a much better job than I ever could on her blog (link). She arrived in Hiroshima on June 23rd and will be here with us a Pioneers mid-term missionary for two years (at least ;)).

A couple of weeks after she arrived, we were very lucky to join her for dinner at Pastor Haitaka's. Lucky for us, she didn't have a car and didn't know how to get around. :) After an awesomely delicious dinner and lots of desserts (Jess made a special pineapple dessert and I took a pork & kimchi stir fry dish), we played a couple of games and had a great time of fellowship. (Click on pictures to see larger versions.)

She's also been awesome at jumping into ministry and helping wherever and whenever needed. Already, she's been "David" in David and Goliath, "Elijah" and "Worshipper of Baal" in the same story on two different occasions, she was also part of the praise team that lead praise in both English and Japanese during our VBS week, has folded countless numbers of VBS flyers (and spilled a bit of water on some of them :)) and Good News newsletters, babysat for me so I could do my Old Testament Survey lectures, housework, etc, absolutely loves our kids and is adored back, and as part of her ministry to the team, will be babysitting for us every other week for a couple of hours so Peter and I can have some much needed time to ourselves. She will also be teaching English classes and Bible classes too while studying Japanese, ministering to the Murray's, and trying to find some time to catch her breath sometimes too! She's also just fun to be around and enjoy a meal with, especially as she's family. :)

God has blessed her with amazing language skills and she's picking up Japanese like you wouldn't believe. She's also making lots of friends very quickly, has already been an awesome blessing to us as a family, the PI team, and the local churches here, and we're very excited to see how God is going to work through and in her during her time with us in Hiroshima (which will, hopefully, God willing, extend beyond two years). :)

Relief Work in Tohoku (Kesennuma, just north of Sendai)

After my first semester at language school ended for summer break, I (Peter) had the opportunity to serve on a Pioneers team to assist with the relief efforts in Northeastern Japan through CRASH Japan, a Christian relief organization in Japan. We mainly worked in the city of Kesennuma, which was one of the hardest hit cities by the earthquake and tsunami. You can see a lot of original footage on YouTube of when the tsunami hit Kesennuma. It's devastating.

Seeing the affected areas for the first time in-person was surreal. It just boggled my mind to see what was once a neighborhood full of houses and businesses completely destroyed with only their foundations remaining. There were lots of clean-up crews with heavy machinery sorting through the debris. After six months of clean up, they've definitely come a long way. However, there's still so much more that needs to be done, and there's some damage that can't be fixed. When we first arrived, we were shown our meeting place for our first project, but we quickly had to leave. Our guide informed us the tide is coming in so we couldn't stay there too long. Apparently, part of the city sank about one meter. So every day when the high tide comes in, that part of the city gets flooded.

Recovery and reconstruction will last for years, but progress is being made.

We weren't sure what to expect once we got there. We didn't know what exact needs there were, and how we would be able to help. We went with open minds and open hearts, and a flexible attitude willing to serve.

Through CRASH Japan, we were asked to join a project to spray EM (Effective Micro-organisms) in the affected areas. This EM is used to get rid of bad bacteria, bad smell and help rejuvenate the soil. The project was led by a Christian, Ashikaga-san, who had a smile on his face every day and was always joyful. Other Japanese volunteers joined in the project including folks from a Scientology group, students from Kita Kyushu University, and other volunteers sent from the volunteer base camp. We realized that spreading EM was the project assigned to us, but that God had additional plans for us. We were able to build good relationships with the other volunteers, and were able to share the love of God with them.

The project assigned to us was to spread EM, but God had additional ideas.

We were also introduced to a group of local High School students who were interested to spending time with us. We were able to spend two afternoons with them, and had a good time of playing and getting to know each other. Through spending time with them, we were able to hear some of their stories, their hopes and future plans. We were also able to share with them what gives us hope, and those among us who could speak Japanese shared from the Bible how Jesus gives us hope. We were told that two of the students contacted our CRASH Japan base logistics manager to find out more about how to become a Christian. Praise God!

Hanging out with the local High School students.

So with a grateful heart, I want to thank you who supported my going and serving in the Tohoku region, and also a big thank you to those who continue to support us in being here to serve. The following video provides a summary of our experiences that our Pioneers team would like to share with you. Blessings!