Preface: This was actually written yesterday (Friday), but I didn’t have time to send it off until today, so here ya go: Though it’s perfectly logical, I still find it somewhat cruelly ironic that when I have time to write, there is nothing to write about, and when I have volumes to write, no time in which to write them. The latter has been my lot in the last week and a half. I’ve literally had a meeting or a dinner to go to every night this week. All great uses of time, they just use up all of it that would otherwise be spent on things like blogging (not to mention dishes, trash, laundry…) So, not wanting to bore you with even MORE details, here’s a summary of my past week: Friday—planned to go see Memoirs of a Geisha with some friends. Unfortunately, my driver thought it was Thursday and picked me up 45 minutes later than I was expecting, so I missed the train and the three friends I was supposed to meet in Koriyama. Good thing for VCRs, microwave popcorn and cheap movies you bought off Ebay. Together they can save a Friday night. Saturday: Made pizza for Tricia’s birthday bash (and I dare say it was better than any American company’s), then hopped on some trains to Bandai Atami to go ice skating. It was one of our friends’ first time (Ikumi Egawa), so we held her hand the whole time—the most physical contact I’ve ever had with a Japanese person. It was a lot of fun, and we escaped relatively unscathed (although Ikumi had some sort of brace/heating pad thing on her neck on Monday…) Sunday: church then off to a “Welcome to Funehiki, Foreigners!” party. It was supposed to be for ALL of the foreigners in the town, but I was pleasantly surprised that we were not the only foreigners who attended. A Chinese woman who’s lived in Japan for 10 years came, too. = ) My two favorite moments of the afternoon: first, the games. We played “pop the balloons tied around the other team’s ankles.” My team was pitted against the (male) venerated city and district officials. In light of our gentle instructions to “dress up a little,” I had chosen my red, high-heeled boots for the occasion (he, he, he). Well, one minute of chaos and a total disregard of any cultural “respect” rules left us with a few black shoe smudges on the newly polished floor (woops), and our team’s landslide victory. Suffice it to say that I had fun with that one. Second favorite moment: Kano sensei, an adorably cute and sweet Wakakusa teacher expressing her praise of our group’s singing performance: “It was so beautiful! It gave me the chicken pox!” Monday: Back to Segawa, the beginning of Fukushima’s annual torrential winds (torrential might be an understatement), and a wonderful time of prayer with the girls at our weekly evening Bible study. I’m so thankful we can have a time of corporate worship in English! Tuesday: The winds grow stronger, a day at Segawa again, and an evening meeting about our forthcoming high school Bible study. We are hoping to hold this weekly for students who have graduated from our junior high classes After discussing and praying about how to begin such a study with those who have been brought up away from Christian “culture,” mainly surrounded by Buddhist/Shinto religion and culture, we decided to start at the beginning. Our first session: “Who is God?” Needless to say, I’d appreciate any input you may have on this one. Wednesday: My morale getting lower. Reason: lack of sleep from the incessant wind. But! All students were testing at Funehiki, so a day off was expected. Unfortunately, such a pleasure was not to be had. Tammy and I ended up cleaning at Wakakusa in the morning and making 10 door-size charts in the afternoon. I did gain a piece of wisdom from it all, though: leaning over a table for 4 hours is not good for your back. In Tammy’s words (while rubbing her spine), “I’m gonna need some work done after this!” In all seriousness, though, it was nice to have a change of environment, and since we got out earlier than usual, we had time to go see Memoirs of a Geisha in Koriyama. Abridged review: it was a good visual to the book, but the acting and storyline were lacking in parts. If you didn’t know, they cast Chinese actors for some of the main parts, which was even annoying to me, I can’t imagine how it was perceived by the Japanese people in the theater with us. I said it was like watching a Russian movie in America, based on a book that was written by a Russian, trying to portray American pioneer life, with French actors as the leads. Yeah, a little screwed up. Thursday: The winds continue, and by this time I am an all-out grump, completely exhausted. To Funehiki Junior High it was, then back after a full day of grading tests. Redemption finally came, however, when I discovered the noise (ultimately caused by the wind) that had been keeping me up at night. The culprit turned out to be my laundry bar outside—creaking like an old door with every gust. It is no longer hanging there. Evening brought Tricia’s actual birthday celebration. The evening was filled with laughter, tacos, friends, strawberry cake, and a game to see how many adjectives we could think of that started with “V”. No telling what will happen when you get 10 English teachers in one room. I can’t describe the joy on Kate’s face when we pulled out the dictionary… And Friday: A cold day at Segawa, but after a RESTFUL night’s sleep, I’m currently waiting for my dough to rise for our dinner tonight. We’re making dinner for the Makis as sort of a late Christmas present/thank you for all they do for us. Even if the wind IS torrential and indoor heat is something foreigners do on the other side of the world, we have great hosts. Ja, Off I should go To check on my dough So my presents are rolls And not lumps of coal. (Update: So, when the recipe says “let rise at room temperature,” what exactly does that mean?…probably not the 55 degrees that was MY apartment’s “room temperature” at the time. So…suffice it to say that the rolls weren’t quite as light and fluffy as they could have been…)