Many Americans think all Asians look alike...Apparently Asians think the same about us... I was on the train yesterday with my supervisor, Mrs. Cindy. This little Japanese boys gets on the train with his mother. He looks at Mrs. Cindy and me, and then says to his mom in Japanese, "Those two foreigners look alike." The mother said, "Oh, they do not." The little boy tilts his head, thinks, and says, "You're right...their coats are different."
For Valentine's Day, Shiona and I invited over our single, Christian girlfriends for a night of eating, playing games, eating, just hanging out, and eating. Just so you know, boys, all the girls pictured below are single (with the exception of Shiona...she has a sugar boogar in the states) and love Jesus!!!
Here's Tamaki attacking Shiona with corn chips.
Shi and I introduced the girls to the game "Baby, if you love me, you'll smile" where you try to get the person to smile while they respond back that they do love you but they just can't smile. For some reason, when Japanese say the word "Baby" everyone just get giggly.
Tamaki is trying to make Yumi smile and it looks like Yumi is about to lose.
Check out these hotties...Madoka, Tamaki (a classic Tamaki expression), Naomi, and Erika.
And Shiona (I think she might be eating her camera), Kaori, me, and Yumi. Thank you, Jesus, for all the wonderful girls in my life who know and love You!
My friend, Wendy, just had a little boy in December and named him Fox. She just emailed this picture of him to me...don't you wanna just smile right back at him?!?
So I am at my fitness club today (in Japan, it's a fitness club not a gym), and I hear this song being played throughout the club. It catches my attention because it's a COUNTRY song, and the only other country song I have heard in public in Japan is Faith Hill's "Mississippi Girl". I'm trying to see if I know the song and I hear in the chorus "Jesus, take the wheel, take it from my hands cause I can't do this on my own". I am not really sure about the singer of this song, but I love the chorus of this song. After being in Japan for almost a year, I am just finally coming to the understanding that I cannot do this on my own at all...that Jesus has to take the wheel because there is no way I can do this on my own. And how wonderful that we have a Savior who will take the wheel for us!
What do we do for fun in Japan? KARAOKE, of course! It's a national pastime in Japan, along with shopping and eating! The great thing about Karaoke in Japan is that you rent a room with only your friends. So, you aren't singing in front of a crowd of people you don't know...only your friends.
When you sing American songs at Karaoke, the strangest backdrops will appear on the screen. Here's Abe Lincoln. The Statue of Liberty, the White House, and two guys fist fighting are also frequent images.
Any Disney songs, songs from the Sister Act movies, and Elton John songs are all popular at Karaoke.
This is the bathroom door at the Karaoke place. Please notice that my head is touching the top frame of the door. More evidence that I am not Japanese size.
OUTBACK! My refuge! Complete with Blooming Onions, free refills of Coke, American-size hamburgers, and STEAK!!! The Joy!!
Thank you, Jesus, for American restaurants.
This is Kaori (far right) with her mom and dad. Her family was kind enough to invite me to their house on New Year's Day. Kaori is about to begin her fourth and final year of university. She became a Christian this past November and now is being discipled. Kaori has shared with her mom what Christ has done in her life, and her mom has been accepting of Kaori's faith. Please pray for this family. Praise God for Kaori's salvation and desire to know Him more each day. Pray for her parents, that they will see a change in Kaori, and that they, too, will come to faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible has examples of entire families becoming Christians at the same time. Please pray for that to happen in Kaori's family.
