my g'bye card

...and manga. from the "worst" class this year.

My first last class

...was maybe the hardest.

Yesterday was my last class with a class of freshman who I've been teaching since they were in junior high.  They're pretty good at English, and we've talked about how I'll write to them after I leave, etc.  I passed a notebook around and they signed their emails and stuff so we can stay in touch.  We watched Hannah Montana.  They've been asking for that since last year.

When I dismissed them, they refused to leave!  I almost cried when I saw their faces.  I got them to leave by promising them I'd spend extra time at their stand at the school festival (which I will do). School festival will be pretty hard too.  Great, but hard.  You know what I mean.

c point plus

aji is the place to b this weekend! stop by and c nozomi, the yasudas, and my friend odagiri from cafe Delina

also, the elliots r having a special service

Send Off Party Schedule

See my schedule for my last month or so in Japan here or below.



If you want to schedule sometime to see me. Schedule a time soon. ^_^

the first of the lasts

my last bible english class will b july 14

my last chapel service will b july 17

冷し中華 hiyashi chuuka is what u eat when its ungodly humid. like it is today

Flower Day

Every UCCJ church had "Flower Day" 花の日 this Sunday.  Everyone brings flowers to church, we bring them upfront and bless them, and then we send the flowers out to people in the community who are less fortunate. 

Although I've never heard of it in the States, evidently this tradition started in Massachusetts sometime in the late 1800's.

Today at school, chapel was also "Flower Day" 花の日礼拝.  Students brought flowers to chapel in the morning.  After school, students went out to the community and delivered flowers to people.

The junior high chaplain, three students and I went to an assisted living home for the elderly.  On the way there, the chaplain quizzed the students on what they would say when they delivered the flowers あいさつ.  Basically the students were going to say, "We're from Seiai.  We appreciate you.  Here are some flowers for you." 

I asked the chaplain what the purpose of Flower Day was 先生、花の日礼拝の目的は何ですか？  He said to thank (God) and thank our neighbor.  やっぱり、感謝します。そしてほかの人を感謝します。I said, wouldn't it be nice to tell the people that we thank God for them.  じゃあ、その人たちにそのことを教えばいいでしょう。He said no, religion is still a scary thing in Japan, so we should just be vague about it.  There's a Bible verse on the card.  まあ、やっぱり、日本の中で宗教はまだ怖いものですからあいまい法がいいです。カードで聖書があります。

If we can't even say the name of the Lord to other people, we have a problem.  If we are depending only on a Bible verse that is written on a card that people will probably glance at and throw away, we have a problem.  And if we follow that line of reasoning, we shouldn't even talk about God to the students because it might still be a scary topic for them too.  And we shouldn't even teach the Bible, we should just give them one and hope they read it. 

Any one can deliver flowers.  We should be able to TELL people WHY we are delivering flowers.  We should be able to tell people WHY we are different.  This is one of the reasons why no one is coming to our churches or schools - because we never tell them about it!  But it's easier this way.  Just take away the meaning and keep the formalities. 

Some Christians from other churches tell me my school is just Christian form with no meaning.  And I try to tell them that's not true.  But on days like this really make me wonder if it's not true.

How do I type Japanese on my computer?

I just had another friend ask again. So here you go:

You can type Japanese on your Windows computer by installing the "Japanese IME with language pack".

Instructions here.



Download here. Choose "Japanese - with language pack".

(After you've installed the IME)

Short cuts:
toggle English and Japanese = Alt + Shift
Katakana = Alt + Caps Lock
Hiragana = Ctrl + Caps Lock