Typhoons, Transistions and Spiders

I realized that I haven't written in a while, and a lot has changed in my life. I changed churches, and have three new schools. Life has been unbelievably sweet and unbelievably busy lately. I just wrote an email to a friend that I used to work with who has moved to Tohoku, and I'm gonna post chunks of it to fill you all in about my life. <3

Dear ______ Sensei!

...

It's really exciting that the elementary school has sumo! I would love to come watch a match! If you take any pictures of Shunya playing sumo, please send them to me. 見たいね！ I'm starting to get used to Shimono-sho, but I really miss Tokiwa and I miss you!!! Some of my new 5th and 6th grade boys are really mean! One of them told me that my gums were really wide and I looked like an orangutang! ショック！！！(shock!!) Kids always say whatever they think, so I'm not too surprised. Most of the students are really nice though. Did I tell you there was a mamushi (Japanese cobra) in the genkan (entry way) the first time I went to the school??? 田舎だよ！(it's sooooo countryside!)

Thank you for reading my journals!!! I really enjoyed writing them, so I am glad you enjoyed reading them. To be honest, I really miss my grandpa, especially today for some reason, so I think it is good for me to keep remembering him through things like mountain climbs and journals.

One of the teachers at Sakura Junior High is volunteering to help some people who evacuated from Tohoku to Yokkaichi, so even though I can't go to Tohoku because of work, maybe I can get involved with helping the people from Tohoku here? I'm not sure what I can do really, but I know that God loves those people very much, and He cares about their suffering, so if I can do anything to help I really want to. Another of the teacher's from Sakura JHS went to Ishinomaki to volunteer this weekend. The man whose farm I worked on in Sendai was recently interviewed by Fox News. Here is a link to the article if you are interested.

http://world.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=26264&content=56647028&pageNum=-1

My friend who lives in Miyagi said there have been a lot of big earthquakes lately. Are you guys doing ok? Is shunya scared? How is the weather there? I think its finally fall here!! YAY!!!!

This past weekend I went to camp in the mountains in Gifu with the young adults group (青年会）from my church. It was so much fun! I was really happy to get to be in nature with a bunch of my friends. I went hiking to a really beautiful waterfall, and played a lot of games, and studied the Bible a lot with everyone. For breakfast we had "夕森サンド."(Camp Yumori Sandwitch). First you made a sandwitch. second you wrap in in tin foil. Third, you put it inside an empty milk carton. Fourth, you light the milk carton on fire (using the camp fire). When the milk carton is all burned up, it means you sandwitch is done! The bread is toasted, and its warm, and the cheese is melted. It was really good and really fun to make! You should try it with your boys sometime! :)

I also had a really memorable experience in the ofuro (bath)... I looked over towards the girl sitting next to me, my friend Atsumi, and there was a GIANT spider on her leg... it was at least 5 centimeters across!!!! I screamed and tried to wash it off of her with the shower (hand held shower hose style), but the water was barely dripping out (there was no water pressure) so I just got the spider wet and it started running up her back and on to her neck!!! GYAAAAA!!! We were both screaming and panicking, and then I hit it off of her with my hand. I have never touched a spider that big before. I'm a little bit proud of myself for being brave enough to touch it, and a little bit dissapointed in myself I didn't touch it sooner. Poor ________!!! Anyways, I'm really thankful it wasn't me!

How have the recent typhoons been in Yamanashi? School was closed in Yokkaichi last Wednesday because of the typhoon, but I still had to go to Sakura JHS. It was pouring rain, all of the rivers were swollen, there were puddles everywhere, and flooding in some parts of Yokkaichi. It's about a 15 minute walk from the bus stop to the school, so I was soaked when I arrived. The principal asked me how I got there, and I smiled and said "水上バイク" (jet ski). The principals reaction was priceless! (笑!) School without students was a lot more fun than I had anticipated. I was able to get to know a lot of the teachers a lot better, and group of us even played volleyball in the gym in the afternoon!

I miss my old schools, but I really like my new ones too. All of the teacher's are really nice, and so are the students. I went to Oike JHS's sports day uchiage (teacher's after party), so I got to see all of my old teachers still. There is an old English song that goes..."Make new friends, keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." I think its true. I am really thankful for all of my friends here in Yokkaichi, and for my friend in Yamanashi!! I hope I can go visit sometime!

I'm looking forward to hearing from you!! Enjoy the beginning of fall!

Love,
Michelle