Hello, hello! Sorry, it's been just over a week since my last post. It's been hectic lately because school is ending this Thursday for the kids, and Friday is the graduation ceremony. I'm a little sad because I've just gotten to know many of the kids, yet it's almost already time to say goodbye. On the bright side, the break's only two weeks, and many of the kids are returning. And for the next school year, I'm going to have my own classes, so building relationships with them will be organic and I'll have the chance to see their improvements with my own eyes. I've also been getting to know the other teachers better, which has been really fun. Through eating out together (ate ramen last Friday on the school!) or even just talking in the short periods after classes, I've been able to slowly learn more about who these people are, not just as teachers, but as men and women who have their own blessings and worries and families. It's honestly been a refreshing change of pace working with nonbelievers, albeit in a different country and culture.
Over the weekend, one of the school staff took us out to Shizuoka city, which is the capital city of the prefecture and about 30-40 minutes away from the town I'm in. It was nice to see the city life, and though it's not as big as Dotonbori (Still haven't been to Tokyo yet, so I can't say), there were a lot of people out and about. A good number of students were rushing around in groups, some on bikes. We went to see the Sunpu Castle which is close to downtown and features a fairly large (especially by Japanese standards) park, and was able to stop by a Don Quijote, which brought back some memories of shopping in the Dotonbori one while I was on STEM. If you haven't heard of them, they are basically large stores that carry everything. Kind of like Walmart or Target, but a lot more packed together (if they're really big, they have multiple stories) and they actually carry many well-known/expensive brands of all types of goods. Found some Shin Ramen there, in case I wanted a taste of home. Sadly, I have not been able to find 고추장 yet, but they've been talking about taking us to Cainz, which I guess is another type of big department store/mall that carries bunches of random things.
Other than that, not too much has been going on. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for me to find a church; I was able to get into contact with one, though I won't be able to go out to it yet (no car, and it's a bit far for anyone to pick me up). However, they've graciously offered to pick me up once I've moved to my apartment for good, as it's closer to the church than where I live now. I'm hoping this can be the start of new relationships and a new family even out here in the countryside of Japan.
Thank you for bearing with me thus far, and I do have a few pictures. But before that, here's a quote from an author I really like named Donald Miller, from his book Through Painted Deserts. I hadn't read this quote before coming out, but it nicely sums up how I feel about the prospect of moving elsewhere, even if it's uncomfortable, and finding God and yourself as you're away from home:
"It's a living book, this life; it folds out in a million settings, cast with a billion beautiful characters, and it is almost over for you. It doesn't matter how old you are; it is coming to a close quickly, and soon the credits will roll and all your friends will fold out of your funeral and drive back to their homes in cold and still and silence. And they will make a fire and pour some wine and think about how you once were . . . and feel a kind of sickness at the idea you never again will be.
So soon you will be in that part of the book where you are holding the bulk of the pages in your left hand, and only a thin wisp of the story in your right. You will know by the page count, not by the narrative, that the Author is wrapping things up. You begin to mourn its ending, and want to pace yourself slowly toward its closure, knowing the last lines will speak of something beautiful, of the end of something long and earned, and you hope the thing closes out like last breaths, like whispers about how much and who the characters have come to love, and how authentic the sentiments feel when they have earned a hundred pages of qualification.
And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful born inside of you, about learning to love a woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?
It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.
I want to repeat one word for you:
Leave.
Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed.”
Thanks for reading, again. I haven't been able to really sit down and reflect on each post so my writing's not exactly where I want it to be. But maybe there's beauty to be found in the imperfections, as if this is more like a conversation between you and me, and less of a narrative. Okay, here are the pictures!
Over the weekend, one of the school staff took us out to Shizuoka city, which is the capital city of the prefecture and about 30-40 minutes away from the town I'm in. It was nice to see the city life, and though it's not as big as Dotonbori (Still haven't been to Tokyo yet, so I can't say), there were a lot of people out and about. A good number of students were rushing around in groups, some on bikes. We went to see the Sunpu Castle which is close to downtown and features a fairly large (especially by Japanese standards) park, and was able to stop by a Don Quijote, which brought back some memories of shopping in the Dotonbori one while I was on STEM. If you haven't heard of them, they are basically large stores that carry everything. Kind of like Walmart or Target, but a lot more packed together (if they're really big, they have multiple stories) and they actually carry many well-known/expensive brands of all types of goods. Found some Shin Ramen there, in case I wanted a taste of home. Sadly, I have not been able to find 고추장 yet, but they've been talking about taking us to Cainz, which I guess is another type of big department store/mall that carries bunches of random things.
Other than that, not too much has been going on. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for me to find a church; I was able to get into contact with one, though I won't be able to go out to it yet (no car, and it's a bit far for anyone to pick me up). However, they've graciously offered to pick me up once I've moved to my apartment for good, as it's closer to the church than where I live now. I'm hoping this can be the start of new relationships and a new family even out here in the countryside of Japan.
Thank you for bearing with me thus far, and I do have a few pictures. But before that, here's a quote from an author I really like named Donald Miller, from his book Through Painted Deserts. I hadn't read this quote before coming out, but it nicely sums up how I feel about the prospect of moving elsewhere, even if it's uncomfortable, and finding God and yourself as you're away from home:
"It's a living book, this life; it folds out in a million settings, cast with a billion beautiful characters, and it is almost over for you. It doesn't matter how old you are; it is coming to a close quickly, and soon the credits will roll and all your friends will fold out of your funeral and drive back to their homes in cold and still and silence. And they will make a fire and pour some wine and think about how you once were . . . and feel a kind of sickness at the idea you never again will be.
So soon you will be in that part of the book where you are holding the bulk of the pages in your left hand, and only a thin wisp of the story in your right. You will know by the page count, not by the narrative, that the Author is wrapping things up. You begin to mourn its ending, and want to pace yourself slowly toward its closure, knowing the last lines will speak of something beautiful, of the end of something long and earned, and you hope the thing closes out like last breaths, like whispers about how much and who the characters have come to love, and how authentic the sentiments feel when they have earned a hundred pages of qualification.
And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful born inside of you, about learning to love a woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?
It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.
I want to repeat one word for you:
Leave.
Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed.”
Thanks for reading, again. I haven't been able to really sit down and reflect on each post so my writing's not exactly where I want it to be. But maybe there's beauty to be found in the imperfections, as if this is more like a conversation between you and me, and less of a narrative. Okay, here are the pictures!
Just some shots from around town. Hope you liked them!
I'll close with some prayer requests:
- That I might learn to love the children and my coworkers more deeply everyday, and that Luke 18:16 would one day become an incredible reality here.
- That I would find a community who encourages me to the continue the race and move along life's worn paths, even if that means crawling at times.
- For my family back home, for their continued health and their endeavors.
- And for yourself. Please take some time to pray for yourself and find rest for your soul.
It was a long post, but please excuse my ramblings. I'm hoping to post again soon, maybe even over this weekend. Ja mata!
aw :) gave me the warm fuzzies
ReplyDeleteStill chewing on that quote.
ReplyDeleteBut you're such a teacher already. "Yay! Their break is only two weeks!"
Their misery is your joy.
Thanks Blas. You're such a worship leader and teacher already. Can't believe it's already been two years since we started training for STEM JapanClashofClans and you were a freshman...
DeleteLOL that's a little too enthusiastic for the tone I was aiming for. Ain't gon' lie, sometimes the dayz are long. But there are more breaks scattered throughout the year, which is nice.