I love Japan

No longer using this blog...

2008-05-02T01:45:00.000-07:00

In case anyone is actually checking this, I changed my blog! E-mail me if you want the address!
-Danielle

Off to Japan

2008-03-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted on this blog in a long, long time! I've been very busy with preparing to go to Japan. I will leave for Japan on April 1st. I am very thankful to be able to go! Sorry this post is short, but I have to get to bed!

Off to Japan...I hope!!!

2008-02-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

With some girls at a new IZAKAYA in Philly

Ahh...weird Japanese-English on my English student's shirt. MUST HURRY A QUIET STREAM OF TIME COMPLETES MY GRACIOUS AND ELEGANT METAMORPHOSIS

With Yume and Taro

It's been an eventful few weeks. It is looking as though I might be going to Japan at the end of March or beginning of April. Needless to say, I am excited to be able to go. I have a lot to do. It snowed today so I took the day off from work and I'm working on Japan-related things. I have so much to do before I go. I have to figure out what to pack and ship to Japan, work on my visa, contact the people who are supporting me to go to Japan, etc. I have a LOT of people I want to see before I go and need to make a list of everyone I want to see in the next five weeks. I will also have to travel to New York City to try and get my visa.
Yetserday I allowed myself to indulge in some fun memories...I went over in my mind all the wonderful places that used to be so special to me in Sendai. Some of my favorite places were downtown Sendai with the many colorful shops and sights, the rice patties of Natori, the mountains on a road to Sumiyoshidai...I will not be going back to Sendai but to Nagoya, Japan. It will be a totally different place to live, but I hope to be able to at least visit Sendai and see my old friends and former English students.
I was watching my one of my favorite Japanese movies last night. It is called "sekachuu" in Japanese and the English transation of the title is so awful I won't bother. I've seen it so many times I have it memorized, I think. I am looking forward to being able to speak Japanese day in and day out. I really love Japanese. I didn't when I lived in Japan, though. I haven't been using it so much lately. Until last June I was using it almost every day since I had Japanese lessons for several hours a week and was meeting Japanese friends for language exhanges almost every day. I think I am going to be a little rusty for the first few days but I hope I am able to remember what I've lost quickly.
Work this week has been very difficult. My supervisor at St. Joe's was arrested over the weekend for 116 counts of drug possession and a possible link to a September 2006murder and several other horrible crimes. It is very upsetting to me because he was a nice, old man with a family. It is big news in the Philadelphia area. When I saw his mug shot on the local news web site, my heart sank. Tears filled my eyes - he looked like a broken shell of a man. I am still feeling awful about it, because he was a very nice boss and kind to everyone, including me.

Big decision...

2008-01-28T13:44:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to write on my blog that Pete and I have have decided not to be engaged. We are thankful for God's grace in this situation and in our lives and are praying for God's direction in our relationship. We invite you to pray for us as well. God is so good to us.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-16T19:01:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos taken during the last month or so...

My favorite 5-year-old - Princess Yume!

Yet another reason why we Americans are..a little bigger than the Japanese! These are perhaps the hugest pancakes EVER!

Four of five of the boys I've been living with since last June...adorable!

With my dear Mexican friends Ernesto and Maria at "El Vez"

With Chie D. on New Year's Eve

With Japanese friends on December 4th

John and Christy, two of the best friends anyone could ask for!

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-11-05T20:10:00.001-08:00

Martha or Mary???

2007-11-05T19:44:00.000-08:00

These days I am soooo busy, but I am learning that God wants me to be a Mary in a Martha world. I am so busy with working full-time, helping with my pastor's family, trying to raise support to go to Japan, spending time with Pete, studying Japanese, seeing friends, reading good books...

How easy it is to let prayer get "squeezed" out. But I am thankful God has been gently, yet clearly showing me that "without Him I can do nothing." I need prayer just as my body needs air. Without it, I die. And I want to be praying for others faithfully, too!

Life these days is GOOD. I lack nothing, and I am growing in the Lord. There are so many things to praise God for.

Here's a cute photo of the Ohs (who I'll be working with in Nagoya):

I think it's funny that I currently live with five little boys and will soon be around a family with four little GIRLS.

If I go to Japan in April as planned, it's only 5 months away - yikes!!!!

2007-10-26T16:50:00.001-07:00

My dear friend has gone home to be with Jesus. My last memory of him is lovely - talking and laughing at a diner together with my friend Elizabeth.

Stevenson, Jon, Jr. 33 of N. Wildwood, was suddenly taken on October 22nd to be with his Heavenly Father and his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. A 1992 graduate of Wildwood High School, Jonathan worked at various businesses in the county, most recently as an administrative assistant at Crest Community Church of Wildwood Crest. Beloved son, brother and uncle, Jonathan is survived by his parents, Jon and Marian Stevenson, sisters Jeni Richline (California), Judi Boyd (North Jersey), Jolene Harrison (Delaware), and brother Jeremy (Pennsylvania); nieces Sabrina, Jessica and Julia, and nephews Jared, Joshua, and Isaiah. Services will be held at Crest Community Church 5901 Pacific Ave., Wildwood Crest on Saturday at 2:30pm. Friends may call at 1:30pm. The burial will be at Tabernacle Cemetery, Erma, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hope Pregnancy Center, PO Box 767, Rio Grande, NJ 08242 or the Christian School Scholarship Fund, Calvary OP Church, 119 E. Rio Grande Ave, Wildwood, NJ 08260.

Life is Busy!

2007-10-11T11:32:00.001-07:00

Wow, life is busy these days. I am working in Center City from 8-5 and live with my pastor and his family helping take care of five boys –yes they are all boys! I really need to post a photo of their adorable boys on this blog. They range in age from 1 to 10. Before living with them, I used to wonder how people could have so many kids. Now I really can see why having a big family is such a huge blessing.
Between work and helping take care of the kids, I try to fit in seeing friends and Japanese study when I can.
Things with Japan are evolving again – It seems as though there’s a high probability that I will go to Japan for one year instead of two. I am so glad God is in control of things and not me.

Favorite Photos of Japan

2007-09-06T11:42:00.001-07:00

I was given a scanner so I'm using it to scan old photos from Japan. I lived there from 2001-2003 and am looking forward to going back sometime in the Spring. I won't be in the same city, though. Instead of Sendai, I will be in Nagoya. These photos were taken at a photo booth called "Print Club." They say Pu-ri-ku-ra for short. It's really fun! This is a photo of my host mom and her son. Here are more of my favorite photos:

This photo was what I saw every week when I left the class. The kids and moms saw me to the door and formally said good bye to me every week for two years! In the third pic the kids are wearing summer kimonos. They wear them to watch fireworks or to go to a local festival. They are so cute, aren't they?
I met Osaomi (bottom left) and Taka (bottom right) in Japanese class. The three of us were born in the same hospital in El Salvador! But God brought us together in Japan. The girl is dear Christina, now living in South Korea. The guy in the middle is Osa and Taka's brother, Takeshi.

I went to a shrine New Year's 2002. It is located in Niigata, Japan where my friend Chiemi lives.

This giant statue is a "goddess of mercy." I didn't like it very much, and I don't think many people in Sendai enjoyed having it in the city.

This is a "god shelf." I am not sure of its purpose, to be honest.

This is a family Buddhist altar to honor relatives that have passed away. It is called a Butsudan in Japanese.

BIG hair in Japan

2007-08-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

I stole this image from my missionary friend Sue's website. She write that big hair for guys is "in" in Japan these days. Hilarious!!!

Christ Bible Seminary Folks, etc.

2007-08-04T06:43:00.000-07:00

Had to post these adorable photos:

The little boy is a son of a Christ Bible seminary couple. This lovely lady works at Christ Bible Seminary, and we will be doing a lot of work together if I make it to Nagoya in March. Her name is Yasuyo, and she is an administrative assistant and a student at the seminary.

If Yasuyo sees her photo on blog, I hope she's not too embarrassed! We met in the winter when all the Christ Bible Seminary students came to Philadelphia for a vision trip. I am looking forward to seeing her and all of the CBS students again. Here's a photo take in January of many of the students:

So, these days I am busy babysitting the five boys I live with, studying Japanese every day, and job hunting. I am looking for a full-time job, and hopefully I will find one soon. No more piano teaching - it was really fun, though, to do that for the past two years.

For anyone who is following, Michael Oh and family returned to Japan a few weeks ago. They are well. I hope to be reunited with them soon. Lastly, YES I am still raising support for Japan. So far, it is going so well. Hopefully I will be able to go to Japan in March 2008!

Dear friends of mine...

2007-07-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

Most of my friends are from Japan. I am so happy when I have the opportunity to be with Japanese people. Here are a few friends of mine.

This lady was my Japanese teacher, and her name is Yukiko. Now she's in Japan, but she'll be coming back to Philadelphia in five months. She is the best Japanese teacher. I miss her every day.

This is my friend Aya. She is soooo cute! I teach her English about once a week or so. Her husband is a heart doctor, so he came with Aya to do research at Jefferson Hospital.

This couple, Ayako and Hironobu, just went back to Japan. Their absence leaves a huge hole in my life. I hope to be reunited with them next year. They are now living in Osaka, not so far from Nagoya where I plan to go.

This cute gal is Yume and her dad is named Nobuhiro. He does biochemical research at Jefferson. We took a day trip to Lancaster and had a lovely day. Yume has taught me so much Japanese, although she's gaining fluency in English by going to a preschool in West Philly every day.
Maria and Ernesto are my friends from Puebla, Mexico. Even though they are working every day, I get to see them regularly. I am so thankful to have met them - they often remind me of my love for the precious people of Latin America.
I am so blessed to have such wonderful international friends. I am also thankful God has given me the ability to have friends with people who've grown up in such different cultures than my own!

What's new...

2007-06-13T15:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been quite a past few weeks. Upon returning to NJ from Kentucky's wonderful conference, one of my dearest friend's mother died very tragically. The funeral was unbelievably huge. I think about 700 people were in attendance.
These days I am saying goodbye to a lot of Japanese friends. Several are returning to Japan, so I hope to be reunited with them if I go to Nagoya next year.
I am planning to take Spanish lessons over the summer. My Spanish has gotten to be quite pitiful because I am always speaking Japanese. It's just too hard for my brain to make the switch now from English to Spanish, so I am going to take Spanish lessons before I forget all the Spanish I once worked so hard to learn.
Japanese is an amazing language. I have come to love it which is amazing, because I hated it the first year. Now it's a joy to study. It doesn't frustrate me anymore. I can hardly believe it. I remember a time when speaking Japanese gave me a huge headache. I used to think I'd never learn it. Now reading it is another story, so I need to work on my KANJI. To read a newspaper, you need to know something like 2,000 Chinese characters (kanji).
I am looking forward to going back, but I will miss so many people...

New Attitude 2007!

2007-05-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of attending New Attitude 2007 this weekend. We heard messages from men such as John Piper, Al Mohler, Joshua Harris, C.J. Mahaney, and Mark Dever. Here are some photos of what it looks like to worship God with 3,000 other believers. It was one of the most wonderful weekends of my life and I am not exaggerating! We had such heavenly times of singing praises, hearing God's word preached with power, and fellowship with wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ. The theme of this year’s conference was discernment. The goal was to learn how to look at our relationships with others, our enviroment, our world through the lens of Scripture. “Discernment is more than what we should do or shouldn’t do as Christians. Discernment is examining what we think and do and say in light of God’s Word.” I am so thankful for events like this that remind me that a day is coming when the praises will never end, when cries of WORTHY will honor the Lamb for all eternity!

Here's a chorus we sang over and over that I so loved:

O Praise the One who paid my debt

And raised this life up from the dead!

John Piper preaching Monday night

We did have some silly and fun times, too. I had a great time of fellowship on the van ride down to Kentucky and back. Lots of good memories!

More photos of friends...

2007-04-19T23:37:00.000-07:00

Visiting friends in NYC

I am so blessed to have so many beautiful friends that give me great joy. Here is a photo of my dear friend Saori and her family in Queens, NY. Her baby is named Karin. She's so cute!

Here are some photos from another party for Japanese friends at Young's house. It was a great Easter-themed party!

Heading Back to Japan

2007-03-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice photo with my friend Keiko and my friend Beniko's two adorable children Yume and Taro.

I was approved as a missionary to Nagoya, Japan! I am so thrilled to be going back to Japan. Life is very busy these days. I have to raise support to go to Japan, so I am praying about that daily.

Above is a photo of the Oh family who I will be working with in Nagoya. I am crazy about their four little girls, all very cute and precious. Here is a photo of Michael who spoke at the Lausanne Younger Leaders Conference in Malaysia last September. What a privilege to hope to work with such godly people as the Ohs.

March Happenings

2007-03-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

Cherry Blossoms in Japan!

I am still playing piano. I love Chopin!!! To the left are my dear friends Yoko, Erika,Young, Sueen, and Joe. Yoko (black and white shirt) came from Japan to help out at her parents' church in Philadelphia. She left in March and is missed very much!

My star piano student Gio...what a kid! He really is that cool. :)

Movie and lunch at Hironobu and Ayako's house.

More pictures of friends 2007

2007-02-06T09:20:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo from a fun party at Mayumi and Eiji's house. We enjoyed Japanese food, games, and dessert!

Okay, Japanese people say that one of the most noticable differences between American and Japanese culture is the size of the food portions. This is definitely PROOF! Erika is holding a piece of chocolate cake almost as big as her head and Yoko is enjoying a slice of pecan pie.

Here are some photos from a Christmas party at Young Hwangbo's house.

Japanese kids are the cutest!

2007-01-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

Can you tell that I love Japanese kids? I really enjoy having fun with Japanese kids (in case you didn't know). This little girl, Marine, is the daughter of my friends, the Uemuras, who just went back to Japan in the fall. I miss them very much.
These little girls are Hanako and Mayu who go to Proclamation Presbyterian Church.

Playing "kitchen" with Yume

2006-12-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

Here are photos of Yume and I - I got her a kids' baking set that she loved. She is such a cutie! .She has taught me so much Japanese...she speaks English very well, though.

Thanksgiving party 11/18

2006-11-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

Last night some friends and I had a big Thanksgiving party for Japanese people. I think everyone had a great time. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, vegetables, stuffing, and corn, plus pie for dessert!
I had such a great time!

More fun with friends!

2006-11-06T09:59:00.000-08:00

A dear Christian couple named Ken and Maira Diaz invited me and some Japanese friends over for dinner recently. We had a wonderful time and were very blessed.
I also went to New York City recently and had a great time eating soba for lunch in Manhatten and ramen for dinner at Mitsuwa in Edgewater, New Jersey. We were so happy to eat authentic Japanese food again!

JOY and Loving the Poor

2006-10-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

I heard another missionary speak on Sunday. He was so humble. I was thinking that if I didn't already want to be a missionary in Japan, I'd be a missionary to China! The thing that struck me the most was the tangible evidence of this missionary's relationship with God: the JOY on his face. May all Christians be as JOYFUL as this missionary! I once heard a story of a man who was rejected by a church as an elder candidate because "he wasn't joyful enough." Christians should be the most joyful people on earth!

Also, I have been thinking a lot lately about the poor in this world. The Bible has so many things to say about this such as:
He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered.
How blessed is he who considers the helpless.
He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.
The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor.
Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth...defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.
Happy is he who nis gracious to the poor.

Who are "the poor"? Well here are three orphans in El Salvador. They are three of those whom the Lord considers the poor and loves dearly.

I myself used to be an orphan. Meeting oprhans in El Salvador was a profound experience. I was moved by their stories, especially of one of these girls, whose mother was a prostitute who died of AIDS and whose father was a drunkard who committed suicide in 2004.

I have been thinking a lot about these verses a lot and wanted to share them.

Meeting a Missionary

2006-10-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

Recently I have had the privilege to meet and hear from Michael Oh, missionary to Nagoya, Japan with Mission to the World (MTW). I am praying about going to Nagoya with MTW to work with Michael. On Monday I went to a dinner hosted by a young woman from Renewal Church in West Philadelphia and heard Michael speak about this work. There is also a support group from these church called FONTS that meets once a month to pray for Michael who is the president of Christ Bible Seminary and is training the future leaders of Japan.
Michael was also gave the keynote address for the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering 2006 in Malaysia last month. I was personally challenged by Michael to remember that EVERY Christian is called to be part of sending the gospel out into the world by being either a sender or goer.

Keeping Busy

2006-10-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

Things are busy these days, but it is a very lovely kind of busy. I have many chances to meet with Japanese friends and chat, hang out, go shopping, and have lots of wonderful conversations. Occassionally I get together with a Mexican friend who lives in South Philly, but like most Mexicans I know, she is crazy busy with work so we don't meet very often. I am really enjoying teaching piano these days. I taught piano for a few years during college, but I have some really talented students right now, including Gio (see photo). He played "It Don't Mean a Thing (if it Ain't Got That Swing)" as his recital song this past June - he was awesome! Besides teaching, I keep busy with studying Japanese, reading good books, and working two jobs. I have been thinking a lot lately about how God is in control of everything, even down to the most minute detail. It really relieves any temptation to worry about the future when I focus on the sovereignty of God. Right now, I am not sure what I will do in the future, but I am thinking these days that I will pursue serving with MTW in Nagoya next summer and then return to Sendai next September for at least two years to focus on language study and serving the missionaries I used to work with there. I would love to see old friends living in Sendai. I think of Japan almost every day and remember fondly how beautiful the people and nature are in Sendai.

Happy Birthday, Yume!

2006-09-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

The daughter of my wonderful friend Beniko Iwakura celebrated her 4th birthday recently. We thought it was funny that her store-bought cake read, "Happy Birtday."

A beautiful hymn to fight the legalist within

2006-09-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have come to understand once again what a HUGE struggle I have with legalism. It occurs most often when I hesitate to come to God in prayer because I have fallen short of God's commandments. I had to repent this past Lord's day for insulting the cross by thinking lowly of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross; I forgot AGAIN that it is always by grace that I come to God in prayer. This hymn moved me to tears last night as I thought, "Was not Christ's work enough?" I imagined all that Jesus suffered in the garden and on the cross and cried as I thought that Christ has secured our way to God not only to salvation but also to bold prayer. I LOVE THIS HYMN!

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you, Full of pity, love and power.

Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome, God’s free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance, Every grace that brings you nigh.

Come, ye weary, heavy laden, Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better, You will never come at all.

View Him prostrate in the garden; On the ground your Maker lies.
On the bloody tree behold Him; Sinner, will this not suffice?

Let not conscience make you linger, Not of fitness fondly dream;
the fitness He requireth is to feel your need of Him.

Lo! the incarnate God ascended, Plead the merit of His blood:
Venture on Him, venture wholly, Let no other trust intrude.

I will arise and go to Jesus, He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior, O there are ten thousand charms.
- Joseph Hart 1759

Old photos of friends REVISITED

2006-09-25T05:53:00.000-07:00

This is Chiemi - she taught me Japanese for six months before I went to Japan in 2001. We are still good friends and she is coming here for a visit in December! Hooray! She taught me how to bow, how to use chopsticks, and a lot of basic Japanese before I went to Japan in 2001. In this photo we are eating ramen, my all-time favorite Japanese food ever!!This is Naohiro Ito, my cutest student ever! He was a joy to teach and could pronounce English well since he already spoke German and Japanese!
This is my precious host mom Kikuko and her son Yotaro. She was my dearest friend who I left behind in Sendai. It hurts to be so far from this dear friend.
This is my friend Mayumi. She lives in South Carolina now. We are eating cow tongue in this photo.

Great memories...

What I'm reading

2006-09-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

I LOVE to read. Right now I am reading The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life by Charles Spurgeon and Heaven: Your Real Home by Joni. There are a million books I want to read. I especially like biographies. Right now I am really getting into reading about Charles Spurgeon. Last night I read about his amazing childhood - AMAZING!! IIt is such a joy to curl up with a good book before going to bed and reading about men and women of the past who served God with their whole heart and soul.

Thoughts about Japan

2006-09-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

Well, after posting a lot of photos and remembering different experiences and friendships, I feel very thankful for all the friends God has blessed with me over the past five years. In August 2001, I had just arrived in Sendai, Japan and started a journey of learning to love and understand the people of Japan. I cannot imagine what my life would be like now if I hadn't spent those two years in Japan. It was truly a life-altering experience. I've been back in the U.S. for about three years now. The first two years were difficult with the tremendous pain of re-adjustment and reverse culture shock. Making Japanese friends here in the States has been the biggest help in learning to readjust to life in the U.S. They understood what I had experienced and I could understand their frustrations and confusion about understanding and interpreting American culture. Some differences in culture we could laugh at and both found equally bewilidering, such as the tendency of Americans to blow their noses very loudly, the huge portions of food at restaurants, and the overall terrible customer service here. In addition, my own self-study of Japanese culture through conversations and reading books has left me with a sense of wonder that our cultures are so totally and completely different. Also, language study seems less formidable to me than it used to. About two years ago, I found a wonderful Japanese teacher who has helped me immensely in speaking and writing Japanese. God has grown my love and passion for the Japanese language, and it has become a real joy to study it. That is 100% God's work in me, because when I lived in Japan, I was not a very disciplined student and really hated learning kanji (a form of written Japanese using Chinese characters). Right now I am working very hard to improve my reading ability in Japanese which is very poor, I think. To read a newspaper, one needs to know about 1,850 Chinese characters, and at the most, I know about 500-600 characters. I have a long way to go. I am also attempting to read as much as I can about Japanese history - very interesting!
I love the people of Japan, and I believe God Himself has given me this love for the Japanese people. It warms my heart to think of God loving the Japanese people through someone as flawed, weak, naturally selfish, and messed up as myself. It is a joy to meet Japanese people and learn about their lives and to tell them about the God of the Universe who is a compassionate, loving, forgiving, merciful Savior. It is the desire of my heart to spend the rest of my life minstering to these lovely people in some form, whether in the U.S. or in Japan.

Photos of Japan/ Friends from Japan

2006-09-18T06:08:00.000-07:00

shrine in winter
Sendai Station
in front of a shrine in Niigata
with Kaoru & Kei in Sendai

with Shiho in New York City
kids' class in Nagamachi, Sendai (2003)

Photos of Japanese friends

2006-09-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

Here are two photos of me and my wonderful friend Saori. We went to Mexico together in April 2005 and had a great time! Saori was so adventurous and learned quite a bit of Spanish in only eight days! This was a fun party! None of these friends live in Philadelphia now...I miss them a lot.

These are my dear, dear friends Saori , Shinji, and Hiromichi. Saori now lives in New York and Shinji and Hiromichi went back to Japan after graduating from U Penn. Isn't the photo with Hiromichi holding Elisabeth Cummings the cutest?

Isn't God amazing to bring such wonderful friends into our lives?

El Salvador 2004

2006-09-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot of El Salvador lately. I felt like posting some photos of my 2004 trip. It brought back lots of memories!

with baby Moises The beach that I went to in El Salvador had black sand!

Wow, I am missing El Salvador these days...I went to work in Shalom Children's home near the city where I was born. It was my first time to be back to El Salvador since I was adopted at two months of age and it was a profound experience. I helped take care of babies and young girls. I still keep in touch regularly with two of the ladies I met in the home. I enjoyed looking just like everyone else for the first time in my life.The lovely young lady above is Estela Gomez - she was a very special young woman and I miss her terribly! She's 15 now...I hope I can go back to El Salvador in 2007 for a short visit!

Farewell, Summer!

2006-09-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

It was a good summer...here I am with Hitomi and Ayako. It was their first time to eat water ice, I think.
I was sad to see the summer go. I had so much fun with my Japanese friends.

Photos

2006-08-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

New Attitude May 2006

New Attitude was held in Louisville, Kentucky. It was one the highlights of my Christian life. I met my high school friend Melanie Lippincott at this awesome conference that was run by Sovereign Grace Ministries. www.sovereigngraceministries.org

My friend Katie Wagner visited me from Wisconsin. We hadn't seen each other in almost three years. She was my roommate when we lived in Sendai, Japan. The other friend is Ayako Ono, my dear Japanese friend.

Enjoying Japanese food at Sagami Restaurant!