Nippon e yōkoso!

Welcome to Japan!

I'm officially here and subtly suffering from jetlag. I don't necessarily feel tired, but I feel my body shutting down. I can't think to do a crossword puzzle (I know..horrible for me!) and it comes to a point where I can barely put words together into a sentence. Haha.. But beyond that, I'm trying to soak everything in.

The flight in was easy overall.. I slept for most of it which made it go fairly quickly. I sat beside a gentleman who travels once a month to Vietnam for work. He had already been traveling for almost a full day and still had another flight to catch into Hanoi. Made me thankful I was only going into Tokyo! Immigration went smoothly.. I spent half an hour waiting in line with an older couple on vacation and went through all my paperwork with no questions. Much easier than getting into Ireland, oddly enough! The nice thing about waiting so long for Immigration was that by the time I got through, all of our baggage had come through the conveyor and was set out. After I picked those up, I went out to the receiving room where I met Richard Nakumura. He was nice enough to push his way to the front of the group of people waiting to pick up passengers and held up a large "SEND International" sign, so he was the first person I saw. We drove two more hours through rice fields (flooded and ready for planting season) and small towns to get to Tokorozawa, where the offices are. Tokorozawa is just outside Tokyo, similar to Fishers or Camp Hill--Just a pinch over the city limits.

It was great to talk to and listen to Richard on the drive--he told me a lot about the Church in Japan and its needs. He told me about the churches I'll be working at and some of the people I'll get to know. It was so encouraging to hear just how God is brought us together at the Right time. They need someone to work on their monthly newsletters because the man who puts them together is currently on home servie! If all works out, I'll get to do some writing while I'm over here as well :) It was also neat to hear how ministry is shifting towards people-focused as opposed to program-focused, something that's been really weighing on my heart the last year or so as well. There's a push to increase discipleship and urge people to pour into one another--a steel on steel type of focus as opposed to come, sit and listen to a sermon, and go. We are all charged with the Great Commission, to go and make disciples, and this is one area where there is need here. Truth be told, a lot of the issues that Richard brought up here I see at home as well. But at home, there's more of an idea that that is how religion is supposed to be done--that it is an individual experience as opposed to a corporate one. Both places there is a lack of vulnerability that needs to be challenged.

After we got to the offices, Richard got me settled into my apartment. It's very nice and very Japanese! I have a rice mat in my living-bedroom where I was threatened in the nicest way several times to never ever wear shoes. I have a futon (not like ours at all! pronounced Fu TONE) that folds up and is put away every morning. After I got settled in, I went over to the neighbors' apartment--the Mikoskis--to play Wii Mariokart. Very fun. They have two young boys, Conner and Troy, who are crazy energetic!

This morning, Anne Marie picked me up and took me to Starbucks! What a comforting familiar thing to start off my stay in Japan! We talked about business-y type stuff mostly and then came back to the SEND offices. She walked me around to the grocery stores and showed me what to get where and offered advice on how to buy food. Grocery shopping is a daily thing here, as produce especially molds within two days of purchasing it. We had lunch at the office with some of the other SEND workers, including the Kunneckes, who are from Grace. Following that was a short financial seminar, a nap for me, and dinner with Michelle and Nate Mikoski. I went over early and Michelle taught me how to make curry. It was delicious :)

Everyone has been so helpful and welcoming. I feel so at home even in a culture that is so shockingly different from what I'm used to. One thing that really made me feel at home? Get ready all you PAers--Anne Marie's van has a huge PennState decal on it! I got SO excited when I saw that.. the kind of excited where you have to apologize afterwards because of your sudden outburst. :)

It's currently almost 9pm here and I should be heading to bed soon. Although I don't feel tired, I know that as soon as I put my head down, I'll be asleep! That's for the best :) Tomorrow Richard is showing me around downtown Tokyo via train and then I'm having dinner with Anne Marie and her family. Should be another good day :)

Prayer requests... probably right now, for getting comfortable with the language and manners, and for ease in getting an international drivers license. :)