7 Days!

Well, I’ve not been very good at blogging lately – sorry about that.  From having visitors, to getting sick, to trying to finish up all my term reports and parent letters – it has been a very busy few weeks!  But…we are so excited that in 7 days we’ll be on our way home!

7 days!  I can’t even believe we’ve made it this far.  My friend, Ashley, and I made a paper chain when we had 90 days to go – and now my paper chain is so small!  It makes me so happy and excited!

I am feeling SO much better – I think I’ll actually be healthy for Christmas!  (Something I was starting to doubt.) Thank you for praying for me – I really appreciate it!

I will try to post some pictures in the next few days, but we’ll see if I get time.  Now that my schoolwork is all done I have to finish making some Christmas presents and pack and all that fun stuff!  But at least you’ll see our faces IN PERSON soon…that’s better than pictures!

See you soon!

The Verdict is In…

I’m happy to say I have a sinus infection!

I know, strange that I’m happy about this – but first of all, I’m happy that none of my recent pain is due to my wisdom teeth, and MORE IMPORTANTLY – I’m happy that our doctor here sent me to a ear, nose and throat specialist today!  You see, going to the doctor here is one of my worst fears and annoyances.  It’s hard enough being sick, then to not understand what they’re saying, throw in a couple of mis-diagnoses…well you get my point.

So today, when he said  ”you have to see a specialist” and he turned me away – I was so excited!  And  when the specialist actually took X-rays and checked me out – even though I couldn’t understand anything he was saying, I was so excited to feel like I was seeing a real doctor!  So even though the diagnosis is that I have a sinus infection – I am just happy to know that what they were telling me actually seems accurate!

So I left with 4 different medications and have to go back a few times a week for treatments, but I’m hopeful that I’ll finally be feeling better in a few days.  And I’m confident that I’ll be ready for America in 16 days  (YES, you read right – 16 days!)

I promise to post pictures of Andy and Laura’s visit soon – but just wanted to share my praise of the day with you and say you can still keep praying for us as we start to head out of the woods.

Sick…again!

This week we have had Chris’ sister and brother-in-law visiting from Chicago.  It has been fun to get to show people from home around Japan!

Unfortunately, I’ve been sick the whole time they’ve been here.  I’m getting really frustrated – feels like I’ve been sick with something or other for a month and a half now.  Please pray for me – that I will get better soon, that we will figure out what’s going on.  Interestingly enough, I’m starting to think that this time my symptoms may be caused by my wisdom teeth.  Yes, I’ve never had them out – my dentist told me just a year ago that I didn’t need to.  So…we’ll see what happens.  It’s just hard to be away from home and be sick so much recently.

On a positive note – we’ll be home in 19 days!  We can’t wait!

Thanksgiving?!

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to all of you back home!

This year was a very strange Thanksgiving for us in Japan.  Probably due to the fact that since we live in Japan, it was like any other normal Thursday.  We had classes and went to school, and really it didn’t feel like Thanksgiving.   It was kind of strange, but I did teach some of my classes about Thanksgiving, and the students find it so strange that we eat turkey.  They don’t eat turkey here – they don’t have turkeys here – most of my students probably won’t see a turkey in their life.  Kind of funny, huh?  They also don’t eat mashed potatoes.  They have potatoes, but they would never mash them.  So to explain the deliciousness of Thanksgiving was kind of difficult and funny at the same time.

Don’t worry though – we did get to eat turkey!  Our team was able to celebrate the Saturday before Thanksgiving…and let me tell you I don’t think turkey every tasted so delicious before in my life!

But even though we didn’t get to celebrate on the day, and even though I had to keep reminding myself it was Thanksgiving – we still have a lot to be thankful for:  Family that has come to visit us (we never believed someone would actually take such a long plane ride to come see us!  It really is terribly long!), after being here for 8 months finally starting to understand some of the language, a cozy little home here, new friends – both American and Japanese, wonderful family and friends from back home who send us wonderful packages and letters so we don’t miss home too much!, the fact that we get to go home to see those wonderful people in 25 days!!!!, and a turkey dinner that we will be enjoying on Monday with Chris’ sister and brother-in-law!

So…Happy Thanksgiving to you all!   We do have a lot to thank God for this year!  And in case you missed it above – we get to come home in 25 days!!!

 

8 Months

Well, I finally updated the blog – lots of new posts and pictures for you.  We are finally feeling better, but still have little bouts of sickness, so please keep praying for us.

We have been her almost 8 months now – I can’t even believe it.  Sometimes it feels shorter than that, and sometimes it feels way longer than that.  We are having our first visitors from home this week.  We are SO excited!  It will be so much fun to get share our lives here with someone from home.  It just seems like it will make it all a little bit more real.

We are also so excited because in 32 days we will be home in America!  I can’t tell you how much we are looking forward to this trip – to getting to see friends and family, getting to eat American food, and getting to shop at Target!

Please be praying for us this next month – for health and safety.  It will be a busy month with visitors, and then lots of Holiday/end of the year obligations that are coming up, and then finally traveling home.

Ekiden

Last Sunday, one of our teammates, Jeni, ran in the Fukushima Ekiden.  The Ekiden is a long-distance relay, where each runner runs from 4K-9K.  It’s a big race and a big accomplishment that she makes it onto the team every year.  We had so much fun going to watch her run her leg of the race!

 

Right where Jeni was running there happened to be a big rainbow in the sky - it was so beautiful!

Mr. Maki (aka - Encho Sensei), Lis and I waiting for Jeni to come by. It was really windy waiting there!

Here comes Jeni - everyone in our area knows her because she's the only non-Japanese runner in the race.

Our cheering squad - Mr. Maki, me, Patty, Bethany, Lis & Chris (who's taking this picture).

 

 

 

Japanese Guests

Last Saturday was a big day for us!  We hosted some of my students for lunch and then had a Japanese friend over for dinner.  It was our first time hosting Japanese people in our house, which is a really big and exciting step for us.  Until this point it has been hard to communicate with my students and Japanese people, but we have really come to a point where our language has picked up and we are making headway!  We are very excited about this!

 

We taught my students how to play the American game called "Blink". They loved it!

My students made a Funfetti cake from America. They were so intrigued by it, and so funny when they put the frosting on the cake. They don't have boxed cake mixes here in Japan, so I don't think they've ever put frosting on anything before!

Ashley and Shizuka

After dinner we went to the town Fall Concert, where our Gospel Choir was performing!  The Gospel Choir did great.  They sang:  The Hallelujah Chorus (not the classical version), Wade in the Water, and Oh Happy Day.

The harmonica choir.

 

The man in the back had a harmonica that was 2 feet long!

This group played things that looked like harpsichords, but they only had 3-5 strings.

The Gospel Choir

 

 

Fall Festival

Our town had a Fall Festival at the beginning of November.  It was actually a sad thing to watch since the Festival is everyone celebrating the harvest and asking the Buddhist gods to bless them this upcoming year.  Everyone is very happy and celebratory in the activities they do, and its hard to know whether they mean what they are saying/doing, or just doing it because it’s “what you do”.

We went out to watch it and it was a great reminder to us of all the lost people around us.  We really need to praying and loving the Japanese people so we can share the real truth with them!

 

The men carry shrines up the river and say "Washoi", which means "good harvest".

The saddest part was seeing all of the children carrying the shrine - a lot of my students even.

As a side note, this was when I was really sick so to go out of my house I had to wear the infamous Japanese face masks, as you can see below.  Really – everyone wears them here!  Even if you’re not sick you wear them to be preventative.

 

Tamura-Fuji Road Race

In the middle of October there was a city wide running race called the Tamura-Fuji Road Race.  There were races for parents/kids, women and men.  Chris ran in the 10K – I, of course, was there to watch and cheer (what I think I do best in a race)!

 

Here are Chris and I before the race, with the sign I made for him. Apparently Japanese people don't make signs because I was the only one with a sign.

The only other sign at the race was made by Katherine (above), Mariana and Asher - they love Chris!

Here is Chris at the Finish line! He finished in 45 minutes

All of our runners - Chris, Kayla (5 years old) and her mom Bethany, Jeni and Ashley.

 

 

Sick Days

I don’t have an interesting post for you – just wanted to send a little note to ask for your prayers.  I (Abbie) was sick all weekend and thought I was getting better, only to have my symptoms return after one healthy day – and today Chris started to feel sick too.  Only one more day to teach this week and then we’ll have a break, but we are getting discouraged this week and could use your prayers!

Thanks!