Another farewell

This one was sadder than the other two, for a few reasons: 1) I was really fond of this class, perhaps more than any other. They had a good balance of eager kids and laid back ones, of shy kids and outspoken ones. But the best part was that a lot of them would come to the staff room and just chat with me and Aaron and Grace. 2) A lot of students were absent today, so the picture is of us, MINUS 18 students! Almost half the class! Among the absent were the entire "Forever 17" Club (Ayuka, Asako, Yumi, Fuko), which was kind of a bummer. And of course, the ever-non-present Sakura and Asaka. This was an awesome class to teach, but the hardest part was all those Mondays that were off due to national holidays and so on. Stupid Happy Monday System.

Already Come of Age

Hey guys, this is my 100th blog post! Only someone nerdy like me keeps track of these things, but it is interesting because if you look carefully, I started my blog exactly a year ago! So it's Happy Anniversary for my blog, Happy 100th posting, AND, yesterday was Coming of Age Day in Japan. This is a day on which Japanese youngsters celebrate their becoming adults. So young men and ladies across the nation who have turned 20 in the previous year gather at their respective city hall for a ceremony. The girls dress in kimonos, the guys wear traditional yukatas (called the "happi" I think), and everyone looks sharp. It's a great chance for people to get back together with long lost junior high and high school classmates.

Anyways, I digress. I had an awesome day off with my cool Japanese friends, Yoshua, Yoshi, Kayo and Natsuki. We all "came of age" a few years back (a dozen years ago for me, in case you're keeping score at home)... but we celebrated the "day off" by going out for lunch, then watching a movie at Yoshi's place (Nada So-so- - 涙そうそう), then treking out to my place for a delicious 鍋 (nabe) dinner, and another movie (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Great times by all... man I wish national holidays were even more frequent... and that Yoshi didn't have to leave for mainland so soon.

More farewells...

Well my kids are all growing up. I had my final class with the 私文 (Shibun) kids yesterday. Sadness. They were one of the hardest classes to teach, because they were so energetic... but they all have such wonderful hearts. I saw a bunch of kids really grow up over the course of the year. Especially my boy Shuhei... he really matured as the year went on, to the point where he was the most attentive kid on the final day! Good times... too bad the picture is missing almost half of the class - most of them have stopped showing up at school, and have gone to tutors instead.

Farewells already?

Even though there are 3 months remaining in the school year, I already had my final class with one group. You see, the 12th graders graduate on February 10th. And they take their College Entrance Exam on January 19th & 20th. So after that, they no longer need *sniffle* us teachers! Since next Monday is a national holiday, I will not be teaching them again. They were a small but sweet group to teach. Kazumer and his off-the-wall comments. Muneyuki the secret Samoan. Taiki the best beard-grower in the school (better than me and even our Vice-Chairman!). Yuka and her drawings and hair extensions. Manarmi (purposely stood outside the area I framed the picture in) and her Manarminess. And the rest of them. Ah, great bunch. Thanks for the memories, y'all!

It's 2008!

Calvary Chapel Ginowan gathered together as a church body on the eve of 2008, and played games until just before midnight. Then we counted down, took pictures, played games some more, cleaned up and went home. Well I'm still here, but will be home soon. It was a fun night, and while I didn't get to play games with everyone, we all had fun. I especially enjoyed playing with Nico and Alondra... they're adorable.

It's late so that's about all I have to say for now. I pray that 2008 is as blessed a year as 2007 was.

大掃除

In Japan, the end of the year is a time to do major cleaning in the house. It's called "大掃除" or "big cleaning." So I decided to get caught up in the spirit, at least partially make my house clean again. I took apart my living room, literally. All the furniture, save the TV stand (too many wires) moved into the kitchen, and all the tatami mats made their way onto the balcony. Then I sprayed them down clean, wiped all the walls, fixtures, beams, and laid everything down again. The layout is different from what it once was, but most of you don't even know what it looked like, so it makes no difference!

Anyways, it feels good to have a clean living room, smelling fresh and looking different. Next up: the bedroom and kitchen. Last: the dreaded bathroom! (I'll spare you the details by not posting updates on this one!)

Settlers Withdrawal Satisfied!

So yesterday I was doing a little shopping down by the Convention Center. My first pleasant surprise came when I stepped into a shoe store. The unpleasant surprise was the lack of shoes that they had in my size. Then I saw an employee and asked him if they might have more stuff in my size that I just wasn't noticing. He answered me, "トレバー？" (if you can't read Japanese, that's my name as it would be written in katakana) I was stupefied by his response, so I asked him who he was. Turns out he was my student way back in the day on Iejima. Isn't that cool that he recognized me? So we chatted for a bit but then he had to get back to work.

Then as I was driving home, it was already about 6pm, and I was thinking to myself, "What should I do about dinner? I don't want to cook, but I don't want to eat out." A few minutes later my phone rang. ♪あーなーたーは髪の毛ありますか？ありますか？ありますか♪ I know based on the ring that it's my buddy Glenn. We were slated to get together the following Thursday for a game of Settlers. But he tells me that he and his wife made a bunch of food for a get-together, and their guests canceled on them, and would I mind coming over and helping them eat? Hahaha, the Lord is GOOD! Of course Farah is an awesome cook, so I stuffed myself with chicken, rice, and cookies. And of course when I go to the Phipps', apple tea is my drink of choice! But perhaps the best part of the evening came when...
I WON! Yep, I beat Glenn at his own game, in his own house! Thanks for a fun evening guys, and for letting me win!

沖縄尚学学園－ザ 忘年会

Last night Okisho had its year-end party （忘年会）at the Royal Orion Hotel down on Kokusai Street (国際どおり). The event included a wonderful musical performance by our fearless leader, Mr. Masajiro Nashiro, a speech about us fighting the good fight and doing our part to help build a society that does not tolerate the crime that has been occurring lately in Japan. Then there was a raffle... the prizes were quite spectacular! A 20" plasma TV, a DVD player, a Nintendo DS, an iPod, and many other things. I was not a winner, unfortunately, but I did get to have my picture taken with "the leader" (shameless Simpsons reference).

It's funny how we tend to hang out with the same people at parties (or other social gatherings for that matter) as we would at work, or in our day-to-day life. This was a perfect chance for me to get to know other people who work within the company, and yet for some reason I kind of kept to myself, talking mostly to Kenney and Yukiko (seen below with Mr. Enoki, my department head, and Mr. Nashiro, the vice-chairman of the school, whose idea it was to pose in this way).

The night came to a rather early conclusion, at least compared to what I am used to with Japanese year-end parties, but I was sort of glad in a sense - things did not get out of control and I believe a good time was had by all. This is a pic of me and a friend of mine - Michael Fad - who was hired at the same time as I was, but has a considerably more difficult position that I do!

Christmas Night

Last night, a bunch of us guys gathered at Starbucks for some coffee and guys' talk. It was all in Japanese, so maybe this blog should be, too!

集ったメンバーはリョータ、ヨシュア、潤、ゴー、よ～し～、アンドリュー、ひ～で、そして写真家の僕でした。面白い話をしながらコーヒー飲んだり、笑ったりしました。そして一番面白かったのは、アンケートでした。「一番早めに結婚しそうのは誰？」という質問だった。みんな匿名で投票して、結果は。。。１週間後にコメントのほうに載せます！みなさん、匿名でもいいから、誰が一番早めに結婚しそうかコメントのほうで投票してください！

Merry Christmas!

This morning we gathered at Pastor Tom's place (he and his family are in the States but he opened his home to us anyways), and had a delicious breakfast potluck and gift exchange. It was PACKED. I think the total, including baby, was 38 people! After a lot of people left (sorry guys) I pulled out my chocolate fondue set and we ate fruits the fattening way!

I'm glad Jesus has a birthday once a year just like the rest of us... not just because we can gather and fellowship, but because it reminds us of the miracle of His birth, and of course the subsequent perfect life, sacrifice, and resurrection! Thanks, Lord! Merry Christmas to all!