December fun

Mao's 5th birthday

We had the party at my house because we also decorated my tree

It was a delicious fruit and cream cake

Everybody enjoyed it!

This is my tree that they helped me decorate

Today was busy but fun.  We took the 3 minute walk to my house from school where the kids all helped me decorate my tree for Christmas.  They did a good job too.  We also celebrated Mao's 5th birthday with a delicious cake and milk.  It was fun, and I think the kids just thought it was novel to go to their teacher's house.  :)

Thanksgiving party

My Pilgrims and Indians

Last minute adjustments

Welcome (good thing I don't get nervous talking in front of people

Telling the Thanksgiving story

Singing

Our Thanksgiving lunch, it was delicious!

 With the help of our school secretary, Kawaguchi-san, I planned and organized our the kindergarten Thanksgiving program.  It was a lot of fun and the kids were great.  They helped me tell the Thanksgiving story and sang three songs (all in English).  Everyone enjoyed themselves and we had lots of yummy food.  It was a blessing to be with my kids and their parents.  Unfortunately one of my boys was sick (you can see his pilgrim hat sitting on the piano off to the side).  I was sad that he and his mom had to miss our party, especially since all the kids did such a good job practicing.  But he is feeling better now.  And now we have our all-school Christmas program to look forward to.  I am thankful to be here in Okinawa and be able to teach such amazing kids!

Two birthdays: Seeing the difference

Birthday 2010

Birthday 2011

Perhaps it's hard to see the change in the kids from this picture, but they all look much older.  My look too is drastically different.  I like the difference because it reminds me how much the kids and I have grown over the last year.  I pray that we will all continue to grow into closer relationship with God, understanding his grace and his love and desiring to live lives that are pleasing to him.  God has been doing a lot of work in my heart over the past year.  His refining work is not complete, but I believe he has continued the good work that he started in me and that will one day be complete.

Second Birthday in Okinawa

I had a wonderful birthday. On Friday Makiko-san (the sweet secretary at work) made an amazing cake for the kids and I to enjoy. Then that night I went out for French food with Makiko-san, Nana-san (my former housemate) and Mariya-san (my current housemate). The food was delicious and it was fun to hang out with such wonderful ladies. Praise God for a blessed birthday!

Appetizer: delicious!

Me and Mariya (my housemate); yummy soup

Mariya's present to me and delicious dessert

Makiko-san, Nana-san, me and Mariya-san: wonderful ladies

Cake at school

It was delicious!

Pajama Day

We had a Pajama Party on Friday.  The kids were very excited, I'm not sure if the parents knew what to think since wearing Pajamas anywhere outside the house is definitely not a Japanese thing. =)  But they were all supportive.  We read stories about making pancakes and then proceeded to make and eat our own.  They were very yummy. Then we played some Pajama Party games and at the end we had a rewards store where they could buy prizes with fake money they'd earned.  It was a lot of fun.  I think all the parents and my co-workers were all a little surprised and amazed to see me wearing pajamas too. =)

Glancing back and gazing forward: A One Year's Reflection

Last Saturday, August 13th, I celebrated my one year anniversary of life in Okinawa. I spent the day with my former roommate, Nana Miyagi. After going out for yakiniku (there's a barbecue in the middle of your table where you get to grill the raw meats and vegetables you order) we went on the huge Coca-Cola ferris wheel.

And here are some pictures of Nana and I on the ferris wheel:

Thoughts on this past year:

God has blessed me so much by bringing me to Okinawa. I have wanted to experience living in a foreign culture and learning a new language since before college. I have been so blessed by this opportunity and I have learned so much about myself and the culture I'm living in.

I have loved the kids and parents and teachers with whom I've had the privilege of working. I have learned so much as a teacher and have been blessed to work with such amazing kids. It has been challenging too. The language barrier and the constant changes passed down from the administration have been stressful. But I always need to learn to better rely on God's strength, so these stressors have been a blessing in disguise.

God has been doing lots of work in the area of spiritual growth for me. Sometimes I think he brought me to Okinawa just to work on this particular area of my life. He has been growing my faith and deepening my knowledge of truth. He has provided people to walk alongside me and who stimulate further refinement. I still have a long way to go, but he has not given up on me and he has put me in a place to help me focus on growing with him. I am so grateful.

The future:

I am uncertain as to what my future plans are. I intend to finish this school year, which ends in March 2012. At that point my plans are uncertain. I don't know if I will remain here or pursue further education or something else entirely. I know that I long to see friends and family again. If I do remain in Okinawa then I am hoping to visit Portland in the Summer of 2012. In some ways I do not yet feel ready to leave Okinawa, but I also don't think that the Lord has me here permanently. I want to enjoy my time in Okinawa and learn as much as I can while I'm here. You can pray for guidance for me in making plans that are in accordance with the Lord's will.

All in all, I am so blessed to be where I am at. I am learning much through the joys and struggles of teaching and the constant battle to seek God first among everything. Thank you for your prayers on my behalf; God is answering them. Grace and peace to you!

Proud owner of a parasol

So I now own a PARASOL! Saying that makes me feel like I belong to a different era or something. But why should parasols be out of fashion? They totally make sense and they are totally cute! I think the reason we no longer use them in the West is because everybody wants to be tan and doesn't care about protecting their skin, so what's the point? Why carry around an accessory that hinders your goal of letting the sun reach your skin? Well here in Okinawa they are extremely sun sensitive. Not just because they think lighter skin is pretty, but because they don't want the damage UV light inevitable causes your skin. So since I have light skin and have to take extra care to protect it from the sun, I thought why not have a cute accessory for that purpose? So I have embraced the parasol.

Heart

This is just a picture I drew after church. I don't remember what inspired it, but I feel like this is the condition of my heart. It won't make much sense if you've never read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

A pretty picture

We have these flowers in Haiti. I think they are pretty even though I have no idea what they are called, in any language (English, French, Kreyol, Japanese- no idea).

Easter activities

We decorated Easter eggs at school. They were cute.

These are the kids with their eggs.

Then we had an Easter picnic

And of course and Easter egg hunt!

How many of you got to have an Easter service with this kind of view? We had church at the beach followed by a barbecue. Yum!

My New Class

Here are the kids in my kindergarten class this year










From top to bottom: Kohei (who was in my class last year, he is now K5), Layla, Mao T, Mao O, Dhruva, Keito, Marcus, Esther, Noxomi