Steph and I met up with our former coworker, Imazawa Sensei, for Indian food (really spicy, really good). It is always nice to see Imazawa because he has really taken care of us in Japan, and although he works at a different school now, we still find time every few months to catch up!
And yet another Nomikai...this one was to celebrate the recent Sports Festival and Cultural Festival we had at school. All of the teachers have been so busy recently, so everyone loved coming together to have a night of relaxation and good Kyushu style food. I sat near two of my coworkers who are a part of the unofficial and self proclaimed "若いの先生“ "young teachers" club at school haha.
Last week I met up with my good friend Mina and her brother Naoya and we went out to eat Okonomiyaki. This one was Hiroshima style, with noodles inside! We also ate ホルモン"hormone" aka intestines which, believe it or not, I actually ate this time. It basically tastes like a thick piece of fat attached to a chewy piece of cardboard (I am assuming that is the intestinal wall) that doesn't seem edible but Japanese people LOVE it. Naoya says he orders it every time and it's the best Hormone he's ever had. Also, how weird is the name hormone? It actually comes from the word "horumon" from the kansai dialect which means "discarded goods" HAHA.
Okay this is special...Watoto childrens choir came to Hope church again! I can hardly believe it's been a year since THIS POST !! I could not stop smiling dancing and worshipping the good Lord with these beautiful children. My favorite part was talking to some of the kids and leaders after and hearing their Ugandan accent. It's hard to explain, but something about their voices is just so comforting. It takes me right back to my time in Gulu.
After the Watoto concert I headed back to Kashiwa to meet up with a new friend, Yuuki, who Steph and I met via another mutual friend...and get this... he went to APU! How crazy is that? We didn't go to APU at the same time but we knew a few people in common and it just cracked me up talking to a Japanese guy about chapel, cougar den, and donut man! God is a God of connections and He reminded me of that this weekend. Also, the restaurant we went to in Kashiwa has just become my new favorite spot in the city. I mean, if my life were a restaurant it would be this, exactly.
And the final event of recent was heading into Tokyo and meeting up with my friend Miri. Last year when I was working at the tutoring center, I tutored a lovely lady named Masako. We met each week and Masako eventually introduced me to her daughter my age named Miri - and we became fast friends! Anyway, she recently moved back to Japan and is now working for a company right around the corner from Tokyo station. We met up for dinner on Sunday and went to Shake shack.
They just opened the third Shake Shack in Tokyo in Yurakucho (right at the Tokyo International Forum) and it was AMAZING. Always a win. Especially those cheese fries.
I am so happy to have Miri in Tokyo now!! She went to UCR (and UCLA) and her parents live in PV so she totally gets life back home, not to mention shes is obsessed with Disneyland so I now have the perfect person to go there with! YES.
And a few updates about school since, yes, I do still work during the week...
-Yesterday at lunch I brought instant ramen, this new pack I hadn't tried before, but when I made it I instantly smelled the fishy broth. At this point my coworkers were intrigued "oh Amie, you're eating ramen?" (I usually eat a sandwich or something with rice) and they all watched me take my first bite of the fishiness to see if I could do it. NOPE. NOPE. So then I gave all of it to Tamaoki sensei who gladly devoured it in two seconds. The good things is he said "I'll take you to non-fishy ramen next to make up for it" haha.
-For one of our classes, Steph and I gave them this stamp card and they have to come once a week, make up a question ask us, and receive a stamp to help improve their conversation skills. The questions usually vary from "what did you do this weekend?" to "what is your favorite type of Japanese food" but yesterday...one of the Filipinio kids came up to me and said, "what is your favorite part about being a Christian?" And I almost cried. Not because of the question but because of his face when he asked me, he was pure joy and happiness knowing I got what he got and we both served the same God! P.s I told him my favorite part was knowing the Father's love and living with purpose!
-Last week our school brass band went to Nagoya to compete in the all Japan High School Brass Band competition and they won the gold medal for the third consecutive year. No big deal. This Thursday and Friday the entire brass band will be gone at another event so half my students will be out of class! Music is absolutely life here at my school and it dominates every other club activity.