Camp China 2002

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In the summer of 2002 I volunteered with the English Language Institute / China to teach English for 4 weeks at a school in Changsha, China.  Over 250 volunteers (college - aged) participated that summer.  I was placed on a team with 8 others, and together we flew to Guangzhou, China and traveled to Lushan Experimental School in Changsha.  We each had our own class of 12 - 15 middle school students and used a curriculum developed by ELIC to teach English and Science, and to share about our Christian faith and American culture.  It was an incredible experience that changed my life!  If you're interested in a similar volunteer experience, check out ELIC's website.

I've been meaning, for some time now, to make a photo book out of my experience.  Finally, motivated by a $30 off coupon from Shutterfly that expired today, I completed the book.  (there's nothing quite like deadlines to motivate one to finish a project).  Enjoy!

Summer Vacation: Part Two

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away . . . . . (Music from the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra fills the hall) . . . . STAR WARS!  We’ve probably all heard John Williams’ music at least a hundred times, but I must say that it’s still pretty amazing, especially when it’s played live in a concert hall. 

During Summer vacation Haidee and I took a weekend trip to Tokyo to attend Star Wars in Concert held at the Tokyo International Forum.  It was a blast!  Anthony Daniels (the actor who played C-3PO) was present and narrated (in English – yeah!) an overview of the story from Episode One – Episode Six.  He snuck in a few C-3PO lines from the film, such as the odds of successfully navigating an asteroid field . . . 

". . .the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1(!)"

With lights, sounds, live music filling the hall, and action being played on a big screen, it was easily my most phenomenal Star Wars experience to date.  There was even a choir present to sing for “The Duel of Fates” from Episode One:  The Phantom Menace.  At the conclusion of the two hour concert there were 2 encores and a standing ovation from the near capacity audience (of which Haidee and I were one of the few foreigners present).  It was Haidee's first time to hear a professional orchestra live - I'd say this concert puts her off to a good start!  

Haidee and I arrived at the concert hall 75 minutes before the concert – just in time to see some Star Wars characters make their entrance. . . .and to take some pictures!

For some reason all of the Jedi were Japanese . . . .

 

Aren't you a little short for a Storm Trooper?

Haidee gets in on the Jedi picture taking!

Some of the audience members wore costumes. . .

I thought Boba Fett died in Episode 6. . . (I guess, for that matter, so did Darth Vader)

All the fans wanted a picture with Darth Vader.  The line was 60 minutes long, and we were running out of time . . . .

 

. . . . so I settled for the next best thing!

A flood of Japanese people arrive for the concert. . . time to take your seats.

Star Wars in Concert!

 

Aside Story:  Haidee and I bought our tickets a couple months ago.  Then, two weeks before our trip, Susan Weidner (a friend of mine from Bonduel, WI) sent me an email saying she’d be visiting Tokyo for one week, spending time with some friends she had made at Disney World.  It just so happened to be the same weekend!  (And the first time I’d been to Tokyo to visit since arriving here in January.)  So, after the concert, we met up with Sue and two of her friends, and enjoyed the evening together in Shinjuku.  It had been over 6 years since we last saw each other in the USA.  What a fun coincidence! 

My first friend from the USA to come and visit me!  (who will be the second?)

 

Summer Vacation: Part One

The Japanese school year begins in April and goes until March.  There are a handful of breaks throughout the school year, including 2-3 weeks in August, when the temperatures are very atsui (refer to a previous blog post).  Our English school at Izumi Lutheran Church took two weeks off in August, during which we enjoyed a break from our normal work/study routine (I also took a break from blogging. . . . as you may or may not have noticed). What do people do to take a break in Japan? you might ask. Well...we don't know what "normal" people in Japan do...but here are some of the things we enjoyed!

Summer Vacation: Part One - an evening of prayer in Iwaki.

Throughout the month of August, we've been blessed with various visitors and friends.  Several weeks ago now, some young adult 24/7 prayer volunteers make a quick stop at Fukushima City for a couple hours to visit with our small Christian community here.  We had never met before, and had just enough time to eat some Indian curry for dinner, share a little about ourselves, sing a worship song, and pray together for a bit.  What a blessing!  During their sharing, our new friends told us a little about the Global Mission Center in Iwaki (a 3-hour drive from Fukushima) - which is their home base for the present.  They invited us to join them in Iwaki for a prayer gathering Wednesday, Aug 8th - our second day of Summer Vacation.

So, after traveling by train and car, we found ourselves at the front doorstep of the Global Mission Center (visit their website).

The newly constructed "Global Mission Center" (formerly a Pachinko parlor)

The building used to be a pachinko parlor.  Pachinko is very popular form of gaming (kind of like a pinball machine, but much smaller!), and often is used as a form of gambling.  The Japanese government estimates the annual revenues of the Pachinko industry are around 29 trillion yen (roughly 378 billion dollars)!  A young Christian man in Iwaki inherited this particular Pachinko parlor from a relative, and proceeded to gut the building and completely renovate it, with plans to house a mission church.  The renovation of the second and third floors was completely just before the 3/11 Tokohu Earthquake, and the building sat empty for a bit.  Would it ever be a mission church, in this disaster-struck area?  Then, volunteers were flooding Iwaki and space was needed for lodging and communication. Suddenly it became very clear what God's purpose was for the building, and it has been a home base for relief efforts ever since, with plenty of room to house long-term volunteers, short term relief work teams, and supplies!

We broke into small groups to share about what God is currently doing throughout Japan.

Our time in Iwaki was an evening of getting to know other Christians living in Northeast Japan, sharing stories of how God is at work in Japan, and spending time in worship and prayer.

During the prayer service we colored areas of the map of Japan that we were praying for.

Fellowship time!

The Japanese-style snacks during Fellowship Time are a little different than what's typicial in the USA . .

We closed the evening of prayer by lifting up one another to God's care.

There was a large group assembled - Japanese and foreigners alike - and the prayer meeting was presented in English and Japanese.  Worship and prayer were also bi-lingual.  The evening was a rich blessing for me - like a breath of fresh air in the midst of summer heat!

Computer Repair Job

For those of you who are avid Facebook stalkers (Um, I mean, frequent users) you may have noticed that Haidee and I purchased a new laptop computer.  After much research and some advice from some of our more 'techie' friends we purchased a Dell Vostro 3350.  

Haidee’s old Toshiba Satellite (purchased in 2006 before she left for Japan the first time) was on its last leg.  The main problem was that it had grown incredibly slow.  And, we couldn’t use iTunes, Skype, or the DVD player without the machine overheating and freezing up (sometimes English doesn’t make much sense).  I had tried several software fixes and troubleshooting tips found online, but to no avail. 

Now that Haidee’s new laptop is up and running, I was a little more comfortable trying a more intrusive “surgery” to see if I could improve her old Toshiba laptop.  Haidee and I had the hypothesis that the interior of her laptop was clogged with six year’s accumulation of dust.  Simply blowing compressed air throw the vents didn’t seem to cut it.  So, armed with an array of small screwdrivers, a damp rag, cotton swabs, a can of compressed air, and (most importantly) step-by-step instructions from the internet (loaded up on Haidee’s new laptop) I sat down to work.

What to do on a HOT day during summer vacation?  Some computer surgery!

The most difficult part of the job was actually the first step:  prying off the keyboard housing.

 

I was a little nervous, because I’d never done it before, but I carefully removed the keyboard.

 

After disconnecting countless wires from their motherboard sockets (such as the audio and microphone cables, the WiFi card, the video card, the DVD cable) I was able to detach the screen.

ALL of this was necessary just to remove the laptop casing to expose the motherboard (sheesh!).

Here’s a picture of the fan – very dusty.

    

I removed the exterior housing of the fan to find the real culprit:  a formidable carpet of dust!

I think I should save this dust bunny, as a keepsake.  Or, maybe I'll try to sell it on Ebay.

Look how the plastic grid (creating a vent below the fan) is damaged.  It looks like it had started to melt from overheating so often!

Nice and clean!  The improved ventilation will allow the fan to cool the machine more easily.

After this extensive computer cleaning job Haidee and I came to a very important conclusion:  Everyone should clean out the air ducts of their laptop computer on a regular basis!  It takes one minute to blow out the air ducts with a can of compressed air, and I’m sure it would prevent a dust build up like the one we saw on Haidee’s old Toshiba.  Overheating can cause irreversible damage to your laptop.  And, here in Japan, during the Atsui summer, our computers can use every bit of help they can get.

Atsui! (hot)

When I first arrived in Japan last January I learned a very important Japanese word:  Samui!  Now, over six months later, I hear another word just as frequently:  Atsui!  When Haidee first told me about how hot the summers get in Japan I didn’t really think it could be so bad.  I’ve survived countless summers in the Arizona heat and the Minnesota humidity.  Certainly I could handle a summer in Japan . . . . right?

Well, it’s true.  This summer here in Fukushima City is Atsui.  “Mushi Atsui” to be precise (Hot and Humid).  Our beautiful apartment, which enjoys a lot of sunlight through our south-facing windows, is nice in the winter, and an oven in the summer. . . . as you can see by our trusty thermometer clock:

36°C is about 97°F.  (you’ll remember from an earlier blog post how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit)

Here’s a what the heat combined with the humidity does to the heat index:

97°F with 55% humidity feels like 114.5°F!!!  Yikes.  That's mushi atsui!

The heat is even worse the further southwest you travel in Japan.  The number of adults hospitalized for heat stroke continues to rise.  Check out this article from The Japan Times Online (largest English newspaper in Japan):  Heat Wave Causes Eight Deaths, Sends Thousands to Hospitals

Recently, of course, all of my students have been talking about the summer heat.  It’s actually kind of fun to teach my students useful English phrases to use in a conversation about the weather.  Here are the top 5 responses by my students to the question: “How do you ‘Beat the Heat’?”

1.  Use the Air Con (that's "air conditioning").

2.  Enjoy some ice cream!

3.  Drink "Pocari Sweat."  (Japanese Gatorade. . . I don't know how well it would sell in the States with that name)

4.  Eat lots of seafood (especially eel - expensive, but known for it's nutritional value during the summer)

5.  Study English!  (I think the Teacher's Pet was the one who suggested that one)

How do Haidee and I “beat the heat”?  Here are a few of our summer routines:

  

Eat ice cream at the air-conditioned mall!

 

Read books at the 図書館 (Library).

Make homemade lemonade.

Eat at the local sushi restaurant.

I'm actually NOT eating eel - but rather I ordered the "Neba Neba Brothers" - sticky gooey vegetables wrapped in seaweed.

Tie icepacks - or bags of frozen vegies - to your head and sit in front of the fan.

Stay tuned for more summer Tales. . . . .

A Brief Visit with Family

Haidee and I have been living and serving together in Japan for just over 6 months.  Recently, we were blessed with the opportunity to travel to the United States for a brief visit with family, and to make a presentation at Eric's sponsoring church (Our Saviour's Lutheran). 

It was wonderful to share with others our story of what we are doing in Japan, to rest and relax with family (and play with all the little ones!), and to reconnect with loved ones.  


Here are some pictures from our trip:

  

We praise God for the blessing of such wonderful family and friends!  Thank you, everyone, for your prayers, love, and support.  We love you very much!