Profound thoughts, personal feelings, and what ever else strikes me as I traverse life's meandering path.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Typhoon vs. Hurricane

So did you know that basically the only difference between a typhoon and a hurricane is which ocean it's in? They are nearly the same except typhoons are in the Western Pacific Ocean (ie. Japan) and hurricanes are in the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans (ie. Haiti).

I am quite familiar with hurricanes, but I wasn't entirely sure what a typhoon was like. But today I will find out. Okinawa is directly in the path of a typhoon (don't worry, it hasn't been that bad and they move on quickly). So school was cancelled today, which was kind of a nice break.

It's always interesting to me to learn the different reasons for school being cancelled according to where you are living. In Haiti we got "the government is being overthrown again" days off of school; in Portland we got "snow days" since Portland is not really equipped to deal with snow; and here in Okinawa we get "typhoon days," even though it really hasn't been too bad so far, you just never know.

White Rice Song

White rice hot, white rice cold,
White rice in the pot nine days old;
Some like it hot, some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot nine days old.

I am so thankful that I grew up eating rice and that I like it so much because I have it for almost every meal! Oddly enough it's one of my favorite things to eat, probably because it is familiar and I already know that I like it. It's always nice to have a little bit of consistency in the midst of an entirely different world.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Prepared for Okinawa

So the Lord has granted me more grace than I even knew by preparing me for living here in the Japanese culture in ways that I didn't even realize. Here are a few of the ways he has prepared me before I even thought about coming to Okinawa (some of these things are just quirks about my personality that work well here):

  • Chopsticks - In high school I randomly decided it was cool to eat with chopsticks and so I started using chopsticks to eat everything! And I mean everything. I even ate pizza with chopsticks. My brother brought me back some real chopsticks from Tibet since no one uses chopsticks in Haiti. Although my high school literature teacher, Mr. Hersey, was an MK from Japan and he taught my class the correct way to use chopsticks. It may seem like a little thing, but being adept at eating with chopsticks has helped me feel more at ease in the Japanese culture. Eating is such a normal and regular thing that it would be stressful to be frustrated in such a common task by not being able to use the utensils.
  • Hand washing - Okay, some people may call me a germ-0-phobe, but it was ingrained in me from a young age to constantly wash my hands. Haiti can be dirty and you can get sick easily by not maintaining proper hygiene, so my parents drilled it into our heads that we always needed to wash our hands. I am so thankful because Okinawan people are very clean and sanitary. I would probably horrify them with my lack of concern for sanitation if I hadn't been brought up to be so conscientious about it.
  • Humidity - Growing up in Haiti I was accustomed to a high level of humidity. I have lived in the Northwest for 8 years so my tolerance has dropped, but I am acclimating quickly. I know people who completely wilt in the humidity and it can be incapacitating, so I am thankful that I am able to function despite the high humidity. (And the bright beautiful blue skies are so worth it!)
  • Flexibility - I mean this in two senses, one is physical and the other is psychological. I am grateful for my natural, though fading, physical flexibility so that kneeling and such are not overly strenuous for me. I am however, way more grateful for my flexible mindset. There is something about living on a tropical island that just means things move at a different pace and often things don't go according to the given time frame. And I don't know if it's just a part of ministry in general, but the details and schedule at the school are constantly changing as well. My natural personality desires concrete expectations and advance warning of changes. However, growing up in Haiti has caused me to be very go-with the flow and highly adaptable to unexpected changes. So I can be very easy-going and fluid when necessary, rather than stressed and flustered. And I have learned the art of 'flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants,' which is very useful for surprise situations.
  • Conservation - Thanks to my parents influence, I learned how to conserve things like water and electricity. While these are often such an indispensable part of life in the US that we don't think about them, in Haiti many times we went without both. So my parents taught us to always turn out the lights when we left a room and to close the refrigerator door rather than standing with it open and to turn off the water rather than just letting it run. Okinawa does not have problems (at least that I've seen) with supplying water and electricity, but the school I work at tries to conserve as much as they can so I can be an asset in that effort rather than the constant drain on resources.
  • Cockroaches - I HATE COCKROACHES! I am sure most people do, but I was surprised to see my intense dislike shared by the Okinawans I've interacted with. They react as much as I do and they immediately get out heavy duty cans of bug spray to kill them. I suppose it makes sense because cockroaches are so dirty and Okinawans are so sanitary. But it is a big deal and they are very adamant about killing the cockroaches right away. Sweet! My kind of people. (Unfortunately they do not harbor any dislike toward spiders since they eat mosquitoes. Oh well, I haven't seen any tarantula sized ones yet, so I am okay.)
Okay, all for now. More to come but I need to sleep.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Why language is so tricky to learn

One of the things that makes language so hard to learn is that it is not just a matter of memorizing a list of vocabulary words. You have to know how to use the words (and I'm not talking about pronunciation).

Here are some of the factors you have to consider when acquiring a new vocabulary:

-Gender of person being addressed

-Rank of or relationship to person being addressed
(children, family, co-worker, superiors)

-Time of day

-Whether you are talking to someone, or about someone, or calling out to them
(in Slavic languages you actually change the form (spelling) of someone's name depending on how you are using their name)

-Number/Quantity
(counting often changes depending on what you are counting- in Japanese there are whole different sets of numbers for counting people, flat objects, round objects, etc.)

-Location/Position
(ie. if you are leaving or staying)

-Situation
(formal/informal)

These are all my tired brain can come up with at the moment. Please feel free to let me know your ideas of what I should add to the list!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Daycare

I am working at the daycare that the school, Okinawa Christian Academy, provides during non-school hours and breaks. Here are a few of the kids.










Layla (3)



Keito (3)



Kokoa (6)












Manato (6)


Kaylen (8)












Ah! I'm an alien!

After I went through customs, I got a little paper entitled "To Alien Entering Japan." The sci-fi nerd in me couldn't help but be amused. So, I'm an alien...

In many ways I feel more like an alien than I ever have in my life. And the book, The Arrival
by Shuan Tan, captures many of my experiences perfectly. If you haven't "read" this book, you should. I say "read" because it's a graphic novel with beautifully drawn pictures, and no words.

I can't understand or read the language around me and I've eaten foods that I've never seen before. (One fruit I ate tasted like a starfruit but was shaped like a small pear and had a pale red color to it.)

So I've decided to document some of the things and experiences that are so novel to me now:

- Eating raw octopus and squid on sushi, not a big fan.

-Using high-tech toilets with lots of buttons, among which are ones to rinse and dry your bottom

-Cars all have the driver's side on the right and everyone drives on the left side of the road

-Not being able to read anything because it's all written in a foreign script
(ie. store signs, product names-good thing a lot of groceries have pictures, directions, books, movie titles, basically anything you can think of that you read)

-Everyone is very polite, but you don't talk to people you don't know

-Movie rentals come in blue case- bag-thingys that you keep the DVDs in and return them in (I'll have to take a picture)

-Seeing Okinawans protect their skin from the sun better than I do (all the kids from daycare wear hats whenever they go outside to play)

-Having a mandatory rest time at a public pool where everyone is required to get out of the water and take a break

-Minimal physical contact
(Of course you bow when you greet people, so there is no physical contact in greetings- no hugs, kisses, and only handshakes with foreigners. But even something like paying the cashier, you put the money down on a little tray and the cashier picks it up from there. If they hand money or a card back to you, they hold the edges with both of their hands so that you can grab it in the middle. Those are just a few examples)

-Using toilet slippers.
I knew that you left your outside shoes at the door and wore slippers or inside shoes when in the house, but then there are a pair of sandals just inside the bathroom door for everyone to put on when they are using the bathroom. You don't wear you house slippers in the bathroom.

(more to come later)

Friday, August 13, 2010

My New Home

This is the porch

Here is the front door from the inside












The entryway










For lack of a better word, this is the courtyard area

This is a large open room on the first floor that will be used by the daycare, which is in association with the school

Laundry closet












The kitchen

The pretty table









The living room area









The stairs from below

The stairs from above










The balcony












The hallway (my room is the first on the right, then there is Nana's room, and then the bathroom and then Miwako's room is on the left side)

The courtyard from above










The door to my room












My bedroom

My closet










The bathroom sink









The bath

The toilet












View of Okinawa from the balcony











Thank you for your prayers. I am very blessed to be here in such beautiful accommodations with two very sweet Japanese girls. I start helping out with the daycare at 7am on Monday and then school starts the following Monday. It's going to be busy, but I praise the Lord for the opportunity to be here and that I arrived safe and sound without any complications.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

"Wait"

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried; quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I plead and I wept for a clue to my fate, and the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."
"WAIT? You said 'wait,'" my indignant reply. "Lord, I need answers. I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard? By faith I have asked and am claiming your Word.
My future and all to which I can relate hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me 'Wait?'
I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign, or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
And Lord, I've been asking! I need a reply!"
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate as my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut, and grumbled to God, "So I'm waiting...for what?"
He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine, and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun. I could raise the dead, cause the mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be. You would have what you want...
But you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint; you'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair; you'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me when darkness and silence were all you could see;
You'd never experience the fullness of love, as the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save (for a start), but you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart;
The glow of My comfort late in the night, the faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked of an infinite God, who makes what you have last.
You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee, what it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes, your dreams and desires overnight would come true,
But oh the loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!
So be silent, My child, and in time you will see that the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though often My answers seem terribly late, My most precious answer of all is still, 'WAIT.'"

I received a copy of this poem from a friend in college and the beauty and truth of it really struck a cord in my heart. While going through my belongings as I packed for Okinawa, I rediscovered it and decided to share it.