The refreshingness of daily Grace

So I haven't posted in awhile and though I want to say something like oh I was busy saving kittens blah blah blah but really I've just been lazy haha. Also refreshingness isn't a real word but I haven't used real English more than like 3 times the past month so we'll just have to get over it.

For a basically summary of what's been happening since the last post, it can be summed up in a few sentences.

1. Wake up too early

2. Sweat because it's too hot and humid

3. Go to work and sweat because it's too hot and humid

4. Pay for a too expensive electricity bill running the AC

5. Smile at least once a day

6. Repeat for 3 months

I don't have thoughts often, besides stupid funny ones, so usually it's not enough to warrant breaking my laziness to actually write something reasonable down. But God's been showing me something recently here so I wanted to jot it down.

Living in Japan is hard. Living in America is also hard sometimes, but at least I have the freedom to go to the bathroom when I want. As some of you might know I'm not really a tourist, and I don't really have that excitement factor of seeing new places and taking pictures of everything. I went on like a 2 week trip around Japan and when I took out my phone to show some friends I realized the only picture I had taken was of one sign in Nara that said "Black Music". So for me here is similar to just living a normal life, except 90% of the people don't understand what I'm saying (It's only 80% in the States).

Recently those thoughts have all coagulated together into this kind of like gnawing worry about my future and what the heck I'm supposed to do whether in the States or here. And along with that surprisingly was a worry about material possessions, which hasn't really been one of my struggles. This all culminated in a week that was spent worrying and stressing over things way out of my control and having a pretty bad week altogether. But God brought me out of it with a few choice words from some friends and a peace in my heart. And it was really fast too, like I thought it would take me awhile to get over things, but one day I just was like oh right God is in charge, one day at a time and now it feels good.

Anyways that's not what this is about. This is about refreshingness! Like that feeling you get when you drink a nice cup of tea or win a million dollars. In my hard times I started praying for God's grace daily, just telling Him that even just for today it seems really rough, and I need His blessings in order to get by with everything. And it WORKED! And I was like, God are you sure you want to start answering my prayers, it's a slippery slope you don't know what I'll be asking for next.

Like for instance this past week I had to teach a special lesson I thought was going to be pretty demanding and was praying about it. But it turns out that class was canceled along with a few others and I never have to teach it again wooo! And one of my schools put in a real toilet (finally) and I discovered it right before a difficult class. And more and more of these little things that result in my day being good and opportunities to see His light in Japan.

What's crazy is I actually started worrying about it. Like God you gave me this toilet yesterday, but today what toilet am I going to get? Do I get a toilet? Are you going to provide?

God's pockets are never empty. No matter how much He gives, each and every day there is more and more Grace freely and generously given.  So I learned a few lessons with this. One is that you can't control even the near future, all is provided and planned for the Savior. It sometimes feels like it's even trying to pick up sand, everything just falls through, and that's because we're not supposed to. And second is that I  gotta pray. When I don't pray sincerely I feel that far less happens for me than when I do sincerely give my worries and hopes to God. Every day I see His hand at work I'm like okay I can do this, God is with me today, this is going to work out.

Alright that's my big thought for the year. Moving on I guess I should talk a little bit about Japan stuff. Gosh let me think. Well okay I went on vacation during the summer to Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Kobe and Tochigi. I have to say the highlight of my trip was definitely burger king and uh seeing friends I guess. But seriously burger king, they were doing this special spicy chicken burger that was fantastic and I believe made with real chicken but who really knows. And they did this drawing where you could get free stuff. The first time I won a free avocado topping but you had to come back on another day so we returned to burger king a second time. The second time I won a TOTE BAG AND 50% OFF, so we had to go back again. But  it turns out it was a TOTE BAG or 50 % OFF and I picked 50% off so..sad :(. But anyways they got rid of the red burger and did this crazy all black burger made with squid ink that was meh so I guess that's my vacation. Oh and my friend got bit by a deer that was great.

School here is just school. Food's okay.

Church has been really good. God really provided opportunities for me to get closer to the church people and so it's been a really big blessing. It's always nice to be able to fellowship and share with other Christians and having that is super cool.

Btw I don't know if I mentioned it but IT'S BEEN REALLY REALLY HOT. I didn't know that it was possible that temperatures like this could exist outside out living on the sun's surface but there you have it. Also in one of my schools there are spiders that jump. Gotta make a note to ask God about that, like they already crawl really fast why do they also need aerial abilities? Were you trying to make a spider or superman?  

My school is overfeeding me

So in Japan school lunch tends to be a pretty big deal. It’s called kyuushoku and I think it means lunch but who really knows. School is where kids are taught parts of how to be a correct Japanese portion and due to the Japanese perspective on the value of food, there’s a lot of culture instilled in kyuushoku that I don’t recall being exposed to in American school lunches.

Some of the rules are like, eat everything on your plate. Don’t point with your chopsticks. No throwing food. Don’t pick up that apple with your chopsticks Will. Don’t stab through stuff (I see kids doing this one all the time.) Don’t eat your apple before you eat your rice. Finish before this designated time or you’ll cut into your recess. Bring your own chopsticks. Bring a placemat to eat at your desk. Bring a spoon. Where’s your toothbrush? Where’s your facemask Will? Well sorry I don’t want to talk like Darth Vader right before I eat.

Once you get used to the rhythm it ain’t too bad. The schools are pretty serious overall about kyuushoku and everything is prepared on site in the school kitchens fresh everyday. It’s generally portioned so that you get all the correct amount of nutrients on the food pyramid, as long as that food pyramid is extra fat on the bottom to account for all the carbs you’ve consumed at any point. Word on the internet is that someone even taste tests the kyuushoku 30min to lunchtime so that the entire school doesn’t die from food poisoning. One kyuushoku is about 1000-1200 calories so it’s definitely a decent amount.

So for the most part, all the teachers get apportioned the same quantity as the students, as it is quite a bit of calories for one meal and even for me it’s hard to eat it all in the allotted time. Which brings me to this Tuesday. I get served food in the teachers room and have to bring it up to the kids room since each class is allotted a certain amount that they need to divide among the students. The first thing I heard was “Dekkai” which roughly translates into “Wow that’s a lot you monster.” All this time I had thought I was eating the same amount as the students, but it turns out my portions were like double. I had a huge amount compared to everybody else there.

Which brings me to my next point, you have to eat EVERYTHING on your plate.   Generally speaking the food is pretty tasty, especially after four hours of having to teach little monsters, I’m pretty excited to eat. There’s been a lot of talk on the internet recently about American lunches being not great, but I remember I had a pretty good time eating those mystery meat pizza pockets and chili cheese corn dogs. Maybe the nutrition level is misaligned but how can you say no to mystery meat pizza pockets?! Having experienced Japanese school lunch I must say that it’s edible but they’re not going for a Michelin star here. You get some days where the food is good and some where you’re like, what did I just put in my mouth. And then we get to natto. Basically Natto happened when someone took perfectly good soybeans and instead of making soymilk, accidentally forgot them in the hot sun for like a month. And then they were like well my options are to either throw this away like a normal human being, OR, I could mix in this slime from science class and try to eat it. And back to the first point, you have to eat EVERYTHING. And the proper way to eat it is to mix it in with rice. So all the kids were like oh natto, put it on your rice Will-sensei and I’m like OH YES GREAT IDEA. So not only did I have to eat natto, I also ruined all my rice by making the entire bowl nattoy. For those of you who haven’t’ had it before, the taste isn’t too bad, maybe like a slightly weird kidney bean but the slime oh my goodness. It’s a special type of slime I don’t even know what would be the equivalent mixed with the stickiness of a hot glue gun. You know when you use a hot glue gun and there’s a little strand of plastic that trails the end that gets everything, just think that but everywhere and to everything. 

Surprisingly however recently it seems like I’ve lost some weight. I don’t feel like I eat any healthier but I have to guess it’s due to now I’m standing up for most of work as opposed to sitting down. The downside as I have experienced is that I can’t go belt free anymore. Which doesn’t affect most people but I am a certain type of forgetful. And it was pretty awkward last week trying to not have my pants fall down in class. 

The Joy of Communication

My company has this training they have all the teachers go through where they teach us to show kids the “Joy of Communication” in our lessons. At first when I heard this I thought it was a little corny but living in a foreign country it is beginning to make more and more sense to me.

One of the advantages of speaking English is that in America I can generally speak with the populace and understand what they’re saying. It happens to be something easily taken for granted because well, everybody can do it. Living in a foreign country though, it just so happens to be a little more difficult.

 A lot of the things that I could do in America I find a lot more difficult to do in Japan. Anything that involves speaking to another person really. So here’s an example. There’s this grocery store next door I like to go to (because it’s next door). It’s a little bit pricier than the other stores in the area and also one of the few stores that charges for plastic bags but I still go (because it’s next door). But unlike American stores they don’t ask you if you want a bag, they just assume that you’ll magically come up with one, even though clearly you’re wearing basketball shorts and there’s nowhere a bag could possibly hide. For the most part I don’t have trouble asking for a bag because I've had so much practice at this point saying bag due to coincidentally my city being called Fukuroi and bag in Japanese is fukuro. Anyways there was this one day I was buying stuff and checking out and this is how the conversation went down:

Me: Fukuro onegaishimasu (Bag please)

Clerk: Hashi? (Chopsticks)

Me: Iie, fukuro (No, bag)

Clerk: *points at chopsticks* Hashi?

Me: *points at bag* Fukuro?

Clerk: *points at bag* Fukuro?

Me: Yes…

And it was so frustrating that in all my trips to that store this one time this clerk just decided she didn't want to understand me. And like I get it, it’s not the correct pronunciation, but until this point I've been successful paying for bags, and suddenly it ain't working no more. And then she’s like IT’S 5 YEN CAN YOU MAKE THAT COMMITMENT?! It’s like well no but I don’t have enough hands for all this so my bad.

Another thing about the clerks here is that, they’re super apologetic about EVERYTHING and I’m like yo, you don’t need to be sorry about that, it’s not your fault, ITS NOT YOUR FAULT (Watch Good Will Hunting if you haven’t yet). There was this one instance where the clerk asked me like, oh you want your hot food in a separate bag, and I’m like nah one bag is alright, and he’s like I’m very sorry I’ll put it in one bag. I’m like hey man it’s alright, that’s a normal question, you don’t gotta apologize for speaking to me.

Oh I got sidetracked. Okay so what I was saying was, I've been learning communication is pretty important. In reflecting upon my time here, it seems more and more the case that we as people are meant to be relational, and to be able to share and interact and enjoy each other’s company. Especially as Christians, as we are supposed to have an active and right relationship with our Savior, we are to share in that with our fellow brothers and sisters. Because people are so busy here, those kinds of meetings are far and fewer than what I am used to experiencing in America. Especially during the weekday it definitely is hard to find that kind of community and fellowship. Recently at church however they've started a men’s fellowship that meets every two weeks and I've been able to study and pray with them. I haven’t had that kind of fellowship here in a while and it’s been really refreshing to have that blessing. When it wasn't there, I didn't think too much of it, but after that fellowship it was like oh I needed that. And I think that because we were created this way, that it is important for us to communicate with those around us. Whether it is in a Christian Bible study setting or other friendships, it’s nice for people to understand each other.

So back to my main point, the joy of communication. When I have to function in Japan and I speak Japanese and people understand, it’s a great feeling. It’s like oh yes finally I get a bag to carry all my pudding home in. What I've learned in learning a new language is that you’re bound to make mistakes and have those moments where nobody knows what you’re saying. It’s easy to get discouraged by those times and just revert back to wanting to use all English, but if you just keep bulling ahead chances are the next time you ask for a bag people will just be like okay 5 YEN PAY UP and let you have a bag. No more pudding falling to the floor. Actually this has never happened before, but there was an instance when I dropped my pudding on the way to the cashier. The cashier saw and when she handed me my change, she actually grabbed my hand and put the change in.

 In teaching English, I don’t think the kids necessarily LEARN like THAT MUCH since I teach elementary school but if it’s exciting for me when some random person understands me, I imagine the kids have some fun with it too. Like oh I just spoke some gibberish I have no idea what I said but this dude gave me a sticker so fantastic (Which is also what the sticker says). 

First month

So it's been a month since I first flew to Japan and I'm finally getting around to writing down some of the things that have been going on.

Timeline:
3/19-3/23: Visited the Ohashis and Nathan
3/24-3/29: Training in Hamamatsu
3/29-4/14: Moved into my place in Fukuroi-shi
4-14: Started teaching

The blessings of Christ:

So as I shared with some of you, when I was preparing to come to Japan, I was pretty nervous because I had been placed in a city I've never heard about and had no idea what I was going to do for church and stuff. It was around this time I was praying for God's work to be done and learning to trust that He has a plan that's a lot better than mine.

So anyways I was talking to a friend I had met at perspectives who worked as part of International student ministry, and she told me that she knew someone who was working as part of ISI in Japan and offered to connect me. And through that I was acquainted with Dan who was doing missions work in Tokyo. I was able to spend the night at his place the first day I was there, and had a nice conversation with him.

Dan then introduced me to someone in Hamamatsu (The closest big city) who was a Christian that had found Christ in college and then returned to Japan to work. Long story short, his ministry in Hamamatsu and around was to help people who were returning to Japan. TECHNICALLY, I'm not a returnee but it really worked out and Seiji-sans' been a huge blessing to me in settling down here. He recommended a church to me that's run by a long term missionary, and also has introduced me to really cool Christians in the area I've been been to meet and connect with.

I've been going to a church called Sakuragi Christian center. It is lead by a missionary who basically grew up in Japan and has TEN KIDS. A lot of them help out on the worship team and it got me thinking, if you are needing more servants having kids is a great way to go. (This statement is not scientifically proven)

But yeah, it's been such a huge blessing to have met these people and to experience the blessings of Christ through them. My worries about finding a church and Christians around here was really answered by God and even though people here tend to be busier on a whole other level, I've still had the opportunity to hang out and interact with them. I've been really hoping to connect with people at church and I found a friend this past Sunday who took me to a nearby castle so that was fun.

I didn't actually take a picture of the castle but here is a model of the castle I took at the castle.









In reflecting about this month in Japan, I've really seen that God has provided for all my needs. I've definitely been able to enjoy the gifts of His kingdom here and seen the strong faith of the believers in Japan. I still miss my community back in the Bay, a lot a lot, but God is gracious to the whole world.

I still don't really know why I'm here in Shizuoka, or really what I would do anywhere in Japan. But it's been really cool meeting all these new people and going through the cycles of life here. It's been a little scary putting myself out there and being like hey tell me about what's going down, but people have been receptive and really open.

Training:

The start of work was kinda crazy because they were trying to fit in a lot of information in a short 4 days. There were a few 12 hours days where the we'd do some training on how to teach kids and then spend time doing superfun paperwork.

The really cool thing about training was that I got to get to know the people teaching in the area as well as the people who will be teaching in the same city as I am. It was quite a blessing to connect with them and experience all the fun together. They ended up becoming pretty good friends that I see on a pretty often basis.

The trainers as well were a lot more relaxed than the company overall I believe. Interac generally has pretty strict policies on what to wear to school and when you're supposed to smile (all the time) but the guys who ran my local branch were like eh just wear what the other teachers are wearing, suits aren't practical. Funny thing though, track suits are considered like business casual here but jeans are seen as too casual. I'm like what? No way. But there it is.

The move:

When people say that Japan has a lot of bureaucracy, they weren't kidding. I don't think I've ever had to sit down for so long and just fill out forms. Over the course of the month I've been here, I've been stamping documents for my company, the city, cell phone companies, anything you want to do, better get your hanko (name stamp) ready.

I think there was one day where I literally sat in the city office doing work for about 3 hours, and then moved to the post office to do work for another 3 hours, and then to the cell phone company for another 3 excellent hours of signing documents.

The bright side with all of this was that Interac hired some local people who spoke a bit of English to give us help and they were absolutely amazing. Most of what I just had to do was sit there and do what I was told, but it was really them who found out exactly what forms we had to complete and helped us fill out the hard bits.

I feel like I cheated with that part since besides stamping (sometimes I didn't even do this) I just sat there and looked broody.

The living:

My apartment is a studio about the size of 1.5 times the average Berkeley dorm but comes with a kitchen and washing machine. It done everything I've needed it to do so far so that's been nice, but I definitely underestimated how expensive moving to a brand new place would be. For the most part I've lived with roommates so there was always the convenience of like, oh I have a pot, oh I have a fork, great got everything we need.

 But now living alone I needed to get everything for myself. I had this one crazy day where I really wanted a peanut butter sandwich, but then realized oh crap I need to buy something to spread the peanut butter, and a place to hold the bread, and now I have to wash the plate so I need a sponge and soap. Now suddenly its a 10 dollar peanut butter sandwich.

I also have to dry my clothes manually as actual dryers are pretty rare. Usually this isn't a problem because you can hang your clothes outside. Sadly it's been raining kind of crazy but that doesn't mean I don't need to wear clothes. So I've had to be creative.

Now you might say, but Will, you know they sell indoor drying methods at the local hardware shop, and I'd say you're right.









Another unexpected expense here was the rice cooker. The Japanese are pretty serious about their rice, with some rice cookers going up to $1,000 that grow the rice, wash it, and cook it (Two of those are true). Here's my little set up with my hot water heater and rice cooker. Mine does not wash my rice, I have hands and water for that like a peasant.



School life:

So if you add up all the days, I've been teaching for exactly a week now. There will sadly be no pictures here as it's pretty prohibited at schools. Darnit right? I do look really good in a suit. Uh...I mean the kids are really cute and stuff. But seriously I've never worn a suit so many consecutive days in a row before this and boy are they a hassle. I miss the good old days of throwing on a potato sack and trudging to work. But Uniqlo is pretty big here and you gotta wear an undershirt with a dress shirt. Uniqlo undershirts are unique (HO HO HO) in that they're designed to really outline and highlight all the physical flaws of your body. The next step is just to make an Uniqlo face mask to really complete the package.

I'm teaching at four elementary schools and you really do get a nice variety having 4. I'm pretty much teaching a few classes at each school a week so in total its about 20-30 classes. THE SAME LESSON. I had to do my self intro and I was pretty tempted to just start changing the answers. Yeah I'm uh actually from space and I like gophers. But I didn't sigh. The kids as well you get a great variety, most of them are really happy to see you and talk to you so it's pretty encouraging but some are definitely like who are you, go back, leave! I eat lunch with them when I go visit the schools and I think at one school they were so excited they asked me to sit in the middle of the class so I could equally be enjoyed but the teacher (thankfully) was like no just sit here. I also play with them during recess, I accidentally hit the only kid who speaks English in the face with a dodgeball and I was like NOOOO please be my friend I need a translator.

I've been trying to also talk to the teachers but sometimes the language barrier gets in the way. What I found is if you just sit there nobody will ever talk to you, but if you say hi they are super receptive and start talking to you and stuff. It's hard to tell when is the right time to say hi though. Today my hi paid off in droves though. I was trying to stuff flashcards into protective covers because I wasn't sure I could use their laminator and after talking they looked and said like, that's impossible, here use this laminator :-D. The trick is to look absolutely ridiculous.

Summary:

Japan is colder than San Diego in Spring time and it is always rainy. Also today the kids brought their own lunch to school and their bentos look amazing. But like why would you make spaghetti just to put a little bit in when they already got rice. Don't make no sense. Kid didn't even eat it.