a good weekend

It is officially fall here in Japan people and what that means is a small window of time where the weather feels the closest to socal as it will ever feel and we all experience a few weeks of pure bliss until.....BAM. WINTER HITS and I am frozen 24/7. So October is a beautiful month and I have been taking advantage of it by spending more time out in the city with new and old friends! 

Got to visit my new friend Nami at Jaho coffee! Anyone and everyone in the Tokyo area...go here!! You will not be disappointed. 

This past weekend Steph (back to co-worker Steph...I know a lot of stephs) and I headed into Tokyo to meet up with a few of her friends from CA who were here on a prayer missions trip. Steph's friend Amy had a friend, Nathalie, who just moved to Tokyo with her family...so they all met up with us to hang out for the day. Nathalie has two adorable kids who came along with us and I was in auntie heaven! Being around kids, especially the same age as my nieces and nephews, is so therapeutic for me so you could imagine my excitement. We spent the day on the ultimate Tokyo tour...Dominique Ansel, Nakamegs, Jaho Coffee, Afuri, then ending at Loft in Shibuya! 

Typical Tokyo life...taxi trying to get through a crowd.

After a fun day in the city, Steph and I headed to Makuhari to attend the best party ever...

This is Shun, my coworker and good friend. He is half Japanese half Nepalese and is one of the most hilarious people I have ever met. His parents own a restaurant and they host a sari party every month and this month was extra special because it was Shun's 30th birthday!

We got to rent a sari (his mom helped us put it on), eat an amazing buffet of Nepalese curry + rice + bread, eat birthday cake, and dance the night away with all of his family and friends. It was crazy and SO much fun. 

Shun, his beautiful wife Noriko, and his mom! At work, Shun always talks about his wife and how they met when they were in college and he had long rockstar hair but his humor won her over. Steph and I have been dreaming to meeting her for some time now, so when we finally got to see her I felt like I was meeting a celebrity! Not only is she beautiful, but she is so kind! She made sure that after the party Shun drove us back to the station so we didn't have to walk. How did this guy get so lucky to find a girl like her? Also, how amazing and cute is his mom?! 

So that wraps up another rad weekend here in Japan. So thankful for all the new friends the Lord has brought into my life here. How cool is it that God created our hearts to always love and embrace more people? Thank you Lord!

STEPH IN TOKYO

Not too long ago, my good friend Steph sent me a text about cheap flights to Tokyo and the possibility of her coming out to visit. I noticed a three day weekend in the middle of October and told her to aim for that timeline. With only a month or so to spare, she booked her flight to Narita and stayed with me 5 days! 

Steph and I met when we were 14. We were teeny tiny little teenagers chosen to be a part of the 12th Yonsei basketball team. Ever since we were young, Steph has been the planning type. On our Yonsei team she was basically the team mom, planning our Christmas parties, tournaments, and even our senior trip to hawaii together! (pic above from that trip in 2009)  I knew having her in Tokyo would be a breeze, and that she would research all the best places to go before I even had to worry about it.

Sure enough, she came and we hit up some new spots that were all amazing. We cruised all over Tokyo and then spent the holiday (Monday) in Yokohama. 

First stop in Tokyo...RAINBOW PANCAKE. Steph is a huge fan of pancakes and really did her research on this one. I had never even heard of it and I'm the one who lives here haha! Rainbow pancake is located in Omotesando and is famous for these insanely fluffy and delicious pancakes. 

Steph ordered the Macadamia pancakes which were OFF THE CHARTS good. Forsure some of the best pancakes I've ever had. I ordered the seasonal Flower and honey pancake special which was almost too beautiful to eat. They somehow managed to infuse floral taste into the whipped cream (beats me) and the honey tasted magical on the fluffy cakes. 

Good coffee + pancakes...does it get much better than that?

After breakfast we cruised around Cat street and Omotesando on our way to Shibuya. 

Cats street is definitely the place for hispters and fashionistas in the Tokyo area. I especially love the Japanese guys who dress like Justin Bieber haha. 

Steph's younger cousin is a huge TsumTsum fan so we had to stop by the Disney store in Shibuya. Now that I have been to Shibuya more times than I can count...I will say that the scramble still gets me every time. It's always as crowded and busy as you would imagine...and I am always fascinated people watching. 

Next stop..afternoon coffee in Nakameguro. Let me just say, I am so thankful Steph is not only a major foodie but she is a coffee addict as well! The perfect person to travel Tokyo with. 

We looked up a place to check out in Nakamegs and Steph found this place...JAHO Coffee which I had heard of briefly before. It just opened recently and is in the perfect location by the river. IT IS SO CUTE INSIDE I ALMOST COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. TOO TOO GOOD. 

There's also the most stylish clothing store in the back of the coffee shop that sells ridiculously soft expensive sweaters that I can only dream of wearing one day. 

Talk about a cool look out spot. This place will be straight up MAGIC when it is cherry blossom season since all the trees along the river will bloom!

Introducing the newest member into my family...BAOBAO. Issey Miyake is one of Japan's most famous fashion designers and BAOBAO is his line of geometric bags. I had been eyeing this guy for a while so when Steph came I took it as an opportunity to splurge and get me a new Japanese made bag. To say I'm obsessed is an understatement. 

The carrot cake was next level. And the drip coffee? legit. 

I started chatting with the barista and I learned that she lived in the states for many years and is actually the owner of Jaho coffee! So cool. I asked if I could take her photo...isn't she the cutest? And I told her I would be back again soon. Japanese coffee people are seriously the coolest. 

We ended up eating lunch at Afuri at 3pm or so (because of our large breakfast)...so at around 5pm we were due for a snack. We were around Roppongi area and picked up these really good cream puffs (in Japan they call cream puffs "shu-cream" which makes me think of "shoe-cream" and I laugh every time).

We ended our day with Soup Stock for dinner which always has flavorful soup, curry and bread. Can't go wrong with that!

A few more phone my phone...

Another spot we hit up over the weekend was Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki Paris, which was exactly as fancy as it sounds. We ordered the cake platter thing which came with 6 pieces of the most flavorful and beautiful little cakes! We also cruised around Akihabara area which offered us this nice sunset view.  

Monday was a national holiday and we decided to take a trip (1.5 hrs) down to Yokohama. Yokohama is an awesome city with a very chill vibe, which I love. 

We strolled around the red brick warehouse where they were having Octoberfest (went last year), grabbed coffee, and took in the nice ocean views. 

Oh and how could I forget our incredible Sukiyaki lunch with the coolest entry way ever. The meat was amazing and the ambiance of the restaurant really added to the Japanese feel of everything. And yes, that is a raw egg that you dip your cooked meat into. The true way to eat sukiyaki. 

On Stephs's last night here we decided to meet in Ginza (where her hotel was) and she found this udon place online. It was very unique dipping style and tasted amazing! Good call Steph. And we ended the night and our time together in Japan with parfaits from nanas Green Tea. 

It was so nice having Steph in Tokyo for a few days. She is so chill, easygoing, yet simultaneously really good at planning and getting things done. That is probably the best type of person to travel with! 

journal.

Few things excite me more in life than journaling. 

I know that sounds a bit odd, but just ask anyone I've ever lived with (family, roomies) and they know that waking up and writing down my prayers to God is something I can't live without.

When I moved to Japan a year ago, I brought two journals with me. One was a big beautiful lime green one with a fat zipper all around the side. It was from Anthropologie and I went through it in 8 months. The second journal was from my friend Kelcie and it was a beautiful brown one with two buttons on the front. I went through that one in 6 months. So last week I was coming to the end of my second journal and bought a brand new one from the bookstore. It's all white, simple, and doesn't have lines (my favorite. doodle freedom).

Today I wrote on the first page some lyrics from the song Hidden by United Pursuit Band. My good friend Colton, who lives in Haiti, recently reminded me of the beautiful lyrics to that song and this part felt very fitting...

"I want to seek you first
I want to love you more
I want to give you the honor your deserve"

Ending one journal and starting the next feels like a very real end of one chapter and beginning of another. The timing is no coincidence and as I begin filling these blank pages, I want the words of this song to echo true throughout. I want to seek God first. I want to love Him more. I want to give Him the honor He deserves. Japan is not necessarily 'new' to me anymore so now that I've been here over a year I pray this journal would be filled with deeper reflection and pure intent in my pursuit of honoring God in all that I do. 

And for those of you who have never tried to daily journal...I highly suggest you do! It has been one of the biggest blessings in my life and one way I stay closest to God. 

ALL OVER THE PLACE

a lot of random things I've been up to via my iphone...literally all over the place...

"leave me alone" was the store's name. brilliant. And my good friend Curtis brought me chick-fil-A sauce THANK YOU CURTIS.

Steph and I pulled off a two-day English camp for the first year international class. We planned a bunch of activities and sessions to get the students more comfortable speaking English. Also, we took four of our girl students to a recent speech contest. Unfortunately, none of them placed but let's just say I would have chosen otherwise!! *They were all amazing!

Bentos delivered old school style to the English camp...and Tamaoki sensei explaining the proper way to choose a drink at 7-11. He chose this LIFEGUARD soda for me while I was getting through my cold. It tasted like extremely flavorful mountain dew. never again.

TAIKUSAI aka SPORTS FESTIVAL was a few weeks ago and it was awesome. 

The game everyone loves is when the girls have to pick up a card which tells them what ingredient they have to stuff their face in. The worst one is the nori (Seaweed!)

My two fellow teachers and I (wore a face mask all day due to my cold)...and the 2A students in a group huddle. 

A few other events recently...I had to help out with a local festival in Kashiwa. It was an international festival so there were a bunch of different cultural dances and performances. The day before, I had a church lunch with a bunch of awesome ladies and Sayumi was the queen in the kitchen cooking up a bunch of eggs to go on top of our Thai food!

Nothing like a good cup of coffee in Tokyo. This one was from Sidewalk stand in Naka Meguro. 

Two good things for the soul...a nice walk outside and a power lunch (Acai smoothie and salad). I would eat that lunch every single day if I was rich and had money to throw around. 

Giant greens in Tokyo and a nice farmers market. 

House plant envy...and the cutest Tokyo kids going home after school.

Wowza...September was a wild month. It's almost mid way though October now and my good friend Steph has been staying with me these past few days. I has been so nice and refreshing having her around. The Lord knew that having a good friend from back home visit was exactly what I needed to get me through this crazy season. 

Then, the end of October means mid-terms, a few nomikais, dinners with former coworkers, a halloween party for English club...and then I will be preparing myself for the cold that comes with November. What I am NOT looking forward to is freezing my butt off every day but what I AM looking forward to is being home for the holidays!!! Counting down the days...

BUNKASAI 2016

*i'm so behind on my posts...Bunkasai was almost a month ago!*

Bunkasai (cultural festival) is a BIG deal at Ichikashi and one of my favorite events all year.

Every homeroom designs class t-shirts and decide months in advance if they are going to sell food, do a game, or some other type of attraction. This is a two day non stop party. The first day is reserved just for the students and the teachers. People often say the first day is just a "practice" for the second day, Saturday, when our school is open to the public and things really get crazy. 

This year I just brought my camera around on the first day because I knew the second day would be crazy (I participated in a teacher dance). Ok...welcome to the wild world of Ichikashi Bunkasai 2016...

First event of the day...opening ceremonies and the moment you get to see all the impressive class t-shirts. They always put numbers on the back signifying their birthday, or sports number, and choose a nickname to put on there as well. This year there was a bit of drama when the first year students (10th graders) had the exact style of shirt as the third year students (12th graders) so one of the teachers had to make an announcement saying if they kept complaining about it, t-shirts would be banned next year! In my opinion, the third year students were just jealous because the first year students shirts were a cooler color. haters gunna hate. 

Everyone gets a pamphlet explaining what each of the homerooms are doing. Most of them sell food (beef bowls, icecream, snacks, drinks), make a horror house, some type of game or attraction, or perform a show! It is incredible the things they pull off just using their classroom and a bunch of cardboard haha. 

1A replicated a popular style of gameshow on Japanese TV where you do a bunch of games like minute-to-win-it. For this one they had us kick a ball at big moving objects and see how many we could knock over. I loved how they created a system for the board to roll across the ground smoothly - clever! 

3A did a maid cafe, except the maids were the boys haha! Their skirts were definitely too short but you gotta give them credit for creativity and full commitment. 

They sold boba, performed dances throughout the day, and made everyone pose with them like the maids at cafes do. Hilarious. 

3B has been making a short movie every year so, this being their last year, they filmed their finale! They made their classroom into a movie theatre and showed the 20min production throughout the day. I was so impressed by it! I even made it into the credits for some reason. So cute. 

3C did a crazyyyyy crazyyyy Toy Story Mania cart attraction. A least one class a year does this and it is one of my favorite things. They create four or five separate games in their classroom and push you around (yes one students job is to physically push the cart) as you play the various shooting and throwing games. They try and make it as much like the real Toy Story Mania as possible and it is so legit! Also can we just admire the spot-on Woody entrance.

They even had a standby entrance sign lol! The line for this gets pretty long, and on Saturday there was at least 20-30 people waiting to play.

Loved all the decor. When I was in high school I made some posters for student council and painted a few things for dances, but I would have loved something like Bunkasai. The students spend so much time all working together brainstorming ideas, designating jobs, and creating all these awesome displays...the whole school participates and it is awesome to witness. 

3D did this funny forest themed game and they had me cracking up with their "challenge" sign...especially since I teach them English writing class and I always get on them for their spelling errors!! 

2I put on a high school musical performance in their classroom! HAHA...I didn't get to see it but I heard it was amazing. 

2A did a horror house and had a line outside all day. They were so excited to scare everyone as make their room as frightening as possible. 

all throughout the hallways students will walk around or put signs up to advertise their classroom.

3G did this hilarious play on words with "LIONEL (UNDA) MESSI" because they all love Lionel Messi and in Japanese "undameshi" means "test one's luck" so they created all these stages of luck games that you pass through to make it to the end. When I turned the corner and saw their giant Messi face I couldnt stop laughing LOL. 

selling Yakisoba and ramume! 

2G did a really impressive job with creating their version of Yoshinoya (restaurant chain) by changing it to their homeroom teacher's name...IKEDA-ya! Their design look just like Yoshinoya as well haha. 

They sold beef bowls for 300yen and after two days....sold about 600 bowls! 

Kawamoto, Takeda, Steph, and... Matsuo Sensei who always tries to look tough and scary in front of the kids but is really a softy hahaa. 

Akimoto sensei is the homeroom teacher of 2B and he does two years of preparation leading up to the third year musical he always puts on. So this class has chosen to do Sound of Music next year...so this year they sold "Austrian beef plates" to raise money for next year. They went all out! 

The peace sign is still very alive and well in Japan. 

Another big part of Bunkasai are the performances. The sports class (1S, 2S and 3S) have a tradition of doing a really crazy and over-the-top dance every year. This was 2S doing their routine and it was just as loud, wild, and sweaty of a performance as you would imagine a group of 40 sports kids to do haha. 

The music club also performed and one of my students Soichiro was the MC. He is always so so soooo quiet in class so it was so fun seeing him in his superstar getup and slicked back hair.

The dance club did an amazing job this year. They had like three wardrobe changes, danced to 10 different songs, mixed up the hip hop with the cheer and pop...seriously, I kept thinking to myself, "I could have never looked this cool in high school!" 

2F did an ocean cafe and sold popsicles. One boy even dressed up as Ariel and walked around to advertise for his class. 

And the craft club sold a bunch of keychains, handmade notebooks, stationary, etc. I bought a bunch of cute little things to keep at my desk at work. Love it!

I feel so honored to be able to see a real Japanese High School Bunkasai from behind the scenes. It is truly a once in a lifetime experience to be living and working here...and I am so thankful for everyday I get to walk into school and be a part of life here at Ichikashi.