The Mito Cafe

The Finale

2009-03-25T14:34:00.004+09:00

Well, my family and friends, my time has come to an end. This will be my final blog from the Land of the Rising Sun. I can't really express to you what I am feeling right now, because to be honest, I don't quite have a grasp on it yet. However, I do know one feeling, and that is blessed. I have been blessed beyond measure! My time here has been filled with excitement, fear, joy, tears, love and memories that will last me a lifetime! Moreover, I have come to see myself and know myself in a different light than ever before. I am absolutely convinced that God designed this experience specifically for me. I am honored and humbled to have been able to be on this journey, and to have been able to share it with you. I pray that my being here has not only changed me, but that I have been a light to those around me here.

Thank you to my family and friends who have prayed for me, supported me and loved me enough to let me come here. While I look forward to the next adventure that God has in store for me, I will greatly miss this place that I have come to know as home, even if only for a short while. Thank you all for keeping up with me and joining me on my journey of a lifetime!

For the final time...Sayonara for now!

Elaina

Last Weekend

2009-03-21T21:35:00.002+09:00

Well, this is my last weekend in Japan. It's definitely bitter sweet, but all good things must come to an end right? Speaking of endings, I sold my scooter today. It was sad to let him go, but Pete did his job well! I have a rental car for my remaining days while in town so I can get all of my final errands run a bit easier. Things are starting to shape up here. I am done with school and am now officially on break (ie packing). I have one final goodbye party on the 26th and then I fly out on the 27th for the States. Please pray for all of us here in Mito that are leaving, as we finish up our time here and head home.

I will try to post one final goodbye post from Japan before I leave.

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

2 Bowls, 2 Cups, Priceless

2009-03-09T09:08:00.002+09:00

No, two bowls and two cups is not the amount of eatery I have in my apartment. To be truthful I don't even have that! However, that's not what this is about.

On Sunday I had one of the most unique experiences of my time in Japan. I mean good in a unique way. Not like, "Oh that girl is unique (and you really mean "special")." No, I truly mean unique! My friend Yoko and I have been trying to get together for awhile and finally managed to do it. We have wanted to go to Kasama (a near by town), which is famous for it's pottery, for some time. We have been there before and wanted to go back and make some pottery. When she talked about making pottery I thought we would go to one of the many stores out there to make pottery. Well, little did I know what was in store for me! She picked me up and told me that she wanted to pick up some fruit for her friend that was going to be teaching us. That was my first indication that this was going to be more than just a shop. As we are driving out there she then tells me that we are going to this ladies house to make the pottery. I was really excited, because I love seeing Japanese style homes! We arrive to the home, that is newly built and designed by Koshiko and her husband. It's beautiful...and orange! We walk into the house and the first thing you see is her workshop and pottery area! I was blown away needless to say! We do intros, Koshiko is the owner, Keiko works there at the shop and does pottery for a living and was our teacher.

They proceeded to ask if I would like the tour of the shop and I said yes...thinking it was all in the house. Well, I was wrong. We walk out of the house and apparently all of the old building surrounding the house are their's too. What I call old buildings, turn out to have been built over 200 years ago by their family and contain amazing amounts of pottery and clay. Also on the grounds are the two largest and oldest kiln's in Ibaraki prefecture. They are multi-level kiln's, the largest having 14 doors. Yes, 14! They kind of look like a really big clay igloo, for lack of better explanation. The "little" kiln had 10 doors. I also got to see the old work shop, which is still used in part. At one time, 7 or 8 people worked side by side at potter's wheels making pottery in that shop. It was frankly amazing to see and imagine this place running at full pace.

We returned to the main house and they asked me if I wanted to do hand made pottery (typically easier) or use the potter's wheel. I've always wanted to try the potter's wheel so I went for it. My friend Yoko had never tried either so we both got to try something new! I was a bit nervous though, because I didn't want to be the one where the clay practically melts around your hands and then you have a big blob! Keiko was our teacher, and to watch her work was amazing! She made it look incredibly easy of course! So, you are wondering how I did right? Well, I made 2 bowls and 2 cups...please refer to the title now. I was so proud of myself. I only messed the clay once and it didn't really melt down I just got in too big of a hurry! Let me tell you, I loved it! I could have spent hours doing this! I don't know how to really describe the feeling, but I felt like an artist! Sure, I wasn't great at it, but I loved the feel of molding something with my hands! It is definitely a memory that I will hold very dear. I hope to find a class or something back home to practice more...that's how much I loved it!

Ok, sorry for the long story but I just had to share!

Hope all is well where ever you are!

Sayonara for now!

Echo (Echo)...Echo (Echo)!

2009-03-01T14:12:00.002+09:00

Ok, my apartment really isn't big enough to echo per se, but it does have a different sound to it. I just got done moving all of the furniture (except my mattress) out of my apartment. As you can imagine it's quite empty feeling! The new English teachers for Lily will be flying in tomorrow so we got it all moved over to their apartment so they are nice and set up when they arrive. Each day I get a step closer to packing everything up and its starting to sink in...although not fully yet. Now that March is started I am really starting to feel the crunch. So...I better get a move on! I will end for now!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Picture Update

2009-02-19T22:14:00.001+09:00

Hello All!

For those of you who like kid pics, I just put some up so check them out!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Beginning of the End

2009-02-16T11:51:00.002+09:00

Well my friends my time is coming to a close and in a hurry. As you can imagine, I have mixed feelings about leaving. I started to clean and sort my apartment yesterday and that is definitely one of the bad things about leaving. ha! I like to be a last minute packer, but I can't afford to do that over here so I am trying to get motivated too get it done early.

I thought I would take a minute to let everyone in on my plans for the next few months when I return. I fly out of Japan at the end of March and fly to New York where my sister and I will meet up to have a week of fun in the Big Apple! We are both really excited about this and can't wait to have some fun! We will get back in to Oklahoma the first week of April and then I will have a couple of months in and around Oklahoma. I'm beginning to realize how busy April and May will be! Yikes! Starting in June I will be in Wyoming, where I got hired to work on a ranch up there. I am very excited about this and am really looking forward to this next adventure!

That is the update on the plans for now. The next few months are going to be a whirlwind, but a lot of fun too. Please keep me and the other English teachers in the area in your prayers as we plan and prepare to return home. I will try to fill you in on things as they happen in the next month or so, but I'm not sure how much time I will have to sit down and blog. I will do my best though!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Oh My Oh My!

2009-01-22T21:46:00.003+09:00

Well, for those of you who haven't looked at your calendar or watch to see what the date is...its January 22. What is the significance you ask? No no...you didn't forget my birthday! No...its not a national holiday (in America or Japan) either! There really is no significance to this date other than to say that January is almost over!!! I said in my last note that these last three months are going to fly by and boy was I right!! Here is the update of what's going on here.

Two weekends ago, January 11, the teachers from Mito Kindergarten planned a trip down to Disney Sea in Tokyo. They planned this as my going away party or gathering with them specifically. I couldn't believe that they wanted to do this for me! I had so much fun! I always enjoy getting to spend time with them outside of school. They are a riot!! I rode the Tower of Terror...and oh boy was it ever! Terror, that is! I screamed my head off, but isn't adrenaline supposed to burn calories, or make you younger or something like that? That's what I'm telling myself anyway! Anyway, so I survived, but once is enough for me!

Last weekend was birthday Saturday at school. Always a fun time to spend with the kids! I am off this weekend and I think we may be taking a short road trip to see some frozen waterfalls up north of here a couple of hours! That should be fun, and good pics too hopefully!

Anyway, I must be going for now, but I wanted to give a short update. My time here is precious and I am not going to waste any of it...in all actuality I am going to bed! However, the Lord has blessed me so much by being here and I plan to use every last minute that I can get!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Happy 2009!

2009-01-06T14:21:00.002+09:00

Well Happy New Year to all! As many of you know, I had a wonderful holiday with my family in Oklahoma. Definitely one for the books! It's not often that you get to surprise your family from around the world! I truly enjoyed being with my family and friends and just spending time in Oklahoma. I arrived back in Japan yesterday, January 5. I am back to school today and its a nice feeling to be back. My trip allowed me to really recharge and get ready to finish these last 3 months on a strong note. It is going to fly by, but I am going to live it up and cherish all of the time that I have left!

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday! I am leaving this as a short post for now, but I will be back with more thoughts when I have more time to sit down and write.

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Hello and Happy Holidays!

2008-12-16T13:57:00.002+09:00

Well hello to my family and friends! I am sitting at school waiting for the Christmas show to start so I decided that I should write a quick blog. I hope this finds you all well, healthy and surviving the season so far! Looking back on 2008, it has been such an extraordinary year. When I say extraordinary...I literally mean extra ordinary. It has had its ups, downs and in betweens, but as always, the Lord has been faithful, and has blessed me with more than I deserve. I am going to make a list of things that I have experienced this year. I encourage you to make your own list and thank God that He blessed you with those experiences (whether good or bad). I will try to go in some what of an order...maybe.

I rang in 2008 with Kendon and Leah at the top of the tallest building in Osaka, Japan!

I went to see Bon Jovi in Tokyo with Leah.

I gave a speech in Japanese at Graduation.

I got to talk to my Grandpa one last time.

My parents came over to visit me for 10 days!

I took a scooter road trip up the East coast of Japan with Matt.

I went to Daigo with Kendon, Matt and Kendon's parents.

I went strawberry picking on an organic strawberry farm.

I traveled to Thailand for summer holiday with Matt and Kendon

I survived Thailand. ha ha!

I climbed Mt. Fuji with Matt and Leah.

I went to the National Sumo Tournament with Leah and Catera.

I went to 2 undokai's...not as a newcomer!

I experienced Nikko in the fall with Matt and Catera...beautiful!

Matt Thomas and Lindsy Graham came over to visit.

Thanksgiving feast at church.

Well, I think that about sums it up. Yes, there were many more things in between these things, but that is what my blogs are for! ha ha! I'm sure I will finish this and go...Oh shoot! I forgot that and that and that! However, this for now is the list. I would like to say a quick I love you and miss you to my family especially. You have stood by me in my experience here and I thank you for that. I thank you for your prayers and love and support. I can't express how much it means to me to have you as my family. I can't wait to see you all when I return home!

Love to all! Happy Holidays!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Am I A Bad Teacher If...

2008-11-26T19:31:00.006+09:00

So, as you might pick up from the title, I have a story to tell. Yes, I think it is funny. You may not, but this is my blog so too bad if you don't! I'm pretty sure you will get a kick out of it, and if you don't get a kick out of the story, you will at least have a lot to give me a hard time about when you see the picture included! So a few weeks back some of my 3 year olds kept asking me to take off my glasses. They don't ever see me with out them on unless I am rubbing my eyes in exhaustion or frustration. (ha ha) So why not let them see me just normal without my glasses? Well, it was in the middle of my lesson so I kept putting it off until the end of class to keep their attention. It worked, and like every other 3 year old....they didn't forget! So at the end of class I decided to goof off a bit and so I took my glasses off and made a funny face (crossing one eye). I didn't do it for very long, but when I put my glasses back on I straightened my face again. Well, of course, they went wild and wanted to see it again...and again...and again. So now, every time I go to class they want to see me without my glasses. Well word spread, so now it's all over school that it's funny to have Elaina Sensei take off her glasses. Well, to make a long story short...I now have my students at Mito Kindergarten convinced that I have one crossed eye when I take my glasses off! I then realized that they thought this occurred to everyone when they started asking other teachers to take off their glasses and wondered why their eye didn't move! Funny thing is I never let the other teachers see me do it, so they don't have a clue what the kids are talking about! (Why is this kid asking me about my crossed eye?? ha ha) So, if you are wondering...yes I am still keeping up the joke and they love it! So, it is no longer UNCool to wear glasses on the playground! Let me tell you...I'm the coolest thing in school! So, as previously mentioned, I am, to my own detriment, including a picture of what my kids find so fascinating! Hey sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to make them sit still to get through the lesson! If this is it...I'll do it!

Oh and I would just like to put a special note on here to my family. Dad, Mom & Jen...I know that you are really proud of this particular blog...and to answer your question...yes we ARE related! ha ha! Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots of turkey and stuffing and all the good stuff for me! Love you guys!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Have you ever noticed?

2008-11-11T12:07:00.002+09:00

Hello to all!

Well, it is now late fall and it is wonderful! I absolutely love this time of year. It's the time of year that its not the warmth of early fall, but its not quite winter yet. It's perfectly settled in the middle. The air is crisp with a chill, and you have to wear a light coat (not a jacket) to stay warm. I love it! One other thing that I have come to love is the smell. I must admit that I can't remember if it smells this way back home. I'm not sure that I have ever realized this for myself until recent years. Have you ever noticed the crisp, fresh and almost raw smell of this season? It's hard to describe but I will do my best. I think it has to do with the temperature. The temperature is chilly, but not yet so cold that it kills the smell. Its not fresh, like spring. It's the combination of the burning of leaves and starting of fireplaces, the fallen leaves that have their own special smell just like new flowers do in the spring. Right before or after it rains it smells amazing, but not like spring rain! It has its own fall smell. I know what you are thinking...she has been sitting behind one to many buses on her scooter and has become intoxicated from the fumes! Well, this could be true, but I honestly just love this time of year! So, in the spring you say stop and smell the roses. Well, maybe you should take a walk and enjoy the crisp air and all the wonderful smells that goes with it. Take in the smell of fallen leaves, or the smoke from the fireplaces. This is a great time of year. Everyone is starting to get excited for Thanksgiving, which means Christmas and a New Year are right around the corner! However, don't get so busy and rushed with those things coming up that you miss a really great time right now! The Lord blesses us with 4 great and very unique seasons...don't forget to get out and enjoy them!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Attention!!!!!

2008-10-27T12:41:00.003+09:00

I would like to announce a ridiculous number of new pictures that have been added to my picture blog!! I have caught the blog up from August...yes August! So please check them out and if you have any questions let me know. I didn't do as much description due to the sheer number of pictures but please enjoy. There are six new slide shows so be sure to check the all out!

For now,
Elaina

Busy Busy Busy October!

2008-10-27T10:38:00.002+09:00

Oh gosh has October flown by! It has been a whirlwind of a month and I have enjoyed it all! As I last posted I finished Undokai's early on, and then we moved into the picnic/school trip phase of the month! So to sum it up as quickly as possible, I have been to the aquarium twice, 2 picnics, sweet potato picking and the Ueno (Tokyo) Zoo! All of this took place in the time span of 3 weeks! To answer those that are saying...does she ever work? Yes, I have taught lots of English too! So those are the school events that have been taking place during the week!

Never fear...the weekends are just as busy! The weekend of the 11-13 I went to Tokyo and spent some time down there! I really enjoyed getting to be away and just be quiet and do what I wanted. Wow that sounded selfish, but true! On the 13th I attended the World Passion Tour. For those that are not familiar with the Passion conference, it is a Christian conference that has (until this year) been held every year in the US since 1997. It is aimed at college age students and is a fantastic conference. If you would like to check it out you can go to www.268generation.com to find out what it is all about. I truly enjoyed getting to volunteer at this conference and be involved and the see the people of Japan worshiping God like I have never seen before in Japan! The weekend of the 18-19 I had birthday Saturday at school and then a regular weekend from there. This past weekend (25-26) Matt, Catera and I took a weekend trip up to Nikko. It is about 2 1/2 hour drive from Mito and is famous for its fall foliage! I can now see why it is famous and I loved getting to spend time up there! We went to 3 waterfalls, 1 main lake (and 2 smaller ones), botanical gardens, the shrine where the famous monkeys (hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil) are from, and had a fabulous time! We all three enjoyed it and we are ready to go back to see winter up there! It was already cooling off in a hurry and it was fantastic!

Ok so that is the catch up for now. I am going to try and put some pictures up on the picture blog, but no promises!

I hope all is well wherever you may be!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Hiatus...

2008-10-09T23:17:00.003+09:00

Hello to all. I'm sure many of you have just stopped looking at my blog due to the lack of posting. I do apologize. For some reason, I have just been in the "non-blogging" mood. I guess after awhile I just had to take a hiatus. I am actually still in the non-blogging mood, but I feel bad that people do want to know what is going on in life so I will try and do a quick update.

Since the last time that I blogged, it has turned fall. The weather has been amazing and I am loving it. You won't be hearing any complaints from me...that is for sure! Ok...at least about the weather anyway. Honestly, I really don't have anything to complain about at all, so you are in luck! If you remember back to last year, this is the season for Undokai's. Undokai means sports festival. I had one at both of my schools, and they were fun. It was definitely different this year for me that I know everyone and actually have a relationship there! At Mito, I was in the teachers' dance. Yes, you read that right, and no...I repeat NO there will not be any video provided!! Sorry to those of you that had your hopes up...ok...I lied..I'm not sorry at all. Anyway, so the undokai's are finished (thank goodness). That season is very busy and stressful and I was about to start slipping some ridolin in the teachers' drinks if they didn't calm down! Thankfully it did not come to that. Now, in October, it is picnic season! This week I went to the Aquarium twice (once with each school), and for the next two weeks I will have 2 outings each week. One of those will be the Tokyo Zoo again! Well, that is pretty much the update until now.

I will try to get pictures up soon. I can already hear and picture the moans and eyes rolling. I know I know...I am seriously behind in the picture department! I will do my best to get it all updated soon!!!!!!

For now, I must go, but please stick with me and I will write as often as I can. I hope all is well where ever you are!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

The 1 Year Anniversary Blog

2008-09-08T20:25:00.002+09:00

As you can see by the title, I have been in Japan, officially, for 1 year now. In some ways, it feels longer, and in others it feels like I just got here last week! Ok...maybe not LAST week, but maybe the week before. ha ha! Oh what an adventure this has been and will continue to be! The Lord has blessed me with such an amazing opportunity to be here and to learn as I go. I know many of you have been praying for me and my family, as we are all in this journey together, and I thank you for that. I ask that you continue to pray for us as it continues onward. I am truly enjoying my time in this fascinating culture! This has been and will continue to be a life changing experience for me. I must be honest that I am quite surprised that I have actually kept up with this blogging thing! There will be many fun and exciting things coming up in the next few months! I hope that you will enjoy reading as I continue on this journey and share my life stories.

Again, thank you for sticking with me and I look forward to sharing more with you in the months ahead!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

3.776 meters (12.395 feet) later...

2008-09-01T19:47:00.002+09:00

Hello all!

I bet you are wondering what in the world is 3,776 meters long right? Well, its not long...its high. Mt. Fuji that is! Mt. Fuji or Fuji-san, as it is respectfully known as here, is my latest story to tell you. This past Saturday, the 30th, Matt, Leah and I all set out for Fuji-san. We left at the crazy hour of 5:00 am so that we could get down their early enough to climb that morning. It was a great plan, however, it didn't quite work out that way. We made good time, and we even made it through Tokyo without getting lost! That is a feat in and of itself! As we got closer and closer it kept looking stormier and stormier. This is not a good thing when trying to climb a mountain. Just for information purposes...apparently a climber was killed a few weeks ago do to lightning. Yikes! So obviously, we were a bit apprehensive and decided to talk to a weather person at the Fuji Visitor Center. We already had our room booked for the night so we could climb on Sunday if need be. Well, they said that Saturday was not good, but Sunday looked good to climb. So, we decided to lay low and enjoy our day exploring around Fuji. We went and checked in to the Youth Hostel and then decided to go explore the Kawaguchi Lake. This is one of the 5 big lakes around Fuji. We drove and walked around before deciding to hit a shop on the lake for some lunch. That afternoon, we took a nice nap (gotta rest for Fuji) and grabbed some dinner and then we went to bed fairly early. All in all...a good, relaxing day!

Day 2 of the Fuji-san journey began at 5:30 am and we left to drive up to Fuji at 6:00 am. Another early day! The weather was looking much more promising and so we decided today was the day to give it our all. We drove up to the starting point (aka 5th Station) at about 5,000 feet to start the long day of climbing. All three of us were armed with our packs full of snacks, a lot of water and plenty of clothing (for rain and warmth). The first thing to do is by your walking stick. Its a simple wooden stick (with a flag) that you can get stamped at each station along the mountain. When I say stamped, I mean a burned in stamp. Its really pretty cool! After this we set out for our journey. Before making it to the 6th station I am already thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?" Just for reference, the time between the 5th and 6th stations is like 20 minutes! ha! Anyway, so we make it to the 6th station and press onward. Matt and Leah are apparently in much better shape than I, because I lagged behind them the entire time, but oh well. I was content with not passing out on the mountain! So I paced myself and tried to breathe deep breaths (not an easy thing to do at this altitude) and focus on keeping my legs moving. So throughout the day fog would roll in and the mist would come with it. It was quite serene at times. Obviously, having flown before, I have been above the clouds, but never because I have climbed there! It was amazing to look out and see clouds move in and out as you are on the face of this mountain! So to make a long story short, we made it to the summit around 1:00 pm! It has been a long time since I have felt that much relief at seeing the end of something! Whew! We were all whipped and ready for a much needed break, that is for sure! At the top of Fuji is a crater (due to it being a volcano), and if you want to, you can hike around the crater. This hike is another 90 minutes. Matt and Leah (with a hopeful look in their eye) decided to go. I said, ever so politely, "I don't think so!" ha! I was happy with my summit as it was! I decided to sit down and journal a bit about the journey (I will share this in the next post), and just relax. The weather at the top was unbelievable! We actually had blue skies above us and lots of sun! Yes, we all got a bit of sunburn, but nothing too bad. Well, Matt and Leah headed off to go around the crater and then quickly returned. Turns out they had accidentally headed down the decent path a bit and had to climb back up a few meters. When they had to do that they said never mind! We all relaxed and regained some energy for the decent back down. The decent was a breeze compared to the climb! We were heading down pretty quickly due to approaching storms that we could see building around the mountain (not a good feeling when you are on top). We made it down to the bottom in 2 1/2 hours and we were oh so glad to cross that finish line! Oh such a sweet feeling! So we bought our omiyage (souvenirs) and such and headed to the car. The timing was perfect, because as soon as we got down the rain started to fall. It couldn't have worked out any better (unless I had taken a helicopter up). ha!

The only tough thing about climbing on Sunday is that we had to drive back on Sunday as well. Heading down to Fuji it took us about 3 1/2 hours. Heading back to home in Mito, it took us about 5 hours. The traffic was horrible! Matt did a great job getting us through Tokyo again (and avoiding crazy Japanese drivers) without incident! We were all very glad to be home and ready for a hot bath to soak in!

Well, that is the story of Fuji-san! I did it, and I don't plan to do it again! I will post pictures on the picture page, as well as posting my journal entry from the summit soon.

I hope all is well wherever you are! Happy Labor Day to all, enjoy your 3 day weekend (if you get one)! I can't believe September is already here!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

My Apologies

2008-08-26T22:57:00.002+09:00

Hello to all! I apologize about slacking off for the last couple of weeks. One of the weeks I have an excuse, but the other one...well I will make one up for that too! ha ha. So what are my excuses you ask? Well, the first week I was without internet! See...I told you that one was valid! The second week, well basically I forgot. Yes yes I know...how in the world could I have forgotten? Well if you will peek back at my last post I mentioned that I was doing a lot with photography and trying to put together a website and learning and yadi yada yada right? So to make a long story short...I have been completely engrossed in my photography and making a website for it. So....I apologize my friends!

So here is the rundown on what has been going on in Mito. Honestly? Pretty much nothing! The kids are still out for summer (not for much longer though), so I just have a couple of kids around the school. We have had maybe 25 or 30 kids and usually about 5 or 6 teachers to keep them in line. In other words...too many teachers! The rooms aren't that big! Oh well...I sneak off from time to time to get a breather. Let's see...the weather has been amazing!!! It has felt like fall around here for the past week and I am absolutely loving it! However, I try to remind myself from time to time that it will get hot again! Hmm...what else? I'm telling you it has been really quiet around here lately. It's kind of nice to be honest with you. Oh! This past Saturday I went to my host family's house from church. They have adopted 4 of us foreigners. They are so fun and Junko is an amazing cook! I took my camera but somehow I had forgotten to charge BOTH of my batteries, so I will get family pics next time. We had a lot of fun and we played Wii Fit! This was my first time and it was so fun! It also measures weight, bmi and all that stuff that you don't really want to know, but its good to know. Good thing I measured here in Japan and not when I lived in the States! ha ha! We were supposed to go to fireworks and a matsuri (festival) that night, but it got rained out so that is why we played the Wii. I was happy with the Wii...no bug spray required!

So anyway, that is a brief update for now. I will be having a lot of stuff coming up in the next few weeks. Once school gets back and started it will be off and running! Look out! I must go to bed for now, but I will update again soon!

P.S. Check out my photo page. I will post a couple of the things that I have been working on for my photo gallery website. Yeah...that's right I said gallery. Its a fancy smanshy word that real photographers use, so I decided to pretend for a moment! ha ha!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Blog Updated

2008-08-13T23:51:00.002+09:00

Hello to all! I don't know if you noticed or not (hopefully you did), but both The Mito Cafe blog as well as the The Mito Photoshop blog have changed looks! As I have mentioned, probably too many times, I have recently started trying to learn more and more about photography. As a part of my research and learning in photography I have been reading and looking at a lot of peoples websites and blogs. Well, as a result, it made me want to make mine look a bit more professional. I don't think that I am there yet, but I keep finding more and more things to do. I have been learning a lot about different coding (which I didn't know anything about) and gadgets, etc that I can do to enhance my blogs. So, to make a long story short, if you have any suggestions or ideas for my blogs please email me and let me know! It is a slow process to learn, but I am really enjoying it. I am also working on a photography website that, I hope, will be somewhere that I can have a bit more of a professional looking portfolio for my work in the future. I am no where near a professional, but I hope to learn more and just have this as a fun hobby that hopefully I get better at as I go along! The Mito Photoshop will remain a place where I put up pictures of my time as I travel.

I must put a thank you on here as well. I have received some great advice and wise words from the Woody's on my pictures, so thank you! I don't get to say it enough, but it's always welcome and a big help!

Remember any blog suggestions or questions can be sent to ecs85@cox.net!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Summer Holiday Adventure!

2008-08-06T21:27:00.003+09:00

Well hello all! As promised it is August, and I am back. Last time I posted in July I said that I would be on Summer holiday, and boy was I ever! I left on July 26 with two of my good friends here in Mito for Thailand! There were three of us adventurous travelers all together, packed in only a 40kg backpack each for 10 days off on a journey! We flew back in to Japan yesterday August 5 and are now trying to catch up on all the latest news of the world. It was quite nice to be away from news and cell phones for a few days! We should all try it more often! So here is the quick run down on the trip, but I will post more later. As I said we left on July 26 and flew directly into Bangkok. We stayed in Bangkok until Wed. July 30 and then we were off to Koh Chang island for the remainder of our holiday! The island was absolutely gorgeous and so relaxing! I don't know that I would put Bangkok into the relaxing category, but it had some fascinating things and places to see. If you want people watching...Bangkok is the place to go! Oh my goodness! Anyway, I am going to put up some pictures so you can be looking at those. I will post more stories later as I have time to sit down and write.

One more thought. No matter where we are at in life, whether it be a ditch or a mountain the Lord is good and faithful to rescue us. Remember to slow down enough to look for Him before the brakes get put on for you.

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Jump for Joy (and relief)!!

2008-07-25T08:24:00.003+09:00

Well, yesterday I accomplished a huge feat (in my book anyway). I took my Japanese Drivers' License test yesterday. I was very nervous, because if I failed (which is the most common outcome) I would be without transportation for yet another month. The good news is is that I passed on my first try yesterday! I had to take a written and driving test and I passed both. I am putting a picture of my license on here, just because I want to! The picture cracks me up because I was smiling as wide as the Grand Canyon, but she was like "no smile." I said ok, but I don't have a good "no smile" picture face. So here's what it got me! Now that I have that finished up I am truly ready to enjoy summer holiday! Oh and I learned something last night from Matt. The green stripe on there means that I passed on the first time. This is quite a big deal...so naturally I was/am excited!

Happy Summertime to All!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Trying new things...

2008-07-22T11:46:00.002+09:00

One thing that I truly enjoy doing is trying new things. Some of them are things that I have always wanted to try and some are things that I never thought I would try. This past weekend I got to try something new! Since I am from Oklahoma, and the waves aren't all that great on Lake Hefner (ha ha), I haven't yet gotten to try surfing. When I found out that I was going to be living on an island for a couple of years, surfing went up on my list of things to do. This past weekend I got to try it out! Let me preface this by saying, I didn't succeed in surfing, but I had a blast! I knew that it would be difficult, but it was even more so than I had anticipated. The closest I got to standing up was on my knees before getting pummeled by the wave! I am now determined to go back out and try it again! The beach here officially opened on Monday (Sea Day), so there are more opportunities to rent boards and such now. We have been going down there quite a bit to the beach to play volleyball and hang out, but this is my first time trying to surf. Hopefully I will get the opportunity again soon! Ok, well that is the latest for now. I just had to pass my exciting story along! I will most likely not be posting for a couple of weeks, because summer holiday starts tomorrow and I will be quite busy starting this week. However, check back for exciting updates in August!

Happy Summertime to all!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

"Camping" Trip....sort of...

2008-07-19T15:06:00.003+09:00

Well hello friends and family! I am pleased to report that I am alive and still kickin' after my camping trip this weekend. For those of you who don't know, I was given the privilege of going on a camping trip with 150 or so 5 year olds (without parents) this weekend! Yikes! I really was not sure what to expect heading into the weekend. I had visions of kids getting lost in the woods or up all night long crying for their Mom! Well, thank goodness neither of those situations happened and we had a good time. Before I get too far into this, it might be best if I define what camping turned out to be in this case. What do you think of when you think of camping? I think of tents, campfire, cooking over the fire, peeing behind a tree/bush, hiding your trash from bears, etc. Right? Well....this was...close? Ok, no it wasn't close at all. We went to a place on the edge of a lake/river area. Just wait for the next part. How was our campsite you might ask? Well, our "campsite" was a very nice hotel with a view of the lake. This "campsite" came complete with a small water park, an onsen (which is a positive in Japan), and a field that was the perfect size for a rousing game of duck, duck, goose and of course hanabi! What is hanabi you ask? Well, fireworks of course! What could be scarier than 150 5 year olds with sparklers?!?!

So we left for the "campground" yesterday, Friday, and arrived a little after lunch time. We quickly headed to the pool and had a blast! I think I had just as much fun as the kids did! The water was definitely on the cold side, but that didn't stop me from grabbing the kids and carrying them under the waterfall with me! I think I learned that from my Dad! Not that he would ever do anything like that! ha ha! So after the pool time we headed to the tents (aka the rooms) to get settled in. I wasn't quite sure of what type of room I was getting. Basically, I had heard that past years I would get something like a closet or small room to take a short nap. I had been told that I had my own room though, so I got my key and headed up. I open the door and what do I find? A closet. Ha Ha Just kidding! I find that they had reserved a three person room, with a lake view just for me. The best part? I had my own bathroom and shower room! So, needless to say the weekend is definitely looking up at this point! We then headed down for game time down in a big tatami room. It had started to rain so we had to stay inside. Unfortunately, during game time I think the film crew may have gotten me on camera being quite goofy with the kids. I will just claim that the camera had a glitch...its not really me! ha ha! So then we headed to dinner and it was scrumptious! Curry and rice, karoge's (fried pork or chicken) and a salad. It stopped raining so we then headed out for fireworks! Before this I played a rousing game of duck, duck goose (which I tought them in class last year). I was so proud because they started the game on their own! We then lit the sparklers and they of course had a ball with that! They thought I was so cool because I was making different shapes with my sparklers! I finally found the age group that I could go on a comedy tour for! ha ha! Anyway, we headed inside for bath time and bed time. Of course I got pictures of bedtime and those are on my picture page! Later we had a teachers party in the home room and then I was asleep by 12! I couldn't believe it. Granted, I had to be up early (5:15) this morning so it was a good thing!

This morning, Saturday, we woke up and got around and went outside to blow bubbles! I never thought I would say that I got up that early to go blow bubbles, but I can now! After breakfast, we then had a magic show by the schools owner and a short movie (Hello Kitty) for the kids. As we were starting this closing ceremony time, they asked me to make a speech...in Japanese and English. I was thinking to myself..."Self...you're in trouble!" I know a bit of Japanese, but I'm not very good at speaking in full sentences, and especially not on the spot! They helped out with a few words and I worked it out! Phew! Anyway, that was the "camping" experience! I had fun and I know the kids did too! I will post the pictures that I got on my picture page. I didn't take as many as I would have liked do to being busy, but I got a few. I hope you enjoy!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Consumed

2008-07-13T11:47:00.004+09:00

As with most things, the word 'consume' can hold either a positive or a negative meaning. Sure, it depends on the person, the timing and the usage, but it's interesting to me how one word can be used in such a wide variety of circumstances. When thinking about this, my first thought was a raging fire that consumes or devours all that it encounters. Could it be something as simple as a tall glass of water that gets consumed in one long, thirst quenching drink? Sure! Maybe a fog that is so thick and engulfing that a person could feel a sense of serenity and entrapment all at the same time? Absolutely.

I find it tempting to only look at this concept from one vantage point. In our world today, the phrase 'being consumed', is very rarely thought of as a positive thing. Why? Is it that we don't "think positive" enough? That might be a small part of it, but I think we need to look a little deeper. Is it that we don't have time but to only look at the surface assessment of the situation? Maybe, but I think that is only an excuse, and a bad one at that. Are we so focused on ourselves that we can't step back and look at the big picture? That's a big part of it, but that, I think, stems from something deeper as well. So why is that as a world, we only tend to see the negative view point? The thought that came to mind for me was where Jesus talks about, "the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." So if my heart, and therefore my mind, actions and speech aren't focused on the Lord, then my outlook is going to tend to be negative. When I put it into those terms, its quite easy to see why our world can't see anything but the negative. As a world, we are desperate for anything to make us happy. Our hearts and minds are focused on finding the next thing, place or person that will fulfill us or make us happy. Sometimes we focus on really good things too, but we forget that those good things are still not where are hearts desire should be.

So, if I may, I will try to shed some light on the thoughts above. That raging fire that consumes and devours all that it encounters? Well, have you ever looked at a field or a forest after having been burned? I think you know where I am going with this. At first, its a charred, black, smoldering piece of land. After a little time, you will start to see the fresh, pure growth sprouting from the ground. After all is said and done, it turns out that the fire rejuvenated that land and made it better and more lush than it was before the fire. How is it that something so awe-inspiring, consuming and seemingly negative could bring such growth and prosperity? Simple, the Lord, the true consuming fire, is still in control! He always has been, and always will be. With or without us! So if I will choose to allow HIM to consume me, instead of the world, then it will be a bit easier to keep my focus off of me and on the things of the Lord. When I do that, I have a sneaking suspicion that I won't feel that sense of entrapment the next time the fog rolls in. I will take a big drink of water and thank the Lord that I have HIM to quench my thirst and I won't need anything else. Oh to be consumed by the Lord and not the worries of this world. It is a peaceful and calming reality that is ours to grasp.

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

4th of July Remembrance

2008-07-03T15:06:00.003+09:00

When I think of the 4th of July there are many memories over the years that are brought to mind. It is definitely one of my favorite holidays and one that is difficult to describe. Sure, I love the day off (when I lived in America), the fireworks, the grilling out and the time spent with family and friends! The 4th of July is the holiday that makes me think about such a wide range of things. Anything from family, to baseball, to war, to wheat fields, to history, to swimming and of course flip flops, just to name a few. I think what I love most about this holiday is the retrospective feel that it has. Families and friends come together to eat, sit by the pool, go to the baseball field, watch fireworks and just spend time together! Unlike some of our other beloved holidays, it hasn't become over-commercialized, the meal is still laid back and best of all...paper plates are still ok!! I love the simplicity of this holiday!

Maybe I have a rose-tinted view of this holiday, but it is not without a remembrance of the many reasons that we are able to celebrate this holiday! Without the grace and patience of the Lord we wouldn't have what we do! We wouldn't be able to say, "God Bless America." We wouldn't be able to get together on this day with our family and discuss the economy, the Presidential election, the local baseball scores, the crazy family gossip or what camp the kids are going to this summer. I wouldn't be able to say Happy 4th of July to my family from around the world!

Let's take a moment to also remember our military men and women that have given their hearts and lives over the years that allowed us to remain free. Let's also remember that it is a privilege to have what we do and it is not guaranteed. We say "God Bless America," but let's remember that our lives should be ones worthy of blessings. If I may I will change the phrase to, "God change America so that we might be worthy of your protection and blessings."

To all of my friends and family, have a fun and safe holiday and eat lots of food for me and maybe shoot off some fireworks too! I love and miss you all!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

My Current Music Choice

2008-06-27T16:14:00.002+09:00

I have decided to add a feature to my blog. I have long been a fan of music, and since moving here my love for music has only increased. My horizons have been broadened and stretched. I decided to add this feature so that I can share with you the music I am currently listening to. I personally believe that music can tell a lot about what mood or place a person is in. I know that it does with me. I hope that you enjoy the music choices that I put on here. I will try to put a wide selection, yes, including some Japanese music on here. The controls are on the right, so that you can turn it down, pause it or whatever you might like to do. If you want to know more information on what is playing please let me know.

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

A Child's Touch

2008-06-16T15:12:00.002+09:00

Have you ever noticed how one touch, one smile, one tear, or one simple hug from a child can absolutely melt or break your heart? I have always loved kids, and in time, hope to have my own. However, before moving to Japan, I would have never dreamed of being a Kindergarten teacher! This past week I have had two images in my head. One, is a picture that I took, of 3 kids throwing their heads back in laughter. The second, is of a small hand in the palm of a larger hand. Although the second image is only a mental one, it is an image that I have the privilege of experiencing daily. As I mentioned, I have always loved children, but it has been the daily interaction with them that has made me realize the simple, natural and genuine love that is in them. Sure, there are some that make you wonder if it is in all of them, but for the most part it is a natural thing for a child to love!

Having said all of this, it is no wonder that God reminded us to have the heart and mind of a child. To look into a child's' eyes allows you to see a purity, a hope, a trust and an unconditional love. How many things on this earth have those qualities? I can't help but notice how God is using these children to remind me to be more like them in these qualities. When a child comes up and just holds my hand and simply wants to walk with me, or they come running from across the playground to jump into my arms and hug my neck with all they have. Within the first 5 minutes of walking into school I will lose count of how many hi-fives I have gotten, and will have been greeted by so many sweet hellos that I don't know if I actually got to respond to all of them. It's amazing to me how God chooses to show us His love, and also reminds me of how He wants me to love him. I keep getting reminded, with oh so gentle reminders, that I am God's little girl. He wants to be my Daddy. He wants me to put my small hand in His, just to simply walk with him. He wants me to call out to Him, from wherever I am, to show Him something I am really excited about. He wants to come and pick me up when I have scraped my knee and tears roll down my face. When I have messed up He wants to pat me on the head and say, “It's ok, you'll do better next time. I love you kiddo.” Why don't I let Him do all of these things?

As I have gotten older, my parents have seen me become my own person. At first, they kept a tight reign on me to teach me how to do it. As they started to loosen the reigns, and allow me to fall and get back up, I learned and began to walk on my own. I remember a time when I thought to myself, “I am old enough, I don't need my parents help.” This is a normal reaction for most kids. As I have gotten older, I realize that I did need my parents' help, and am so glad that they allowed me to figure this out on my own. So here is the question. In our lives, have we grown “too old” for God? Have we said, “I am too old for this “baby” stuff, I can do it on my own.”? My honest answer would have to be yes. Sure, I may not have spoken these words, but my actions show otherwise. I try to take all of life on my back and keep it to myself. Why? My Daddy wants to share in my life. He wants to know when I am down or ecstatic or overjoyed or grieving. I am learning more and more that I need to give my Daddy the chance to hold me, pick me up when I'm hurt or throw me up in the air because I am so happy. Just as I melt when one of my kids grabs my hand, throws their head back and laughs, wraps their arms around my neck, so does my Father when I do those things with Him. One last thought, my favorite thing to hear from these kids is, “Elaina Sensei, daisuki.” Translation? Elaina teacher, I love you. When was the last time you told your Daddy, earthly or heavenly, that you love him? He needs to hear it too.

To my earthly Dad: Pop, thank you for being a Daddy that loved me enough to discipline and teach me. Most of all, thank you for never hesitating to pick me up or hug me and tell me that you love me. Happy Fathers' Day, I Love You!

Lily Academy Web Page

2008-06-11T14:50:00.002+09:00

I thought I would add this on here in case you want to go and check out the web page. The first one is Mito Lily (my main school) and the second one is Lily no Mori. Obviously, you won't be able to read anything, but you can see my fellow teachers' and also my school picture on here as well for the new school year!

www.lkg.ed.jp/lily/teacher/index.htm

www.u-lily.ed.jp/forest/teacher/index.htm

I hope all is well where ever you are!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

It's been awhile...

2008-06-03T15:16:00.002+09:00

Well, hello again! I realize that it has been a bit since I have posted a story. Its been a bit busy, but I must admit that it is mostly me just being lazy! What can I say..it happens!

To be quite honest, I don't feel that there is that much to update on! I am actually at school posting this time and it is a very rainy day out today! Thus, the reason I am inside and not on the playground with the kids! People always ask about the weather so here's the scoop. We are entering into what is fondly/dreadfully known as "rainy season." It's an odd mix of feelings. The first, fondly, is true in the sense that I have an excuse to sit in my apartment or a friends apartment and watch a movie, play Wii, or just bum around. The second, dreadfully, is true every time I have to put my rain suit on to go anywhere! I will tell a bit of a story about me (that will make my Dad oh so proud) now. Growing up, my sister and I were told from an early age (before birth) that we would be buying our own cars. Dad, pay close attention here and save this for documentation! After realizing that my Dad wasn't joking, both my sister and I bought our own cars. Sure Mom and Pop helped us out from time to time, but for the most part we bought them. Why do I tell you this story? Well, stick with me here. Ever since I had to buy my own car(s) I have been so proud and grateful that I did. I have always had a great appreciation for my cars and feel that it made me a better person because of it. Oh and just to top it off for my parents....my kids will be buying their own as well. Now, having said all of that, my appreciation for cars has once again been increased exponentially! Once the weather started to warm up out of the teens, 20's, 30's, etc I was so happy because I had survived my first winter on my scooter! Now, I am gearing up for rainy season. Living through the snow, rain, wind and typhoons has given me an entirely new level of appreciation for a car! So, moral of the story, be grateful for you car!!! Don't take it for granted. Oh but just so this doesn't seem like a pity party, I will brag a bit about scooter life too! I have heard and read that gas is nearing $4.00 a gallon back home. Well, to fill up my scooter it takes me $6.00 to fill up from empty and that will last me 2 weeks! How's that for gas mileage!! Make any of you guys sick yet? ha ha

Ok, well I am going to end for now, but I will put up some more thoughts and stories soon! I hope all is well back home in the good ole' USA wherever you are!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Earthquake

2008-05-09T18:23:00.001+09:00

Hello all!

I have been messaged by some people that heard about the earthquake here on Thursday morning. Yes, we did have an earthquake, but there was no damage and no danger. Its kind of interesting, but we have earthquakes all the time actually. Granted, they aren't usually that big, but I am used to them at this point. This particular string of earthquakes started about 12:30 am and went all night long. The largest earthquake hit here in Mito at 6.7 on the Richter scale. Again, no danger and no damage! I guess I like to live in mother natures weird areas! ha ha Oklahoma has the tornadoes and Japan has the earthquakes! What can I say...I like adventure! So for those who have asked and checked on me thanks for your thoughts. All is well here!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

The Wild Piglet Ride!

2008-05-06T17:39:00.001+09:00

I'm sure for those who are not familiar with what a wild piglet is, you are curious as to why I have a wild piglet much less ride it! Well, never fear! Its not an actual wild piglet! Although...that could be fun! Anyway, so my wild piglet is none other than Pete! My scooter! If you have heard of the movie "The Wild Hogs," with Tim Allen, that is where this comes from. In that movie they ride the big Hog motorcycles. Well, as much as Pete thinks he is a Wild Hog, it is quite obvious that he is not. Thus the name....the Wild Piglet!

Pete has the heart of a hog though and he showed it this week! My friend Matt and I decided on Saturday night that we wanted to take a road trip. We have been talking about this for a long time, but just haven't done it. We had holiday on Monday and Tuesday so it worked out perfectly! So Sunday morning, we rolled out on the Wild Piglets. We decided to head up the east coast of Japan and see where we ended up. We took one hiking back pack worth of clothes and set out. There is a main highway that kind of winds up the coast, however we didn't take it most of the way up there. We wanted to get the real experience! We ventured off through little coastal Japanese towns and found some absolutely beautiful coastline! We found a couple of light houses, and even climbed to the top of one of them. The waves were crashing on the rocks and it was beautiful! Late in the day it started to really cool down and get misty, which is not fun on a scooter! We decided to call it good and find a hotel before it got dark! So Matty pulled us through on Japanese and we found a small town that had one main hotel and that's where we stayed. We had stopped at some other hotels, but they were a bit expensive and not really where we wanted to stay if we had a choice! This hotel was fantastic! We each were able to get our own rooms for 5900 yen each! That is incredibly cheap! Oh and that included Japanese style breakfast too!

Sunday night we decided to check out the town. Oh the towns name is Futaba. Its a really great little town, but nothing was open! Its a holiday week and most everything was closed. Except the snack shops...and well... we didn't want a snack. I won't go into what a snack shop is. Anyway, we found this little mom and pop type bar/pub very close to our hotel. Well this turned out to be a fantastic evening! I might mention that it was quite obvious that people up this far don't see foreigners very often. So we walk into the bar...and it hurt! Ha ha. I couldn't resist! So we walk into the restaurant and bust out all the Japanese that we know...which for me took about 2 seconds. They were so friendly and you could tell that all the people in there were buddies! Two ladies ran the place and did all the cooking....amazing! To make it short, we had some amazing food, some great cold Asahi and karaoke! They wanted us to sing the Beatles. It was so fun!!! They sang their songs and we clapped along and we would go back and forth. In the end one of the gentlemen that we had been talking to ended up paying for our entire bill! We couldn't believe it and neither one of us felt like we could say thank you enough!

On Monday we were ready to go out and see what we could find. We went and just started exploring. It was extremely fogging and hazy on Monday. Which normally I would not like, but it turned out to be amazing. Right now in Japan it is rice planting season. Which means that the fields are full of water and all of the workers, either by hand or machine are planting rows and rows of rice. It's absolutely fascinating to watch and see. It's one of the most beautiful scenes to me! Anyway, we drove through the rice fields and it was hazy and foggy. I can't do it justice by description. I tried to take some pictures, but they weren't turning out very well. The feeling of being on these windy, hilly roads curving through these miles of rice fields with steam/fog coming up from the fields was surreal. It is by far one of the coolest things I have done since being here.

So we stayed Monday night and were not ready to come back, but we kind of had to. We headed back this morning, Tuesday. The forecast had said that it was supposed to rain. We were not looking forward to this. Well, we got a great surprise! It was clear blue skies and sunny all day! We were both so happy and we enjoyed the ride back. All together we logged 550 km on the trip (about 330 mi). We had a blast and are ready to go again! In my mind Pete is a hog to the core! We didn't take that many pictures on the trip, but I will post what I did take. Since it was so foggy we didn't take a lot because they didn't turn out.

Anyway, that is the Wild Piglet ride!

Hope all is well where ever you are!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

A Great Day at Kindergarten!

2008-05-03T18:59:00.004+09:00

Oh gosh, where to begin! I will preface this story by saying that I think this was one of the funniest and most fun days I have had yet at my schools! Prepare yourself...there is video involved!

Please picture with me the scene...150 children (ages 3-5), all of their teachers, some of the parents armed with videos, cameras or both, all together. Sure, this doesn't sound fun or funny! Just wait it gets better. Please add to your mental image 1 calf, 1 sheep, 2 goats, 1 turkey, 1 dog, about 15 rabbits, about 20-25 chickens and roosters, 2 birds, too many mice, a lot of chicks and a giraffe. Ok, not a giraffe but I wanted to make sure you were paying attention! So all of the above mentioned parties were all in attendance on one playground!!! Oh and I forgot one more character in the story...ME! I was loving it!!!

Everyone thought that I was even more weird when they asked what my favorite animals were and I said the dog and the calf. Please notice that I said MORE weird. Yes, that's how it goes in this country! ha ha! So back to the story. So seeing as how the calf, in comparison to 3-5 year old children is quite large, they were pretty scared to get near it. Well, Erena sensei to the rescue! I was happy to oblige in hanging with the calf most of the day. I don't get to see too many around here! Anyway, the calf and I became good friends and they were amazed that it would just lay its head on my arm and allow me to pet it. So then the kids would also show the calf some love. The true fun of the day was when they allowed the children to start walking the animals, on leashes of course! Well this was just too good...I had to get video! Some other highlights were when they stuck the kids in a pen with the chickens, turkey, rooster, etc. Some of the kids freaked out! I might be mean, but it was pretty funny. Not that the kids freaked out necessarily, but that they stuck them in there! At one of the schools the dog was in the same pen, so every time a chicken moved the dog barked! One word...chaos! So those are the summarized stories. I am including the video on this page and I will try to get the pictures up on my picture page as soon as I can! Please note in the video the girls be dragged by the sheep and me laughing. Oops! I'm not a very good teacher am I? Eh, they didn't get hurt! ha! Enjoy!

**There were no animals physically harmed in the making of this video. However, we are unsure of any mental harm that could have taken place due to having 150 3-5 year olds surrounding them all day.**

Hope all is well where ever you are!

Sayonara for now!

Oh the Days of May

2008-05-01T16:24:00.001+09:00

Well, this being the 1st day of May, I thought I might leave a short post. So, to be quite honest not much is going on that is overly exciting. However, it is May and that means that it is getting warmer! I have warn shorts 3 days in a row and I am very excited about this! Granted, it is supposed to rain for the next week, but hey I will take my beautiful days as they are given to me! So on Tuesday, April 29, I was on holiday and my friend Katie invited me to go hiking! I willingly obliged and am so glad that I did. We drove up to an area about an hour or a little more away from Mito. It was a beautiful area and it was just nice to get away and be out in nature! We hiked for a few hours and then grabbed lunch and ate down by the river! This is a camp ground area and many kayaks, canoes, etc were being enjoyed that day! I couldn't find any to rent or I might have been out there myself! Anyway, I did some rock skipping and enjoyed the time. Katie and I have both said that we will have to go back! Katie is one of my outdoorsy friends here and that's a great thing to have! We are planning more excursions! Anyway, for now I will go, but this next week is Golden Week here. In other words....I am on vacation for a couple of days! Yatta! So I am sure I will have more stories from that time! I hope all is well wherever this finds you!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Mom & Pop Invade Japan!

2008-04-21T16:11:00.004+09:00

Well, on Saturday, April 12, Japan was forever changed! Sure, it was changed 30 years ago when my Dad came over, but this time both Mom and Pop came over and Japan saw a new side of things in the world! ha ha! I am so blessed to have had the time with my parents. Not everyone is as fortunate as I am to get to share this experience with them. We stayed relatively close to the Mito area, just for times sake. However, the time we had was relaxing, fun and very enjoyable! Both Mom and Dad got to take their turn at trying out their Japanese skills. It was a refresher for Dad, and Mom got to pick up a few new words! Don't worry...I only taught the important ones! Top words would include...Thank you, Yes, Onigiri (one of their favorite snacks), and of course Bathroom! All of the important words in any language right?!? Dad drove on the left side of the road (yes, that is correct) and we found our way around by GPS in Japanese! It was fun. My Japanese language skills were put to the test, and I was reminded that I need to hit the books! ha ha We ate a lot of good food! Mom accidently ate some Octopus (that was funny), they got to eat REAL sushi, not Oklahoma sushi. One of my Japanese teachers had us over to a wonderful meal at her home and we all truly enjoyed that! We had a lot of real Ramen (some accidently hot...sorry Dad!). We drove up the coast and up to the mountains and went to a Kashima Antlers professional soccer game! We had a lot of fun, but most of all enjoyed getting to see each other! I will post pictures later, with all of the stories, but this is the update for now. They are flying home today so please pray for them as they travel back to Oklahoma.

Mom and Dad I know you will read this when you get back, so thank you again for coming over! I am blessed to have you for my parents! Your encouragement and love is priceless and always appreciated no matter how old I am! I love you!

Haircut Experience in Japan

2008-04-11T20:01:00.004+09:00

Well, I bit the bullet and decided to get a haircut. I intentionally waited to post this until my folks would not be looking at my blog. Just in case you are unaware, my parents are on their way to see me! They will be leaving Friday (Oklahoma time) and I will be picking them up in Tokyo on Saturday (Japan time)! So my folks don't know that I cut my hair so we will see if they can find me at the airport! ha ha! So the haircut experience itself was...interesting. It was a good interesting, but interesting nonetheless! So the haircut place is called Haircut L.A.. The one English speaking guy was not there that day! Yikes! So in other words, we did a lot of guestures and thank goodness I had a picture! So it pretty much went par for the course. She asked me something in Japanese, I asked her to repeat herself, and then I made a guesture to answer what I HOPED she was asking! We made it through the cut, a bit different than I pictured, but its ok! After the cut...that's when the fun begins! I am then escorted by a very nice gentlemen over to the shampoo area. Picture it with me...4 wash basins with RECLINERS in front of them. Yes I said recliners! Granted...I was a bit long for the recliner so everybody had to walk around my long legs that hung a good 2 feet over the end of the recliner, but a recliner nonetheless! ha ha! So I recline and he washes. So you are thinking...its just a simple hair wash right?!? Well that is where you are mistaken my friend! This is no regular hair wash!! So you get a hair wash/massage, which is so very relaxing, then comes the professional head massage! One word...wow! So we finish up and he escorts me back to my seat and proceeds to ask me (in Japanese) if I would like a neck and shoulder massage. And I simply replied, "uhh yeah!" When he looked at me funny I then said, "Hai, onegaishimasu!" Then my hair is styled and I go on my merry way! So I bet I can guess your next question..."Just how much did that cost her!?" Well, have no fear! Due to the fantastic service in Japan it only cost me 3600 Yen!!! That's about $36.00 back in the States! My thought on this you ask? We are seriously getting ripped off back in the States!!! First of all its not unheard of to pay $40-$50 for a haircut back home. Sure, that includes wash, cut and dry, but where are my massages!?! I will never look at a haircut the same again! Ok, so that is my first haircut experience in Japan! You can see my new "do" in the picture. I will post later on what my folks think! ha ha! Please keep them in your prayers as they travel!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Tributes & Memories

2008-03-31T13:06:00.002+09:00

Hello to all!

I just wanted to do a short post that is a tribute. This past week my Grandpa passed away. My tribute in this post is not only to him, but to God. Its been amazing to watch how the Lord has taken care of the entire situation. He allowed not only my Grandpa to say his goodbyes, but also allowed us to do the same. My Grandpa was blessed to have 90 years on this earth. Him and my Grandma have been married for 71 of those years! Who could ask for more right? I am so blessed to have so many special memories of me and my Grandpa together. It makes it easier to let him go when I know that I will see him again. Sure, it's hard being so far away, but I know he was proud of me and that makes it ok. The Lord is good and knows exactly what we need! He knew my Grandpa was ready to go and so he was gracious enough to take him home. I know many are praying for my family, and I thank you for those thoughts and prayers. In my book, this is a celebration of a very long life, not a mourning of a passing. The Lord is good!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

My Romance Story

2008-03-22T21:33:00.003+09:00

This is a story, note or just a bunch of thoughts that I recently wrote. As I have said all along since coming here, this is a real growing time for me. The Lord has really started opening my eyes and heart to things and I have asked Him to use it in whatever way He wants. I have not really shared this but with a couple of people until now. In many ways I am just now truly seeing myself for who I really am. My prayer in posting this is that it will be used to God's glory. In addition to reading this, please pray for me that God will make me malleable so that I can go wherever He leads me to go!

My Romance Story

I have long been a fan of the romantic comedy movie, book, real life scenario, etc. Although, my friends know that I love the romantic comedy genre, I don't know if they would call me a romantic per se. It's not something that I express often, but am coming to more of a realization that I, in fact, am a romantic. I have this dream of finding a man that loves the Lord first and me second. I want to fall in love with a man that has an urgency to follow God's will, but will be patient enough to wait for His timing. I want to fall in love with a man that will gently take my hand and lead me with love and encouragement. I look forward to the time that we can fall in love with each other, not because of looks or scenarios, but because we fall in love with the person that God has brought us each to be.

All of that being said, I must say that this note is not about romantic comedies or even my longing for a man who strives to be a man of God. This note is one of realization of what I am not, and what I need to become. Recently, God has been gently pulling me back to him. If you noticed, I said back to him. Obviously, that means that I have walked away. To be frankly honest, there have been times that I was not just walking, but I was running. As I look back on my relationship with the Lord, I am ashamed to say that it has been one of inconsistency and one of me taking more than I have ever given back. I have these great aspirations of falling in love with a man that God has planned for me. Unfortunately, I can't honestly tell you the last time that I was in love with God. Sure, I believe in Him, I go to church, I am a Christian, but its been a very long time since I could sit down and say that I truly know Him well enough (consistently) to say that I am in love with Him. When I think of being in love with someone, that means that I can't wait to wake up to see them, I don't want to go a day with out talking to them, I would think of their best interests before my own and last but not least I would sacrifice anything of mine for them. I can't say that my heart, mind and therefore my life, have been one of being madly in love with God as of recent day. Its just becoming obvious, when I have slowed down enough to look at ME, not the me that I show to others, but the real me, the me that Jesus knows, that I am not the righteous daughter of God that I want my husband to know. What saddens me even further is that my Father continues to pursue me and pull me towards Him. Why? Its becoming obvious and quite clear to me now...He's in love with me! With me, the me that only Jesus knows. The completely imperfect, unholy, unrighteous, undeserving woman who has chosen not to return that love that has so richly been lavished on me. Why? That is the best romance story that I have ever heard! A man that is completely in love with me, never leaves me, cries for me, holds my hand and leads me, allows me to walk away and then gently pulls me back, and last but most importantly, He died for me! I am sure there are a number of reasons that I have chosen not to return the love, but the main one being the allowance of Satan in to my life. I remember a time when I was aware of any cracks in my armor that Satan could use to get to my heart. Now, unfortunately, I have become so unaware and complacent to the cracks in my armor and the fact that they are being used by Satan to get to my heart, that Satan has been able to use me. Simply put, when my heart, mind and life are not one of the Lord, then they are against the Lord.

Here I am, a daughter of the Lord and my life has been working against Him. This world is about being beautiful physically and being seen by others. Being a daughter of God, the only way that I am going to be truly beautiful is because God chooses to make me that way! I am not talking about physical beauty, I am talking about my heart. My heart has become hardened to my Father. With a hardened heart it is impossible for me to be the beautiful, holy, or righteous daughter without my Father's breaking and molding. My Father is asking me to dance with Him, and that to me says, “My child you are beautiful to me. You are not perfect, you have some things that we need to talk about and get fixed and change, but you are my child and I want to hold you and keep you close.”

I have been thinking for awhile now that I don't feel like I know myself. I feel like I am floating along in this world and not really accomplishing anything. How can I know myself when I don't know where I come from? Sure, I know my earthly parents and I know my family history, but I don't know my Father in a way that would allow me to know my place in His world. It's no wonder so many people feel lost or like they are floating along in this world! I have been told many times that I look or act like my parents, which I would take as a compliment any day. However, I can't remember the last time I was told that I resemble my Father. I should be striving to resemble my Father, not by a covering of good or “correct” words, but by what my heart is. I want to be the beautiful daughter of Christ and in order for me to fulfill that role I must have a beautiful, pure and righteous heart. A heart that is filled with Christ will replace anything that Satan has planted.

How does this romance end you ask? Well, it started with the death of Christ and it continues and grows stronger with the death of me. Not the actual physical death necessarily, but the death to myself. The beautiful thing about this romance is that it doesn't end! My Father has brought me back to Him and has asked me to dance. He has asked me to dance despite knowing that I am weary and have nothing to offer. Despite my past and current failures and my lack of abilities in this dance called life, I actually want to dance! I have found my life to be empty and lacking direction without the direction of my Father. Yes, I might be awkward, out of the ordinary and lacking in knowledge, but I will dance in God's honor. I choose to allow God to mold me in to the beautiful daughter that He created. Then and only then, will I be prepared to be the woman of righteousness that God has called me to be! Then and only then, will I be ready and prepared to fall in love with the man that has been set apart for me.

All of these thoughts come down to one simple one. In order to have the full romance that God has designed for me, I must have a romance with Him first! Falling in love is something that takes time, but I choose to take the steps to know my Father and to fall in love with Him all over again!

Below are two songs that have recently been on my heart. “Heart of Worship,” because this is my prayer. I want my heart to be changed over to a “Heart of Worship.” Only now that I give my heart over to God will it be a true heart of worship. “Oh Lord Your Love,” because coming back to the Lord is a sweet walk. There are not too many times that admitting you are wrong and walking back to face your inequities and inadequacies does someone make you feel so loved. As the song says, “Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light.” He has welcomed me back with open arms and I can't wait to know him more. His love is new every morning and I can't wait to be in the place that I know His joy and passion every morning anew!

Heart of Worship
by: Erin O'Donnell

When the music fades
All is stripped away
and I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself is not what You have required
You search much deeper with in
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

(chorus)
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
It's all about You
It's all about You Jesus
I'm sorry for the Lord thing I've made it
When its all about You
Its all about You Jesus
King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve
Though I 'm weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper with in
Through the way things appear

chorus 3x

I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself is not what You have required
You search much deeper with in
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

Oh Lord Your Love
by: Caedmon's Call

Oh Lord I give You all I have
but it seems so little
When You have given me so much
I come to You with empty hands
and a heart that's fragile
You come to me with a wealth of love

(chorus)
Oh Lord Your Love
Is new with every morning
Your faithfulness
It gets me through the night
You bid me come
You know that I am weary
Your yoke is easy
Your burden is light

And now I sing You songs of praise
but Your greatness is beyond me
I know I can not comprehend
How You Ancient of days
Could stoop Yourself to call me
To be Your son to be Your friend

Chorus 2 x

New Pics!

2008-03-15T16:30:00.001+09:00

Hey All! I posted a bunch of new pictures today! I have more to post of end of the school year and all that good jazz, but I have to run for now! I will hopefully get them up this week. Graduation is this week so I will post them all after that. For now though, I posted Hinamatsuri (Girls Festival) and Kairakuen Park (Ume Blossom) pics. I hope you enjoy them!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

It's March! That means blossoms!

2008-03-09T16:51:00.002+09:00

Hello from Mito!

Well, it is now March and that means that it is officially blossom season now! Its a very exciting time around Japan. Mito has the #3 park in Japan (according to people around here in Mito). The park is Kairakuen Park and it is beautiful! It overlooks Lake Senba and this is the area for Ume (Plum) Blossoms and Sakura (Cherry) Blossoms! The picture on my page is a picture that I took this weekend of one of the Ume Blossoms. I'm kind of proud of this picture because it actually turned out like I want! They are so pretty and its hard to capture sometimes. The Ume Blossoms bloom first and they will start being in full bloom next week probably. The Sakura is next and this is a huge historical blossom for Japan. They have an entire prediction timing system as to when the Sakura are going to bloom. It is all over the news and all. The Sakura is predicted to start blooming here in the Mito area April 5, and it lasts around 2 weeks. Its kind of like harvest back home, the further north you go the later the blossom is. We are very spoiled to have Kairakuen right here in Mito. However, the traffic right now is horrible! Weekends right now are a nightmare to drive (even by scooter) anywhere in Mito. People come from all over the world to see this park. Its quite something really! I am going back out next weekend early in the morning to try and get some pictures at full bloom! I will post more then on my picture page!

As for school and all right now, it is coming to a close for this year! Its a bit sad, but exciting at the same time. Graduation is March 17 for Mito and March 18 for Uchihara. I have to give a speech at both of them. Normally, this would not be a big deal for me. The only catch with these speeches are that they have to be in all Japanese! Yikes! I am practicing a lot obviously! I am trying to get as many end of the year pictures as I can. When I get them all taken I will post a lot of pictures for you to look at.

Anyway, for now I am off, but I will try to write again soon! I hope all is well back home! Take care!

Sayonara for now!

New Pics!

2008-02-21T22:32:00.003+09:00

Hey All!

Please take a venture over to my picture page. I put some new pictures up from school that I took over the past couple of days! I have been a bit under the weather for the past couple of weeks, thus no blogging! Never fear! I am on the upswing and doing well now. The weather has been beautiful this week and I am loving it! Lots of time spent on the playground so I decided to bust out the camera! I hope you enjoy and I will blog again soon. You will notice the reference to Hinamatsuri in the pictures. That is the girls celebration here. That started today and goes through next week. I will have more pictures when I get to attend the program next week! Enjoy for now!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

My Sincerest Apologies

2008-02-05T10:00:00.000+09:00

Well, I must say that I am sorry that it has been so long since I have blogged. I took a hiatus for a bit, but I will try to better again.

So, hmm...where to begin?!? It is now February! I honestly can not believe how fast everything is flying by! I have been here 5 months this week and there are days that I feel like I just got here. It still feels surreal to some extent! This portion of the school year is very hectic! The school year ends in March here so we are getting ready for many end of the year ceremonies. Its an exciting time of year! I am looking forward to Spring around the corner. I like cold weather, don't get me wrong, but I don't enjoy it quite as much on my scooter. We have had a couple of rounds of snow this winter, which is a big deal here! I am enjoying it! However, Spring is right around the corner which means fantastic scooter weather! We are going to be taking some scooter day trips! The Wild Piglets ride again! ha ha

Well, this is a short blog for now, but I will write again soon. Again, I apologize for the brief hiatus, but I will do my best to keep up on here!

Have a good week!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Winter Holiday--Kyoto

2008-01-13T17:16:00.000+09:00

Ok, I apologize for the delay in posting more! This week was a busy one, with getting back into the groove of things. So...without further ado...I present the Kyoto section of my winter holiday!

Kyoto ended up being the 2nd city that we visited. I will tell you just a brief story of how it ended up being 2nd instead of 3rd. We bought our tickets for all of the Shinkansen trains before we left Mito. We were originally planning on going to Fukuoka, on Kyushu island, directly after Hiroshima. We bought our tickets this way, and when we asked the gentlemen at the counter if this is all we needed, he assured us that it was. So...what happened you ask? Well, after spending an hour and a half in the Hiroshima station, trying to get on our train to head south to Fukuoka, we were told that we only bought PART of the tickets that we needed. So, it was going to cost us another 15,000 yen to get to Fukuoka. Don't freak out...that is only about $150. Still, we decided to not spend that extra money and we traded our tickets and headed up to Kyoto instead. Thanks to Leah and a very nice man at the Hiroshima ticket office, we were able to get this accomplished!

On to Kyoto we headed, and arrived the afternoon of December 29. We had to scurry to find a place to stay in Kyoto. We decided to get a Youth Hostel there as well, after the fun time at Hiroshima Youth Hostel.

Just for a bit of history, Kyoto is one of the oldest cities in Japan. This is the original capital of Japan, before it was moved to Tokyo. I don't know if it has significance, but it was pointed out to me that Kyoto and Tokyo are spelled just backwards of each other, in Japanese spelling that is. Anyway, if you want to see a lot of history, temples, shrines, gardens, this is a good place for you.

So, we arrived to Kyoto and found our Youth Hostel, but unfortunately it didn't open up until 3:30 for check-in. So, luckily there was a nice little patisserie (yes, it was called that on the sign) just down the street from the hostel. This place was called Vance's. This quickly became a top point on my list. It was a fantastic little shop and the owner was really a great guy to talk to! This coffee and pastry break killed enough time so that we were able to go and check in at the Youth Hostel. This hostel had a different feel to it than Hiroshima, but it was still very nice. We met more people here as well. Two girls, Ling Ling (Linda) and Ding were both from China and are here studying. They did not know each other before this either so it was nice for them to be able to speak Chinese to each other. Their English was fantastic as was their Japanese. Yikes! One of my other friends that I made at this Youth Hostel was an inu (dog) named June. This little older lady that worked at the YH in the mornings was her owner and she had her sitting up at the desk with her. She was quickly my buddy and really made me miss Inu-chan. She too, was a maltese and cuddled in just like Inu-chan does. I will post a picture.

So for the sites of Kyoto. We were in Kyoto, two different times. With the plan change it kind of made it interesting, but it worked out just fine. We had originally planned to be in Kyoto for New Years Day. We had been told by many Japanese people that this was the place to be for New Years Day, due to the history and such. On New Years Day here, they go to the temples and shrines to worship or present their sacrifices. I had two favorite places in Kyoto. The Golden Temple (Rokuon-ji Temple) and the Fushimi Inari area. The Golden Temple, was just that, a golden temple. It is absolutely gorgeous! I will of course post pictures of all of these places. It is one of the most famous, if not the most famous, place in Kyoto. The Fushimi Inami, is a 4km long path of o-torii's. O-torii, is the same type of arch that you saw in the pictures from Miyajima. It makes a path up the side of Mt. Inariyama and is breathtaking. There is so much to see before you even get to the path, but then once on the path it is just stunning. While in Kyoto, we also went to a bamboo forest, and the Ryoanji Temple (a famous rock garden). I think we chose some really good sites to see while there in Kyoto, but of the places that we went Kyoto was probably my least favorite. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but I was not as drawn to it as I thought I would have been with the history aspect of it all. While in Kyoto we also got to catch up with some friends Katie (who lives here in Mito) and her sister Sara (who was visiting from the States. I had met Sara before, but she now lives in Wyoming so we have not talked in a while. It was nice to get to see her and hang out with both of them for the evening.

I will post all the pictures of Kyoto on the photo page. My next post will be on Osaka and will have pictures to follow. I know this probably doesn't have a lot of detail, but if I put all of the detail it would be crazy long!! I did enjoy getting to go to Kyoto and I am glad that I went there. I hope that you are all having a wonderful week and getting settled in to the New Year!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Winter Holiday--Hiroshima/Miyajima

2008-01-07T21:13:00.000+09:00

Well, as previously stated, I have returned from holiday to Mito. I truly enjoyed getting the opportunity to see many new parts of Japan! I must say, however, that being away from Mito, made me appreciate Mito a lot more than I would have thought! It made me realize how much I just really like Mito.

Okay, so the long awaited holiday update. Here is the rundown on the Hiroshima portion...I will try to give you details without being long winded. We shall see how that goes...

First, just so you know a bit of background information, I will introduce you to the "characters" in my story. My traveling mates were Kendon Murrell and Leah Calder. Kendon is also from Oklahoma and has been here about 9 months. Leah is from Canada and has been here for about a year and a half. Leah is much further along in her study of Japanese than either Kendon or myself, and she did a fantastic job in some tight spots on the language factor.

So, on with the story.

On the morning of December 26, I was feeling many things. Tired (from staying up too late), wide awake (from excitement), and dread (from fear that I may have forgotten something important like underwear or something). I would like to make just a brief side note on the packing issue. I would like to say that all 3 of us went for 11 days and only packed one hiking bag a piece. That is impressive if I do say so myself. With 2 girls in the group, that is impressive! Ok, so back to the story. I enjoyed my first Shinkansen ride. Let me just say that this is the way to travel! Don't get me wrong...I love to fly, but seriously, this is comfortable! I have long legs, and slouch and I could still cross my legs in comfort!! That is quite an accomplishment! The train is extremely smooth and goes about 186mph! I was pumped! We were on our way to Hiroshima in comfort aboard the Shinkansen. We passed right by Mt. Fuji and it was beautifully covered in snow.

We arrived in Hiroshima mid-afternoon and were ready to hit the road running. Ok, well not running, but we walked fast. Can you blame us? We had packs on and no sports bra! I don't think running was in the near future! ha ha Anyway, we found our way through buses to our Youth Hostel. Unfortunately, the bus only took us so far. We had to walk the rest of the way, and it was all up a steep hill, but it was absolutely beautiful! I loved the view over Hiroshima. The sunsets were beautiful, and I am sure that the sunrises were too (I didn't see them). ha ha Ok, so that is the arrival portion.

So, I mentioned that we stayed in the Hiroshima Youth Hostel. This is a fantastic and inexpensive way to travel in my opinion. There were many people that we got to meet and get to know in the hostels. We ended up traveling with two people, Adam and Kimry, for our first full day in Hiroshima. Right now, I will tell you a bit about the Hostel lifestyle. It is basic..nothing fancy. However, it is inexpensive and easy to book. The part that I had to get used to was the public bath. This is my first public bath experience and I must admit that I was extremely nervous about it heading into the trip. Ok, so before anybody freaks out, I will explain the public bath. The bath sits in the front lobby of the hostel and it is mixed nude bathing. ha ha. Just kidding! Someone probably just had a heart attack..oops! Ok, no seriously it is NOT mixed bathing or in the front lobby. So basically, you have a womens bath and a mens bath. You go in and take a shower and then get into a hot tub of sorts. I've never liked the idea of a bathing suit until the moment came that I had to go to the bath. I quickly realized that I am much more self-conscious than I would have ever thought. Anyway, I did it and it wasn't horrible, but its not really my cup of tea. A lot of my friends love Onsens (public baths), but I don't know if I will be going again anytime soon. However, because of this (and other factors), I have come back and am putting myself on a workout routine. I have to get into better shape!

Ok, so moving on to Hiroshima...the city and sites! I must say that this city, in my opinion, was fantastic! When I travel, whether it be back home in the States or here in Japan, I always try to figure out if I could live in that place that I am visiting. The list is relatively short, but what can I say, I am picky! Well, Hiroshima has now made it on to that list. I truly enjoyed Hiroshima. Obviously, the history of Hiroshima stands alone in its own category of reasons. Besides the history though, the people of Hiroshima are truly kind and welcoming people. Its a very large coastal city, but it doesn't present itself as such. It felt to me, more like a down home type of town. The people are simple without being boring, the scenery is beautiful without being ostentatious and the city is inviting without being commercial. Need I say more? Ok, well I will anyway. Hiroshima was easily one of my top places that I had to go before I left Japan. It lived up to my expectations. There is a lot to see and do, but my favorite was the A-Bomb Dome and museum. I have always enjoyed WWII history and have done some reports and studies on the atomic bombs, so obviously this was of great interest to me. It's hard to explain the feeling that I got while at the Dome and museum. As I walked the grounds of the A-Bomb dome and museum, I almost had an odd feeling of guilt. Being an American, walking on this sacred ground, gave me a sense of guilt, sadness, and hope at the same time. It may seem odd that I would feel a sense of hope from this place, but as I walked this place and then looked at the city of Hiroshima now surrounding it that is exactly what I felt. Like I said, it is hard to describe, but all of these combined definitely left me in awe and a bit speechless. After I was able to walk away and think more about what happened on those two days more than 60 years ago, I have come to the conclusion that I had before I walked those sacred grounds. The decision to drop the atomic bomb, in my opinion, was the right thing to do. The museum was extremely interesting to me in the way that it was presented. I was very impressed with the objectivity with which the information was presented. Yes, obviously, the museum was filled with emotion and hurt and some points of hate, but all were shown and presented with historic objective points of view. As you can most likely tell, I was very impressed by the museum and surrounding grounds. This would be a place that I would recommend to anyone traveling over here!

Ok, also while in Hiroshima, we visited the Hiroshima Castle. This was a beautiful castle originally built on a sand bar. At the time that it was built, the idea to build on a sand bar was a very foreign concept in Japan. It was one of the first to be built this way in Japan. It was a very pretty place and from the top you could overlook the city. I really enjoyed this. Oh and we also got to do a bit of dressing up (please see pictures page)! That was pretty cool.

So, all of the previously mentioned information was just from one day in Hiroshima. What did we do on the second day in Hiroshima? Well, we took a ferry out to Miyajima Island. You may have seen pictures of a "floating torii." If so, that is Miyajima. It is beautiful! In all actuality, the torii is not floating, it just has that appearance. The o-torii is the entrance to the shrine. When the tide is in it becomes surrounded with water. When the tide goes out, you are able to walk out to the torii. The tide was in the entire time that we were on the island so were not able to walk out there but we got some fantastic pictures. It was really rainy the day that we went out there so some of the pictures turned out really well!

Ok, well I said that I was going to try and keep it as short as possible, but I must say that I got to see a lot and want to share as much as I can with you! I am going to break it down by places so that it isn't quite as overwhelming, plus I am getting tired of typing at this point. I am going to post the pictures of Hiroshima and Miyajima on the pictures page so please go and check them out. I will post more on the other places that I visited in the coming days!

I hope you enjoy! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them in the comments section.

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

I Have Returned!!

2008-01-05T17:18:00.000+09:00

Well hello to all! Happy New Year! Can you believe it is 2008?!? I know that I can't. Personally, I think 2007 was a pretty good year to say the least. I wanted to quickly leave a quick note that I am back from my holiday travels, and I will post pictures and stories as soon as possible! So please check back in the next couple of days for updates on both of the pages (pictures and this one). I had a lot of fun and learned quite a bit about travels in Japan. I will tell you all about it soon! So for the time being...Happy New Year from Japan!

Sayonara for now,
Elaina

Blog Information

2007-12-24T02:33:00.001+09:00

I just realized this evening that my blog is showing up in Japanese to everyone back home too. I apologize for this. I thought it was just me because I was on Japanese internet or something. I, unfortunately, do not know how to change this to English. All of my site information is in Japanese so it is difficult for me to change things. I can change as much as I can read which is most, but not all.

For your sake, everything still functions the same. You are still able to leave comments (コメント) if you would like. Please feel free. It is the same on the picture side as well. The link to the comments area is below each blog next to my name and the time. I changed the setting to where you can leave an anonymous comment, but please sign it so I know who is leaving me notes. I know I know..that goes against the entire anonymous idea. Yes, I know but the reason I am allowing anonymous is so you don't have to sign up for an account to make a comment. If you are mean you better leave it anonymous though! ha ha! Ok, so if you have any questions or problems please let me know. You can also email me at ecs85@cox.net.

Thanks for you patience!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

My Prayer....

2007-12-20T23:23:00.000+09:00

A friend of mine here in Mito posted this on her blog. This hit me big time and reminded me that this should be my life's prayer! There are so many things that I get focused on, when in all reality...they don't matter! The ONE thing that matters is that HIS will be done! I pray that God will remind His church (not ours) that the petty things that we focus on in life don't matter. I pray that He will use me and will open my eyes to the work of His hand!! I want to be so in tune that I hear the whispers of my Father! I want to see the oceans part and nations come! In my life Your will be done!

This is going to be my focus this Christmas! What an honor we have that our Father sent his Son that we might have the opportunity to pray this prayer! Religion is not a right, it is an honor that we have been given the opportunity to serve our Father!

Kneeling humbly before my Father,
Elaina

Japanese Language Update...and some other stuff too!

2007-12-16T17:53:00.000+09:00

Well, let the countdown begin!! I have 5 days left of school before Winter Holiday!! I am so excited! This break is coming at a very good time for me personally. I have been getting a bit anxious to get out of town and so I am going to do just that! We don't actually leave for our trip until the day after Christmas, but we will be getting together for Christmas festivities and such before that. Merry Christmas!!!

Ok, for the language update. I just wanted to share my progress on the Japanese language study. Although slow, I am making progress! I will start by explaining a bit about the language. There are 3 "parts" that make up the Japanese language.
　　　
1. Hiragana (ひらがな）
2. Katakana (カタカナ）
3. Kanji

Hiragana and Katakana each have 46 characters. It would be similar to our English alphabet, but they are not exactly alike. The English alphabet is single letters, these are syllables. Hiragana and Katakana are used separately and for certain purposes. Hiragana spells out any Japanese word or phrase (ex. good morning-ohayogozaimasu-おはようございます）. Katakana spells out any foreign word (ex. computer-konpyuta-コンピュタ）。　Kanji are the more commonly recognized characters or symbols to foreigners (thanks in part to tatoos). There are literally thousands of Kanji characters, basically a Japanese word will have its own Kanji. Its a bit difficult to explain, but believe me its even more difficult for me to read...oh wait I can't yet! ha ha.

Anyway, so that is just a very very brief explanation of the 3 parts to the language. So as for my progress, it has been a challenge to say the least! I have been taking lessons now for about 5 weeks and have been studying like crazy! The lessons are once a week and we move incredibly fast! I have been enjoying them for the most part, but I leave exhausted! Basically, I go and try to speak the language for about 2 hours! I will put it this way...I sleep well on Thursday nights! So at this point I am able to read and write Hiragana and Katakana. Katakana has just been in the last week or so that I got that down. This helps immensely on menus! I have my first 29 verbs down and working on my other vocabulary! I know it doesn't sound like much but its a big step for me! I don't know any Kanji yet, but that is really not the focus at this stage of the process. I have to focus on the basics and then move to that. Its very interesting to see the difference in studying a language now, and studying it in high school. 10 years can make such a difference in the ability to be a sponge, for lack of better words. This just makes me realize the uniqueness of my teaching situation all the more! I am able to teach these kids a language at such a young age that they literally just soak it up! Its much more difficult at my age (even though I am not that old). I have really been enjoying the studying and am really pushing myself to learn as much as I possibly can while I am hear. I study something every day and have enjoyed getting back into that "college study" mode. It took me a bit to get back into that frame of mind. Ok, well this is the language update for now. I am going to be studying while on holiday (yes, I have to. I will lose it if I don't use it). My friend Leah, one of the two who I am traveling with, is much farther along in her studies and she is going to help me on my grammar and memorization, etc. I am looking forward to having a study partner over holiday!

I will leave this for now, but I will update more later! I hope everyone back home is surviving the cold/ice/snow...all of the above! I can't say that I really envy you all that much, but I would love to have a fireplace about now! That is something I miss from home! I wish you all a very safe and blessed week before Christmas!

Mata ne!

イレナ

Umeboshi...umm...there are no words!

2007-12-12T16:04:00.000+09:00

Well, in the title I said there are no words, but I am going to try and explain to you my umeboshi experience.

Let me first start off by saying, this is a true story, and there WAS a human injured during the making of this story! The human was me!!!! Maybe injured isn`t the right word, but for theatrics we will go with it!

Allow me to set the mood, its a nice chilly day at School (Mito Lily). We (secretaries, some teachers and me) are in the teachers room around lunch time. One of the bus drivers brought a special carrier of rice for everyone today. This was being handed out as a gift so I happily obliged. Along side it was what looked like funky looking prunes. Thanks to my Grandma, I can eat prunes. I was thinking to myself, `Whew! I am in the clear.` There is always this fear that you are not going to like something, but have to gag it down anyway for niceness sake. So far this fear has not come to fruition. Sure, there are the things that you don`t prefer, but you can get down that time and will avoid next time. However, my streak came to an end today! The lady asked if I would like one of these (what I thought were prunes), I asked what it was. She said, `umeboshi.` She offered so I said ok. I didn`t even get it up to my mouth before I knew that this was going to be a bad bad experience! So picture this, I am in the middle of the teachers room, with everyone watching for my reaction. I hesitate at the smell, but I couldn`t NOT eat it now!!! So I put the whole thing in my mouth. What was my reaction you might ask?? Well let me just tell you. My eyes start watering, I can`t even swallow! I start coughing, and they all start laughing at me!!! This is something that the Japanese eat OFTEN...they actually like this stuff! I am doing my best to get this down, however my saving grace was the pit. I went to spit out the pit, so I spit out the rest to. I know I am a terrible person, but seriously. So, this was so horrific (not an exaggeration), that it actually made me throw up. Sorry if that is too gross, but its true! I have NEVER thrown up or gotten sick over a food just because of the taste before. I might not like the taste, but I can choke it down. Well not this!!! Oyy!!

So the moral of the story:

Look in the dictionary to see what you are eating BEFORE you eat it!!!

What did I eat you ask?? It was pickled plum. I know it sounds weak, but it was horrible!!!!

Ok that is my story..I just had to share! Avoid all umeboshi!!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Scooter Thoughts...the beginning!

2007-12-06T21:58:00.000+09:00

Well, I have come up with a new idea. Obviously, a good portion of my time is spent traveling on my scooter. Much like back home in my car, my scooter is where I have some good thinking time. Some people think in the toilet, I like to use a means of transportation. What can I say? So my idea, which by the way came to me while riding on my scooter, is to have a "Scooter Thoughts" blog every once in a while. Thus, the first Scooter Thoughts blog!!! (I can hear the music...duh da dah!!!)

For my first Scooter Thoughts session I would like to bring forth the ideas that came to mind tonight on my way home. Allow me to set the mood. It's about 9:45pm, on a clear, windy and cold (below freezing) night. I am fully clothed (thank goodness, if not that would be a whole different type of "session" that I would need), in a long sleeve shirt, fleece zip up, ski jacket, face/neck guard, ear cover, gloves, regular pants, 2 pair of socks (tall) and my helmet of course. All of this, while zipping right along at a whopping 60 km/h (about 35-40 mph)! I know I know...I don't ride a hog I ride a piglet!!

So, with all of that information in mind, here are my Scooter Thoughts!

1. So far, I have found 3 levels of cold:

Cold: Skin is chilled, but can be warmed quickly once off scooter.
Numb: You have passed the cold phase, and begin to lose surface feeling of limbs
Cold Pain: You have passed the numb phase, and you begin to regain feeling and it starts to hurt!

I would just like to say that I am an optimist however, and since this is the case I would like to say something to that affect. I am optimistic, key word, that I have not yet reached all of the levels of cold yet. I strongly believe that there are more, and I will surely reach them before winters end! My guess would be that one of the levels would be frostbite or loss of limbs....hopefully we will not reach that one!!!

2. My mom will be proud of me for this one! Practice what my mom always told me! Be a lady when on the scooter! In other words, put your legs together! Don't worry, skirts are not being worn!! There are multiple reasons for this thought. If you keep your legs together, you will catch less wind resistance, legs stay warmer together, and for a lack of a better way to say it...some areas just shouldn't be that cold!!!

3. Do not try to whistle to pass the time! I do like to whistle when on my scooter, but I am unable to do that when it is cold due to serious fogging issues! Dad...I will go ahead and say it for you...I am full of hot air! This I know! ha ha

I think I will keep it to 3 points tonight. I just thought it might be fun to share that with you! By the way...the thermometer on my blog is incorrect. I should probably remove it, but you can probably subtract 5-7 degrees off of that to get the actual temperature. Yikes!! Anyway, that is all for now!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Short Update

2007-12-04T22:45:00.000+09:00

Ok, well it has been a couple of weeks since my last blog, but there really hasn't been too much going on. However, for not too much going on...I am ALWAYS busy!

Let's see....here is the quick run down:

1. School: very busy with Winter Festival practice. The week before we leave for Winter holiday the kids will have a huge play/performance thing. They have been practicing very hard and have been really busy with that!

2. Church: We had Thanksgiving, and it was fabulous! Such good food! We are going to be caroling, but I am unable to go due to work. That is ok because I sing to the kids at school all the time. They might not consider it singing, but I personally think it is lovely!

3. Japanese Class: Well this is moving right along. It is starting to come together more and more. I study every day (usually), and am working very hard to use what I learn daily. I am really enjoying this part of the learning experience. It is quite a challenge!

4. Travel Plans: So I will not be home for Christmas, but never fear I do have Christmas plans! I will be spending the day with friends (the ones who are staying) here, and the next day will leave for holiday. Two of my friends and I will be traveling all throughout Japan for almost 2 weeks. Hiroshima, Fukuoka (on southern island), Osaka (New Years Eve), Kyoto and Nara. We are taking the Shinkansen (bullet train) so I am very excited!

I think that is the update for now. Nothing too much new, but just a quick update!

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T18:36:00.000+09:00

Well....the day has come! Happy Thanksgiving!

Over the years I have come to love this holiday more than most...including Christmas. Granted, its a close race, but Thanksgiving is All-American! I have obviously always known this, but it is so much more evident now than before! To try and explain the ridiculous amount of food, tv and relaxing that is consumed in ONE day by Americans to my Japanese friends is a hoot to say the least! I tried to explain some of the foods today at school and their eyes about bugged out of their head. It brought me so much joy and pride, and then it hit me...we are pigs! ha ha No, seriously since I have moved over here that is very apparent in all of its glory! HOWEVER, I still love this holiday and miss my family and friends so very much! It really hit me today a bit that I am away from home for the holidays. Obviously, I knew this but things don't always sink in until they are right on you. So, I just wanted to post this saying that I love you guys so very much and miss you all very much! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you are and whoever you are with! Take advantage of the time that you have! I know that I am going to take advantage of the time that I have here with my American and Japanese brothers and sisters! I will post pictures from our Thanksgiving as soon as I can! I love you all and will talk to you soon!

Sayonara for now!

Ahh....Japan...

2007-11-12T21:53:00.000+09:00

Well, I decided that I should probably just put an update. I think the last few things I have posted have been about something in particular (ie. trips, "boyfriends", places, etc.). So, I decided to make this my 2 month update and just tell you about life in Japan so far. I hope you enjoy! Warning: This might be long...I've had lots of caffeine! ha ha

Well as of November 7, I have officially been in Japan for 2 months! Its hard to believe in some ways, and in some, it feels like it has been longer! Many people (here and at home) have asked me if I am actually enjoying it here. My first reaction is always yes, and it is true. However, some of the other Gaijin (foreigners) here, continue to ask..."do you truly like it here or do you know yet?" It definitely makes you think more. Unless you are here it is hard to understand, but I will try to describe the feeling. It is most definitely possible to like your job, like the people, like Japan, etc. and to still not actually truly enjoy living life here. It is like anything in life, you can like something without truly enjoying it. I must say that after the questions I began to think about it more. As I have pondered it more, I have come to the conclusion (at least at this time) that I am truly enjoying my time here. Sure, I have my bad days just like anywhere! However, for the most part I am enjoying the time that I have here. At times it is still VERY overwhelming and frustrating, but even so I am having a blast.

Warning: That was just the intro, this could continue to be a long blog. However, I have cut off the caffeine so it MIGHT end at some point! ha ha!

I have come up with a list of things that I never would have appreciated as much as I do if I had not come to Japan! Some are from home and some are from here. These are in no particular order, as they say at all of the pageants that I have been in! ha ha

1. Route 44 Drinks! This is pretty self explanatory, but just in case it's not, I will explain further. The drinks here are quite small. A large in Japan, is a small/medium drink in America. They don't drink very much here, and when they do, its tea. Granted, I love the tea as well, and drink a ton of it, but seriously! A Rt 44 would be fantastic every once and awhile!

2. No Tipping! Ok, this is a huge plus in Japan for foreigners! Not only is the service in Japan amazing, but there is no tipping! Amazing, is NOT an exaggeration either, it is truly amazing! When I say there is no tipping, I mean it. If you try to leave a tip on the table they will run after you to give it back. They see it as part of their job...hmmm what a concept! I'm telling you, the servers better watch out when I get back home!

3. Authentic Mexican food. They do have some Mexican restaurants here. The one in Mito that I know is called Mamasita's. Its not bad, but when you come from a country that is getting over run with Mexicans and you have pretty good authentic Mexican food...yeah Japanese Mexican just isn't the same! Oh well! I have authentic Sushi!

4. Authentic Sushi!! Yes, the Sushi is amazing and cheap here! Granted you can get some more expensive Sushi too, but the cheap stuff here is really good! Oh yeah and the Sushi comes out on conveyor belts! I love it! Mmm...raw fish! Oishi!

5. Mom's Home Cookin'! I knew I would miss this, but I am realizing it more and more. Mom you spoiled me on this, but watch out when I come home! ha ha

6. English TV! Again this is pretty self explanatory. However, it is definitely worth mentioning!

7. Pete (my scooter)! I am really enjoying having my scooter! Its so nice even though it is getting colder and raining a lot! It gives me a lot of freedom and the gas for it is soooo cheap!!! I filled up completely today for 600 yen, about $6. That is will last me almost 2 weeks! Believe me, I don't conserve! I drive everywhere, and I get lost! So once I know my way around more I will really save more gas!

8. Grid-like streets! If you are wondering...I am most definitely NOT referring to Japan on this one!! I am pretty good with directions and rarely get lost....back home! Well, Japan is a completely different ball game! It is amazing and I honestly can not describe it! Please just know that if you get lost in the States, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE IN JAPAN! Oh, and you might be asking, "why don't you use a map?" I do! I forgot to tell you that the streets are not labeled here! No street names and an unbelievable amount of alleys! Ready to drive in Japan now?

9. Long sleeves! Ok, you might say to yourself..they have those both places! Yes, you are correct....sort of! When I say long sleeves, I am referring to sleeves that are long on ME! The long sleeves in Japan are more of a 3/4 length sleeve on me. There is a Big & Tall store here...I call it the American store, but its expensive and more of a suite type shop. Definitely not for me! Oh well..I will just order online if I need something!

10. My job! I am going to end my list with this one. I must say that I am the happiest I have ever been in a job right now. There aren't too many jobs that you can go to and get tons of smiles, huge hugs, lots of high fives and play like you are in Kindergarten again and get paid for it! Best of all, I rarely get complaints (that I understand) and when I do I can usually solve it by picking them up above my head and tickling them! If only all jobs could make you feel this good. I can be having a bad day, but one of their smiles and hugs makes it all better. Yes, I know it sounds cheesy, but they are definitely softening me up quite a bit. Its difficult to be a hardened person with kids so full of life around you!

OK, so I think that list tells you a bit about where I am at now and how things are going. I am truly in awe of the fact that the Lord has brought me here. This is a very unique time in my life and am learning a lot about myself and what I thought was myself. It is a humbling thing to realize that who you thought you were is not set in stone. I am so very happy that it is not because I am beginning to see that God has a bigger plan for me than I could have ever imagined! My kids always ask me how old I am. In Japan I am ni-ju go. I am 25. I know to some, probably most, that is very young. I don't think it is old, but before I came here I felt like I was getting older with out accomplishing anything. My outlook has changed. I think ni-ju go is my starting point.

I hope this gives you a bit of insight into my heart right now. I am not one to go deep and divulge a lot on my blog, but I think it is important for my friends and family to know what I am learning from this experience. I thank you all for your prayers and support and love any emails or comments that you send.

Sayonara for now!

It Could Be Love!

2007-11-04T22:29:00.001+09:00

Well...I apologize for being slow in getting a picture up of my boyfriend! I know that many have been asking me for pictures, so here they are. I will tell you a little bit about him since we are getting pretty serious and all.

His name is Pete. He is not quite as tall as I am, but very handsome!! If you ask me he is quite a catch. He, like me, loves the color orange! He also likes to drive fast and likes the open road. His family is of Japanese origin, but he speaks my language. We have really been getting to know each other a lot more lately. We started hanging out about a week ago, but I think it could get pretty serious. So without further ado I will let you see the new man in my life. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of us together yet, but I will soon!

I would also like to give a shout out to my mom for fitting my heavy coat, the liner (thick), face mask and 2 cans of Rotel (very important) into one flat rate box! Very impressive! Only MY mom!! All of this is going to be very important come the cool/cold weather to come!! Thanks Mom!!

Big Update!

2007-10-21T23:45:00.000+09:00

Well, I just realized that it has been awhile since my last blog! I do have more pictures to add so I will get those on as soon as possible. It is getting late tonight, so it might be tomorrow before they are added.

Anyhow, I have been a bit under the weather for the last week, but luckily I think I am finally on the upswing! I finally have a voice again, and am coughing less so things are looking good! It was definitely interesting teaching Kindergarten class with no voice, but the kids took pity on me so it was actually good. In all reality I am not sure if they took pity or if the teachers threatened them...either way, it worked!

So its been a busy last few weeks, thus the lack of blogging! The Sensei's at each school had a welcome party for me. They were both very nice and enjoyable. I really enjoyed getting to hang out with them and talk with them outside of school. There is so much expected of teachers (sensei's) here that it is hard to get to know them at school. So it was refreshing to see a different side of them! I bought and received some clothes from Sierra Trading Post! That was exciting! I had to buy some long sleeve shirts since it is cooling down quite a bit now. It is now in the low to mid 60's for highs. Beautiful! However, when walking in the morning and back home at night it does get a bit cool! So, I went to UniQlo (like Old Navy) and purchased two fleece jackets. I am really enjoying them. However, it was kind of funny to shop there. They have some really cute stuff there, but obviously not too much fits me. I had to buy an XL fleece jacket and its about as snug as you would want. We will just call it "tailored." ha ha! I did venture over to the jeans area just to look at the sizes...that was a hoot! I normally wear a 33 length back home just for reference. The absolute longest they had (in womens) was a 30!! On an entire wall of jeans I believe I saw maybe 3 pair of 30 length jeans! It was a bit humorous...in other words I could buy capri pants quite easy here! So anyway, off the clothes!

This past week I got to go to Tokyo Disneyland! I was quite excited. I got to go with Lily Academy Group. I went with a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds. Their faces were great! I think I was just as excited as they were. This was my first Disney experience and it was pretty cool! I will post pictures! I do have to say though, that I must go back with some foreigners who will eat more junk food with me! The only "junk food" that the teachers would get was all the different kinds of popcorn! I don't consider that too junky still. I guess I haven't been here long enough! ha ha

I think I am going to call it good for this update. I will try to update again soon...hopefully sooner this time! Like I said, I will update my picture page tomorrow.

Sayonara for now!
Elaina

Ganbare! Ganbare!

2007-10-08T21:59:00.000+09:00

Ganbare! That was my favorite phrase for about 8 hours on Saturday. It means literally...perservere! However, it is used like Go! So during the relay races, etc at the Undokai (Sports Festival) everyone is yelling Ganbare! I had both Mito and Uchihara undokai's on Saturday. Needless to say...it was a long day! I had so much fun though! The kids were adorable and they did so well. I was so proud of them. I have only been with them for about a month now, but they have been practicing so hard and they had so much fun. It is truly amazing how much the entire family is involved here. I am by no means saying all the family life is perfect here, but it is nice to see every single child having family route and cheer for them. It is a huge deal for not only that child, but the entire family. When the gate opened to enter it was the like the Oklahoma Land Run all over again...except in Japan! People were running to mark their spots, and setting up cameras in different places to get the best shot! I was just standing back watching in amazement. I did snap a few pictures of course, so please check out the picture blog. To wrap up, my first undokai was a big success. I truly enjoyed getting to watch the kids and parents in the entire event. I am also excited because I get tomorrow (Tuesday) since I "worked" on Saturday. Woo hoo!

So for now...

Sayonara!

Check Out My Picture Page!

2007-09-30T23:21:00.000+09:00

Just wanted to put a reminder to check out my picture page! I added a ton of new pictures tonight! I will add some more new pictures after Undokai next weekend!

Sayonara for now!

Undokai....canceled!

2007-09-30T16:23:00.000+09:00

Well I have been waiting to post until today for the Undokai. Undokai means "sports festival." Each kindergarten and elementary school has one in Japan. My first one was supposed to be today, but due to rain it was canceled. This is a big event at each school that the students and teachers have been working on for months. They not only perform the sports aspect, but it is an entire presentation of dancing and choreography that is all set up with a theme. I do have another Undokai for my other school next Saturday so hopefully that one will go off without a hitch. In the mean time I do not know what happens when they have to cancel. I guess I will find out tomorrow when I go to school.

As far as school goes, as of tomorrow I will be in my regular full teaching routine. I am really enjoying getting to be with the kids. They are definitely a ball of laughs that is for sure. The teachers are really great as well. They have been very patient with my lack of Japanese...I think in all actuality it is just a big laugh for them! ha ha However, they do help me and I help them with English as well. So it is a fair trade! I tell you what...I had forgotten how much energy these kids have! I knew that they had energy, but good grief! However, the last sentence made me sound like I am getting old or something so I must say that, "I can still take 'em." However, the whole thing about a bunch of them karate chopping me is gonna have to be lessened dramatically! I have bruises! Oh well...usually at that point I just wrap them up and put them on my shoulder and tickle them senseless until they know better....atleast until they forget for the next time! ha ha Oh well....its all in good fun! I tickle them....they karate chop me...no big deal right? ha ha

Ok so enough rambling from Japan! Oh! Hopefully my Gaijin card will be ready this week so I will be able to get a scooter soon! woo hoo!

Anyway, that is all for now!

Sayonara!

CostCo Fun!

2007-09-24T14:26:00.000+09:00

Well hello again! I thought I would take the opportunity to update you on my week of events. It is Monday afternoon here and for the second Monday in a row...it is a holiday!! I am not complaining!

On Saturday we (Matt, Leah, Catera and myself) went to CostCo, which is about 2 hours away by car. CostCo for those from the south like me, is exactly the same as Sam's! Yes, Dad...Mom could even take you for a date there too! They have the very cheap meals just like Sam's! I did fairly well on controlling my urges for "American" food and didn't cause too much of a dent in my wallet. However, apparently I need to learn to read better next time and not spend 2800 yen on string cheese!! Yes, that would be about $28 in US!! I looked at the sign that said 1100 yen...oops! I didn't learn of this until we were on the road home. Needless to say this is bulk size, but still a bit expensive! Live and learn I guess.

I start teaching a bit on my own this coming week. Tomorrow I will be teaching a class of 4 yr olds all of my knowledge! ha ha! That shouldn't take long! I can already hear the "Oklahoma accent comments"! So anyway, so far my kids seem to really like me and basically love to crawl all over me! So this week should be fun to see how I do. I have taught a little bit this past week, but this will actually be my lesson!

I have some pictures of the kids at the Mito Kindergarten (nearest my apartment) that I will upload a bit later. They are really cute, however I am definitely having a hard time remembering names! It would be hard enough remembering all of the names in the States, when you are familiar with the names, but it is even harder here when you aren't familiar with the names or the pronunciations! I can guarantee that they have had some good laughs!

Ok, well I am going to end this for now. I will update a bit more later this week to let you know how school is going! Today is the first day of Autumn here, so I hope that it will start to feel like it! Today has been a good start. It rained a bit yesterday and is a bit cooler today! Woo hoo!

For now...Sayonara!

Amazing Waterfalls!

2007-09-17T19:18:00.000+09:00

Ok, so I must start out by saying that I am sorry that I have not kept this more up to date! I will try to do better, but no guarantees!

So now back to the waterfalls! Today I got the opportunity to venture up to Iwaki, Japan. Iwaki is north of Mito about 2 hours and into the beautiful mountains! On the drive up there you have a view of the Pacific coastline in some areas, an inside look of 13 tunnels and some beautiful mountainside terrain! It was definitely a treat, that is for sure! I went with 7 other people from Mito. Kendon (he had been before so he was the leader), Austin, Wade, Leah, Janet, Joey, Casey and myself. The hike/climb was absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking! The entire climb took about 5 hours, start to finish. The last hour was more of the hike. I have not done something this physically challenging in a long time and it really felt good. I say that now, but I will be hurting terribly tomorrow! So anyway, while climbing we did take breaks to swim in the waterfalls! It was SO cold, but amazing nonetheless! I can honestly say that I have not done anything like that before! However, it was extremely humid (as Japan always is), and we definitely deserved the break in the falls! I was absolutely sweating like a pig, but everyone was sweating so no big deal. A little sweat never hurt anyone! So I was so kindly reminded by nature today that I am so very clumsy! My balance on slick surfaces is terrible and yet I had fun anyway! My knees, shins, hands, butt, back and arms did not, but eh who needs them anyway?!? ha ha So, that is pretty much the trip. Don't worry! I am going to post some pictures on my picture blog, however they no where near do this place justice!

Obviously, you can tell that I am enjoying my time here in Japan. I am meeting some really great people at work and church and truly enjoying getting to know them more. Next weekend I have another 3 day weekend and a group of us are going to CostCo near Tokyo! I am stoked! Anyway, I guess this is all for now. I will post again soon!

I am here!!

2007-09-08T16:34:00.000+09:00

Hello all! I finally made it and wanted to put a quick update on here! The flight was really not bad at all...surprisingly! If anyone ever plans to go to Japan, I would suggest you fly with Japan Airlines! It was amazing! I have a list of great things about the Japan Airlines:

1. Otsumami (savory treats)-on the package it said nuts & crackers. I was a bit surprised with the nuts and crackers, but they were really good. Needless to say each time they brought those around I took one!

2. Green Tea-they brought hot green tea after every meal and with snacks as well! It was very good and a nice treat!

3. Oceans 13-I know I know I am behind the times, but I finally got to watch Oceans 13.

4. Callisthenics's Video-this was a hoot! Yes, I said hoot. This Japanese lady would come on the tv from time to time to show you calisthenics exercises. To be quite honest the outfit reminded me of the Olivia Newton John video from the 80's but that is ok! It was great entertainment and actually good exercises.

5. Flight Camera- There were "birds eye view" cameras on the outside of the plane. They were always available for viewing. I enjoyed watching from the nose of the plane when landing and taking off!

6. Simmered Alaska Rockfish-scrumptious! This was my lunch and it was really good!

Those are just a few of the things that I wrote down to note. I actually enjoyed the flight and it didn't seem as long as I thought it would! As far as Mito goes, it seems like a really good town. I like the area that my apartment is in. It is VERY close to my school and not far from the train. My apartment is smarter than I am I think. In typical Japanese fashion my apartment is quite hi-tech! It is very nice to say the least. I will post pictures soon.

OK well for now, I am going to leave this. I am having dinner tonight with the owner of Lily Academy (Mike), and the head of three of the schools. It should be quite interesting! Robert said that it is going to be boring, but the "queens" should make it interesting. The "queens" are the two other heads (one of them is my kindergarten). This is the nickname for them around the school. I guess I will find out!

Sayonara!

Elaina (aka Eraina)

Goodbyes

2007-09-01T14:40:00.001+09:00

Well as was expected, the goodbyes have begun. It has been a long time coming and now that I am leaving in 3 days, they are becoming more real. I have enjoyed so very much, getting to spend time with family and friends. Some are harder than others, but all are bitter sweet. Although I know that this is not forever, it is hard to say goodbye to people that I will not see for a very long time. I have been so blessed to have family around me and stand by me in my decision to move to Japan. I know that this is not only a change for me, but also for my family. I pray that God will use me in this time to show other people His love and take me to wherever He leads me. I appreciate all of the love that has been shown to me so abundantly and I pray that I will make my family and friends proud. Obviously, in the next couple of days I will be very busy packing and finishing up. My connection will be very spotty for the first bit over in Mito, but I will update as soon as I possibly can! I thank you for the continued prayers for me and my family in this new journey.

Sayonara!

P.S. Go Pokes!

3 Things I did/learned today!

2007-08-25T12:06:00.000+09:00

1. I finished my last day of work today at First Enterprise Bank in OKC. It does feel good to be done and on to the next phase of my life! There will be many that I miss and keep in contact with, and that is the important thing.

2. I learned that they want me there on Sep 7, so that means that I will be flying out on Sep 4th! Yes, it is finally going to happen! I thought today of the analogy of the Olympic torch today. I feel like my visa has been the torch finally coming into the final stage of the run to ignite the final ring!! So stupid I know, but true none the less!

3. I will be putting my car up for sale tomorrow! In other words if you know of anyone that needs a very nice 2006 Pontiac Torrent please let me know!

Ok, so this is the update for now! I am so excited, and yes a bit nervous, but mostly excited! I am on a whole new journey and can't wait to see where I end up!

Sorting, sorting and finally packing.

2007-08-20T12:21:00.000+09:00

Well, I am finally pushed to the point of getting ready to pack. Yes...this is a good thing! Actually, its a GREAT thing! I will be leaving in the next 2-3 weeks. I spend my Sunday afternoon sorting through all of my stuff to try and pick out more exactly what I am taking, what I am leaving at home and what my family will be shipping to me later. This wasn't as painful as I first thought it would be, but I'm realizing more and more how little I will be able to take. I can't even imagine some of my friends who are big shoppers trying to pack so little. I'm glad that I am not a shopper! Anyway, this is the update for the weekend. As soon as I find out my exact flight schedule I will post it. Have a great week!

The Latest and Greatest!

2007-08-17T14:47:00.000+09:00

Well, this road with all of the twists, turns, speed bumps, stop signs and green lights is now starting to come out of the trees. I am beginning to see a glimpse of light. That's right! I have a Visa update.

Finally, I feel as though we are making progress. I received an e-mail today from Lily and my boss went to Tokyo to find out what is going on with my Visa. They said that they (Lily Academy) will be receiving it in the mail sometime next week! Hopefully, this is true. My school wants to try and have me there by Sep. 1! September 1, yes...that is 2 weeks away! It is going to be a VERY tight squeeze, but we will see how it goes. I will be busting it for the next couple of days calling consulates in different cities to find out some information. After I receive my papers from Lily I have to get it to a Japanese Consulate here in the States to get my official Visa stamp on my passport. That is going to be the interesting part about the next two weeks. Well, not the only interesting part, but one of the more challenging things. I am going to be booking my flight and such and as soon as I have an official leave date I will certainly post it. My guess, will be the 1st week of September.

I feel like a weight has been lifted, but now I am really having to get going!!! I have a lot done, but have a lot to do as well. I am so very excited for this journey to begin! I did have an address, but it has changed so I will post my official address as soon as I know it. Again, I will update this as I know more.

By the way, I don't know how many people read this but my cell phone will be turned off as of the 20th (this Monday). If you need to reach me until I leave you can call my parents house. 405-286-1329. My email is always a good way to reach me as well! ecs85@cox.net

Latest Non-Update

2007-08-15T09:25:00.000+09:00

Well I keep getting asked to give updates, so here you go!

Basically, in a nutshell, I don't have any really new information. I am still waiting on my visa. However, my school is getting as impatient with the Japanese government as I am. On Thursday my rep and one of the principals at Lily Academy (my school) are going down to Tokyo to the immigration office to see if they can get it pushed through. Hopefully, it will be a success and I will be getting my visa soon!

Other than that, as most of you know, I really don't have any other news. As my good friend Lindsay said, I sit around and wait for my visa. Yes, its sad but true, my life is consumed with waiting for my visa. Hopefully I will be able to get more of a life soon!

That is all for now, but I will update on Thursdayish when I know more.

So....

2007-07-28T15:54:00.000+09:00

Well, I am going to give a quick update. As of this last Monday, the immigration office in Tokyo had a very simple answer, "wait." So.....that is what I am doing. This has been a good week. I have made huge strides on my Hiragana. I am able to read and write in Hiragana. However, all of this stuff I am "reading" and "writing" I still can't translate. So, basically I have no clue what I am writing, but I am trying to use my dictionary to figure it out. It takes me a very long time!!! I am enjoying it though, and the more I can do here the better it will be for me there. The Lord is good, and His timing is perfect, so I will wait. I will update more later.

あいうえお

2007-07-18T14:41:00.000+09:00

あいうえお that's all I know...well I am learning. I am working on my hiragana (ひらがな）and it is challenging. I am trying to really push myself, but my motivation right now sucks. This week I have just been in a funk, but I am trying to snap out of it. I am struggling with being patient and waiting on the Lord. Granted, that has never been one of my strengths, but I am definitely being "helped along" in trying to work on it, patience that is. Anyway, I said that I would keep this up to date so that is what I am doing. I am still waiting on my visa information to be completed in Tokyo. I am so anxious to get over there, but I know that God has a reason for me to still be here. I am trying to remind myself that His timing is always better than mine. I woke up yesterday morning, right before I checked my email for any news, and finally just gave up. I don't know if that is the right way to put it, but that's the only way I can describe it. It is amazing to me that I have no control over this timing whatsoever, and yet I still am constantly in a fit over it. I don't know why I haven't been able to just say,

"God, You are amazing and I know that Your will is for me to be obedient and patient to wait on You. I know that You have an amazing plan for my life that is so wonderful that I can't even fathom....if I wait on You! Father, I choose to wait on you and to be patient and obedient in your plans. Thank you for the journey that you have brought me on thus far and thank you for wanting me to do incredible things through You. I love you and I wait for you."

Why haven't I been able to say this? I don't know! It is as if I get caught up in this daily struggle of trying to plan everything in MY timing. I wear myself out trying to plan, time and make sure everything is perfect (in my eyes). When all along, all I have to do is rest in knowing that God has it all taken care of. Why do I do this to myself? I know I am not alone and I know that God has gone ahead of me in my journey in life and prepared a way for me. I am so very thankful that He loves me enough to plan my daily steps. I pray that I daily choose to give up my life to my Father. I finally gave up yesterday morning when I woke up, and no an email did not just "magically" appear, I did have a peace in knowing that my God was taking care of me and He has a perfect plan for me.

Wow, well I went off on quite a side story there. My original reason for posting tonight was to say that I still am waiting on my visa information, but as soon as I know more I will update on here. Please continue to keep me in your prayers along with the other AET's that are in Mito currently.

P.S. That is a picture of Tokyo (that is where immigration is). I have been told I needed to put pictures on here, so there ya go...a picture!

Konbanwa!

2007-07-02T12:21:00.000+09:00

Good Evening! Well, I decided that I needed to put down some thoughts tonight. As I read through other peoples blogs I notice that people really do put whatever comes to mind! For some odd reason I have tried to think of things and nothing comes to mind to blog! I have just decided to just start writing. Its kind of like in the movie "Finding Nemo," "just keep swimming, just keep swimming." Yes, I know that it is a stretch, but hey! that's what came to mind. So, I believe that I am going to put down some of my soap boxes tonight. Yes, that could be dangerous, but I will try to keep it positive.

1. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, complaining about the rain!! Here is my thought on that: "Would you rather the rain or fire?" Every single person I have asked has said "rain." So why are you complaining? If we don't have the rain, we will have fire!! Its simple. Basically what it boils down to is that we are not capable of being satisfied....period!

2. National Presidential debates, when it is not even close to being an election year!!! This is getting to be ridiculous! Pretty soon we are going to have debates, not for this upcoming term, but for the following one! Why not start 10 years in advance?? The amount of money that is being raised is astronomical. I saw today that Barrack Obama raised 32 million in the second quarter of this year alone!! One quarter?!? Really? Hmm...

And finally...this is important! Actually, I wanted to have a lighter note.

3. People who stop on the on-ramp to the highway! Can I get an amen?? There is really no explanation or ranting needed on this one. I know that there are some "interesting" drivers everywhere, but for some reason Oklahoma has a larger than normal population of people who stop or slow down when getting on the highway! Good grief!

OK, now I know why people just write on these blogs so freely. I feel better! I really do! Sure, I probably didn't change any lives, but I feel more free in life!

Well on that note, I am going to sign off for the evening.

Just an update!

2007-06-15T11:45:00.000+09:00

I still don't have any definitive information yet. My application is being processed in Tokyo, and as soon as I know more information I will post it.

Living with the 'rents!

2007-05-27T23:39:00.000+09:00

Well, the moving truck came, loaded all of my stuff and moved it to this grand, glorious, and beautiful....storage building! Yes, it is official that I once again am living with my parents. I must say that it was a strange feeling not having anything to unpack. I moved all of my clothes to my parents house and that is basically it. It is much easier than unloading all of the boxes..to say the least! For now, I must run, but I wanted to at least update a bit on my posts. I need to get in the habit for when I move to Japan. By the way, to Kendon, Matt and all of you in Mito, I am so excited to be joining you and hopefully it will be soon!

Final Soccer Game...for now!

2007-05-13T11:34:00.000+09:00

Well...tonight is my final soccer game with The Cochran Express! Yes, it is bitter sweet! It is my final game because I am moving to Japan (that's the sweet part), but I will be walking away from the soccer field (that's the bitter part). You know...I make this sound like I have been on the pro circuit or something! Ha Ha! No, its not a pro circuit, only semi-pro! Ok, not semi-pro either, but I definitely have fun! So as for me and my soccer career, this is the end....for now! Who knows..maybe I could get recruited to a pro soccer team in Japan? Nah...I think I will retire my jersey to my personal hall of...not sure what hall it will be, but I will find one! Its been fun!

Packing up the house!

2007-05-07T04:01:00.000+09:00

Well my lease is up at the end of May and so that means that I am now packing up the house! It is a bit more difficult this time since I am going to be moving to Japan. However, I am very happy to oblige! As I go through more of my house, I am finding out that I have WAY too much stuff!!! It is ridiculous how much stuff I have! I am very excited to get to sort through and get rid of what I have thought were necessities in the past. I know that sounds weird, but it is just so easy to get caught up in having to buy more material things all of the time. I am looking forward to being able to live a simpler life style. I heard today that I should be receiving paperwork on my visa application, etc in the next few days. I am looking forward to getting that process started. The sooner I get that started/finished, the sooner I get to move to Japan. It looks as of right now that it will be late June. Nothing is definate right now though! Once again, as I know more I will add to my blog. For now, I am going to sign off and go do some more packing!

Sayonara!

Life Change!

2007-05-02T08:58:00.000+09:00

I must say that God has a great since of humor. The timing that God has is perfect and He has the perfect way of ever so gently reminding me of that.

This morning I received a call that all is ago for the next journey in my life. I have been accepted to teach English in Mito, Japan. I can not express at this point, how excited I am about this opportunity! God has opened this door and I am so very blessed. As I know more I will update here as to the plans and exactly when I will be moving.

Have a blessed day!

My First Blog

2007-05-01T11:19:00.000+09:00

Well I decided to join the "blogging nation" and start my blog page! Yes, I know I am probably behind the times, but why not go ahead and jump in!

So this is my first blog and I am trying to think of what to write. I think I am going to leave it simple for now and just say that God has blessed me very richly in my life and I am so very greatful. Have a very blessed week.