One day last week was particularly bad with high humidity and temps. The class I was about to teach just had PE class and the classroom was filled with student fanning themselves, spraying deodorant and complaining about being hot. Normally, they are fairly attentive and participatory, but on that day it was a struggle even for me to stay focused!
One thing I love about summer in Japan are looking at all the beautiful hydrangea plants in all shades of pinks, blues and purples and tsutsuji pink flowers everywhere. Summer also means festivals, visits to the beach and fireworks!
Flowers near Takahagi HS
During the third weekend in June I went on a church retreat with about 24 AETs (assistant English teachers) and two missionaries at Mito Church. We met at the church for dinner, team building games and worship. Afterwards we headed to a hostel near Lake Senba in Mito where we spent the night. People hung out and talked, played cards, board games and watched the World Cup game. It was nice getting to know the other AETs better since I only see most of them at church on Sundays. We slept in traditional Japanese style rooms on futons on tatami. This was my second experience sleeping on tatami, but the smell of the tatami in this hostel was pretty overpowering.
Next morning we ate breakfast, followed by a “breakfast of Psalms” where different people shared their favorite Psalm. The Japanese Pastor, Atsushi showed a presentation about the life of Mito Church with various events and ministries from the past year. He has been at Mito Church for about a year and is truly passionate about spreading God’s message of salvation to the Japanese people.
He also shared some interesting facts about Christianity in Japan and Mito Church:
~ Out of the 137 million people that live in Japan, only 1 million or less are Christians
~ average number of members of churches in Japan is 25
~ there are about 100 members at Mito Christ Church
~ Mito and Ochanamizu Christ Churches are the only Christ Churches that have bilingual service
~ there are 60 Christ Churches in Japan
It’s such a blessing to have found Mito Christ Church!
The rest of the morning we talked about vision and changes for the future. We discussed needs of the group and new ideas like forming cell groups and flock groups. I joined a flock group with about 9 other English teachers and Japanese members and am looking forward to getting to know them better. It’s clear that God has given spiritual discernment to both Atsushi and the missionaries at church. Excited to see what God is going to do!
Here are some pictures from the retreat:
http://cid-9c1062be34e0a798.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/2010.06.18%20Foreigners%5E4%20Retreat
The next big event of June was my injury. Three weeks ago I was cutting a cabbage that a teacher at school had given me and not being careful and cut my left hand with a sharp knife. It was a very stupid mistake on my part and learned my lesson the hard way. My thumb went numb shortly after I cut my hand and I found out later that I had cut a sensory nerve.
After I cut my hand I immediately called my friend, but she didn’t answer her phone. I called the school nurse from Isohara HS next because I knew she lived in Takahagi and spoke really good English. She answered and was eating dinner at a restaurant with other teachers 3 minutes away from apartment and immediately came over with one of my English teachers. She took a look at my hand and wrapped it in some gauze. Kurosawa and Asami Sensei took me to Takahagi Kyodo Hospital’s ER where I was able to see the doctor and get my hand re-wrapped. God was definitely watching out for me in all this because Asami Sensei had just given me her cell phone number the previous week at school and the fact that she had been so close to my apartment with another English teacher was definitely God’s timing. They were so helpful with translating and filling out paperwork. It was definitely a memorable night, but despite the bad circumstances my favorite memory of the night was Asami Sensei’s reaction when she looked into my sink where I had been washing the cabbage and said, “Sugoi cabbage!” (meaning wow that’s a lot of cabbage!)
The next day was my school’s class match and I was suppose to run in the relay race with some students and play on the teacher’s team for volleyball. Well, I ended up only seeing the opening and closing ceremony and spent the majority of the day at the hospital. I have the best vice principal and again thank God for providing for me. Kyoto Sensei drove me to the hospital on Friday to see the doctor again. In Japan you don’t make appointments, but show up and wait anywhere for 2-3 hours to see a doctor. A doctor visit in Japan is a half a day affair. Kyoto Sensei waited with me for a little while, but when we found out it would be another 1 ½ hr. until I could see a doctor I sent him back to school. Much to my relief my doctor spoke some English and told me that I may have cut a nerve, but wanted to open the wound more to make sure. So I agreed and he gave my hand some local anesthesia and did the small operation. It wasn’t enough to get a clear view, so he suggested a full surgery so he could use a microscope. That seemed like the best option, since I still didn’t have feeling in my thumb. With that he sent me off to get x-rays and blood tests. It was an interesting and a little scary hospital visit especially with not completely understanding Japanese or being able to make myself perfectly clear. But, got the x-rays and blood tests finished and another English teacher came to pick me up. The surgery would be performed later in the afternoon, but the doctor would call me to tell me when to come back.
So I went back to school for about an 1 ½ hr. and got a call from the doctor to go back for my surgery. Kyoto Sensei drove me back again and the surgery took about an hour. I was awake during the entire thing, but got a heavy dose of local anesthesia in my hand. I felt like I was in a Grey’s Anatomy episode lying there with the lights, doctors, nurses, microscopes and surgical equipment. They blocked my view of the surgery and I didn’t feel a thing during it. Surgery went well and the doctor found the nerve I cut and was able to re-connect it and stitched my hand up with 6 stitches. My hand was put in a soft splint to immobilize my thumb. The doctor said recovery time would be about 4 weeks and was hopeful, but couldn’t guarantee all feeling would return to my thumb.
Since the accident everyday tasks like showering, cooking, getting dressed and typing have been more difficult. I’ve been able to get by, just very slowly. Many people have come to my rescue offering to help me shop and cooking for me. I’ve been going to the hospital about once a week and just got my splint taken off this past Thursday. I’ve been slowly getting feeling back in my thumb and am able to move it more and more. I’d appreciate your prayers and am optimistic that I’ll make a full recovery.
Another surprise happened to me yesterday while I was out to dinner with the two other ALTs in my town. We were eating at an Indian Curry place when all of a sudden I felt something on my leg. I looked down to find a HUGE cockroach crawling on me! I quickly flung it off and was too shocked to even scream. It scurried across the room where it terrified two girls so much that they picked up their meal and moved to the opposite side of the room. We alerted the owner and he quickly took care of it. Well, for the rest of the night I sat with my feet off the ground. That was by far the biggest cockroach I have seen here, another experience I will not easily forget!
On a happier note there are only 3 weeks left of school until summer vacation! It's going to be a busy, but exciting summer!
~baseball game in Tokyo
~Kirk Franklin concert in Tokyo
~summer festivals and fireworks
~spending time with girls in bible study and friend from ISU before they leave Japan
~taking over as new prayer and encouragement coordinator of Jet Christian Fellowship
~trips to Gunma and Sendai
~meeting the new Ibaraki ALTs
~interviewing student teachers
~judging speech contest
~English Camp
Celebrated my friend Hannah's birthday at Hard Rock Cafe
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