Children are fun.

Plus, they think that I am creative and that is pretty great.

A package was delivered to Mr. And Mrs. H. It had a coat in it for baby and some other things. But there was this bag that big J was playing with. So I thought. You know, we could make quite the outfit out of that. Some scissors and tape later and big J had some green armor with his name on it. Well, I couldn't leave little J hangin. She got a crown, also made out of a bag. Who knew plastic bags could be so useful. I also love the way little J says my name. Soooo cute. She said to me tonight "I like you." Man kiddos are great.

Well then I came home. It was my last night at the Roods. I will going to the H's tomorrow as Joanna's teammate will be arriving on Wednesday. The two older children were making puppets out of paper plates and chopsticks. FYI chopsticks make great puppet handles. I thought, I can't leave these children hanging. I mean, I made great stuff for the other children. I can't have them thinking that I have favorites or something. A couple tooth pics and an hour later and we had some puppets with moving mouths and a lion with a moving tail.

Way fun.

Saturday Night!

Joanna and I had a fun time on Saturday night. We went out for diner with a few guys. This was a place where you cook your own food. It was so good! Okonamiyaki. I think that is how you spell it. We just hung out and talked. After that we went down and watched some of them play guitar under the monorail. Good times.

Some batter octopus things.

Oooo, looks good Joanna!

Shinji and his bud since the age of 6.

Takuya rockin out.

So, I decided to put up some pictures that would have been appropriate for old posts.

This was our crew for round two of hosting Japanese guys.

Guitar playing...Sigh.

We make friends with Japanese rock stars.

P.S. I have several posts that look old, but they are not, so please scroll down. Check it out. Leave me a comment. Let me know you are there.

It is a BEAUTIFUL DAY! It snowed today for the first time this winter. There is something about snow in a new place that makes snow seem new all over again. Something also makes me feel at home. I will miss snow. I talk about being excited about leaving Iowa for the warmth of Phoenix, but I really do like snow. Sure it is wet and cold and it looks really gross when it gets dirty, but I am not sure if any picture is as pretty to me as one of fresh snow.

I have been in Japan for a month now. I have one month left. I am really starting to enjoy it. The students are back at school and the ministry is back in full swing. Thursday I went to English lunch table, at one of the universities. They should call it Japanese and some English table, but that is besides the point. We met up with some of the regular students, and Tomo had invited a couple of his friends. One is a nursing student. It was really fun to get to talk to her. I was able to learn the Japanese word for nurse and hospital. "Watashiwa kongoshi das." I am a nurse. That is pretty cool.

Friday nights are the regular meeting time for BEST club discussion. Typically there is a meal, a game and a discussion topic. Last night I taught four on a couch to Japanese students, but instead of changing names, everyone had an American slang phrase as their name. Wow, that was really funny. Just hear it, "sweet," "dude," and "sick me out" all in a Japanese accent. HILARIOUS!

The students are so fun. I have not tried to fit into their culture at all. I hope that I don't offend them too much. Last night Joanna had payback for a joke I played on her. To make a long story short I asked a Japanese guy to marry me, in Japanese. Oh well, he just laughed and said that he couldn't. Most of the people that come to best club are guys. I hang out with 20 year old guys. Oh man. At least I don't have to grow up. :)

90's Rock and my ever increasing iTunes bill!

So, I got an iPod for Christmas. Great gift. It has more memory on it than I could ever use, but still I feel the need to fill it up. This is not a good thing. ITunes lets you put in the credit card number once and use it with a password. This is also not a good thing. I am going to have to set up an allowance or something. It is definately NOT acceptable to max out your credit card on iTunes.

Recent downloads:

Burnin' by Rahsaan Patterson-free and not bad
Tu y Yo by Haydee Milanes- free and in spanish
Little Big Town: The Road to Here-Album

and some classic 90's
Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve
If You Could Only See by Tonic
Counting Blue Cars by Dishwalla
No Rain by Blind Melon
Inside Out by Eve 6
Save Tonight by Eagle-Eye Cherry
Barely Breathing by Duncan Sheik
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something
Popular by Nada Surf

It is totally my Yahoo radio station on my iPod. Rock on 90's Rock Star.

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS!

Woo hoo! I like to read again! So I read two books while Joanna was gone. It is so great to be able to read for fun! I am still studying for my board exams, so I have to read some. BUT I get to read fun stuff too. Here is a list of the books I have read recently.

What a Girl Wants by Kristen Billerbeck
She's Out of Control by Kristen Billerbeck
With this Ring, I'm Confused by Kristen Billerbeck
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Here is a list of the books I am reading currently:

Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss
Price Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Kaplan's NCLEX Review

Hello friends! Please forgive my lack of posts.

Joanna is back. She had a great time and I am glad that she had the chance to see the friends that she made when she was here two summers ago. If you want to see information on her trip, please she her blog which is linked to the right.

We were able to host students pretty much all weekend. I am glad that school is back in session, as it has allowed us to connect with more students. Although my main purpose here is to help out with they Hayes, I have a strong desire to connect and share with some students. Friday night we had a back to school party. Basically people came over and we hung out. It was great. I was able to meet a couple of ladies that are going to take me around and show me some Tokyo sites!

The next night we had some people over for dinner. We are quickly learning to always plan for more people than you are planning for! It seems as though Japanese students always bring a friend. That is so much fun. We ate some food wonderfully prepared by Joanna and then played a game. Oh man it was so much fun.

So, my Jo Jo has left me. I am by myself for a few days in Japan. Tear. Not only am I alone, which actually I am ok with, but I have succeeded in turning off the heaters in the two rooms I spend the most time in. Let me clarify. You can turn off the heater and you can apparently turn off the heater so that it doesn't come back on. I have done the later. I can't even read sweet potato in Japanese. Yet, I am too embarassed to call the family I nanny for and tell them what has happened. I guess I will be cold until I loose my pride. Praise the Lord for my electric blanket. Woo Hoo!

Plus, Joanna has me completely figured out. I started this book a couple of days ago. It is the second in the series to the book I had raved about so much before. Mind you, I am already a day behind on my study plan that I created only a week ago. I told Joanna that I would have lots of time to study and get caught up while she is gone, but she told me I would have the two books done before she got back. It is Monday night and I am finished with the first. Do I dare start the second.

Oh, on a fun note. I totally got to bake with Lil J today. It was so much fun. She is super cute. Too bad she didn't eat her supper. She didn't even get to try our great creation!

More fun cake pictures

This is JUST FOR JOANNA!

You say it's your birthday?!

The day started off great! Joanna and I slept in and then I made us some French toast. Yummy!

Then, we heard this noise that we did not recognize. It was the door bell! I looked outside and there was a truck. Then, Joanna walked in with a package from RACHEL!!! She sent us our very own package and it came on my BIRTHDAY! How great is that? Rachel, you will probably read this before you get your letter, so thank you very much and I will save everything else for the letter.
After we basked in the glory of the present Rachel had sent us, I headed off for Tama Center. I had been wanting to go explore for a while, so the day warrented that trip for me. I looked around a few stores and then met up with Joanna at the Starbucks. Seriously what is a birthday without your favorite coffee beverage.

We checked out the Uni Clo and then headed back home. Uni Clo is kind of like the Gap or Old Navy in Japan.

At home we got ready for the evening and Joanna finished the present she had been faithfully working on.

At 4:15 we started on our treck towards downtown Tokyo. We had a little bit of walk and then several trains to catch. One of the students met us at the first stop. That was a huge blessing because she showed us the rest of the way. We met up with the rest of the students in downtown.

Eddie, a midtermer like Jo serving in downtown Tokyo, picked out a place to eat. It was called Christon. It was a resturaunt decorated like a gothic church. It was actually kind of cool. We ate with some of the students. Megume (sorry about the spelling, I am sure it is not correct) gave me a card that was a puzzle-very cool.Megumi, Joanna, Birthday Girl

Takayasu, Mitsuru, Tomo
Dinner, Oishi! (That means yummy)
Woo Hoo! Puzzle

We then found a place to do karaoke. Japanese students are very serious about karaoke, and by serious I mean, serious about havin fun! We tried to go to one place, but the students said it was expensive and they would not let Joanna bring in her surprise. So, we headed for another location.

I'm not sure if they would have let Joanna bring in her surprise or not, but it did not matter, because she put it in her purse. Yes, her purse. It made a huge chocolate mess. Mind you, I am not allowed to know what the "surprise" is at this point.Jo Jo worked so hard on this cake, isn't it pretty?

She even rememberd to bring candles?

Karaoke is SO much fun. The students really get into it. It was almost as fun to watch them sing as it was to sing myself. Way fun. Enjoy the pictures for yourself. What a night!

Costco

Have you ever been to Sam's Club? Costco is like Sam's Club. We went there the other day. This is not a bad thing. Actually, if you are looking for comforts from home, it is a really good thing. There are all kinds of American products and everything is sold in bluk.

But, as I was walking around I could not help but feel a little bit sad. Is Costco the way that America should be impressing its ways upon Japan? Just a thought.

New Year's DAY!

In Japan, New Year's Day is a big day to go to the shrines and ask for blessing for the new year. They put in some money, shake their hands and pray. Since we don't believe in those gods, we went on with our celebration.

It was Sunday, so we had church. This was super cool. It totally shook up my vision of church, in a good way. In the U.S. we get so used to church being a building and a service. What it really is about is believers of Jesus Christ, gathering together to read and study the Bible and encourage one another. The first churches had no buildings or fancy worship bands, it was people getting together in each other's houses. How great is that?!

So, Sunday morning, Joanna, Mr. and Mrs. H., the kiddos and I had church. We started off by singing some songs. Then Mr. H. read a Bible story specifically for the children. They then went down stairs and watched a DVD so the adults could have church. We read from Galations and talked about it. Then we talked about our lives and how Galations applyed and the different things in our lives that were brought up by Glations. Very cool. Oh and we prayed and ate together. Church for sure.


Then we hung out at the H home. Joanna and I talked with Mrs. H about things going on in our lives and in our pasts. We talked about our desires for families and the reality and challenge of being a wife and a mother missionary.

Later a student came by and he played a game with us and the children. It was a lot of fun. It is cool how you can play a game together and not even really understand eachother's words.

We all loaded up in the van and went to Mos Burger. Mos Burger is like the Japanese McDonalds. It is so great. The portions are smaller and the whole place seems healther. It is decorated well too. As someone put it, "If Martha Stewart had a fast food resturaunt, this is what it would be like."
Jo and Mitsuru at Mos Burger
Note the glass dishware, silverware and fine looking furnature

After Mos Burger, we were not ready to be done having fun, especially Mrs. H. So we decided to look for more fun. This was a challenge though, because most things are closed. We ended up having ice cream at McDonalds. Yummy, if Japan teaches me one thing, it might be to enjoy smaller portions.

The children needed to go to bed, so we headed back to the house. We were still not done with our fun though. We stayed up and played Catch Phrase. If you have not played Catch Prase with someone whose first language is not English, I highly recommend it. So much fun.

There was no football, but there was still a ton of fun.

Wow, so many things to talk about:
New Years, Costco, My Birthday!

New Year's Eve

I've never been a big person for New Years. My birthday is soon after, and we would sometimes have girls over to celebrate my birthday and the holiday. This year was fun though.

Joanna and I did not have big plans. Mr. and Mrs. H even forgot that it was New Years Eve. So, after a day of work (which wasn't a big deal, what else was I going to do?) Joanna and hung out. We played a couple rounds of Phase 10. If you do not know this game, you are missing out! Then we played Pretty, Pretty Princess. Wow, that game is great. I think that it is made for me. It is a board game where the point is to collect all the jewelry and the crown to become the Pretty Pretty Princess. Joanna is definately the winner, but I made her play until I won once.

Here are some pictures from the retreat, as promised.

The first one is Sarah and Joanna displaying our "Christmas Feast." It was after Christmas, but it was complete with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and even green bean casserole. Turkey was a big surprise to everyone. It is really hard to get turkey in Japan.
The second picture is Kyle playing guitar with his tongue. Yes, tongue. It is disgusting, but if I didn't have a picture, would you believe me?
The third picture is swing dancing! Woo Hoo!
And last but not least, Eddy and Stephen are very photogenic.