by Whitey | Apr 13, 2010 | Etc.
Living in Japan was the best way to learn Japanese. The pressure of language school, with its daily homework and at-least-weekly tests; the daily need and opportunity to use what I was learning in class — these things helped me stay motivated and focused on the task.
Since returning to Canada in December, I’ve been wanting to keep up with my Japanese studies but finding it hard to stay motivated. But some recent events and conversations have reminded me of the importance of continuing to work at my Japanese, even — or perhaps especially — while I’m away from Japan.
Now, I could go out and invest in some expensive new study materials. I even had a church offer to buy me a fairly expensive software-based course. But I decided I would be better off to actually use the stuff I already have, rather than wasting loads of money on yet another study aid that is probably intended for absolute beginners (which I am not) anyway.
I’ve come to realize that the thing I’ve been missing is a routine. It’s amazing how a lack of productivity in any area can often be solved by simply making specific tasks a regular routine.
I’m just getting started with my new study routine, but having a plan and making it public are also helpful keys to success. So here’s a rundown of my new routine for studying Japanese. Five days a week, at least 2 hours a day, I’m using what I’ve got and focusing on four main areas:
1. Vocabulary — using my iPod touch and Japanese Flip.
2. Kanji — using my Nintendo DS and this kanji-practice game (which I’d only recommend if you already have some basic reading/writing skills, as it’s actually intended for Japanese people and therefore has no English at all).
3. Reading — using Japanese manga (comics). Right now I’m reading a kids comic, Doraemon, but I have some others that are geared towards a teen / young adult audience. I’m working my way up to them.
Along with the reading and kanji studies, I make use of a great — and free — Japanese dictionary app for my iPod touch, called Kotoba.
4. Listening — Using podcasts like this one, and CDs like these.
5. Real-life — I’ve been keeping in touch with Japanese friends via email and Facebook, and that’s been super helpful. I’ve also got a couple of Japanese friends right here in my own hometown. I’m hoping to make better use of the local connections, and continue to keep in touch with those back in Japan.
Routines: Super important. Super helpful. Super hard to get into. But now that’s public, I guess I should get to it. Wish me luck.
by Whitey | Apr 10, 2010 | Weekly Re-Cap
I travel a lot. It can be pretty draining sometimes. This past weekend was Easter, though, and I had no churches booked and got to “visit” my own. It’s been nice to be off the road for a couple weeks. I’m feeling refreshed and ready to get back to it this weekend.
This week’s been pretty quiet. I’ve spent a lot of time at home doing office stuff. I’ve also done a lot of art-related work. It’s been pretty productive. I’m also trying to study more, and beginning to get myself into a routine with that. One of my big fears is that in all these months at home in Canada I’ll forget my Japanese. So I’m trying to be more intentional about fighting that.
This weekend I’ll be in Saint John, NB, visiting First Wesleyan Church, a church I attended for over a year during my days as a full-time print shop graphic designer. Those were good times, and it’ll be good to re-connect with one of my “home churches”.
That’s a wrap for this week.
by Whitey | Apr 6, 2010 | Ministry News
Sorry for the lack of regular blogging the past few days. If you haven’t seen it yet, though, you should scroll down to the previous post and check out the Waidaiko/Gospel fusion video, because it’s awesome. I may have some more Japan-related video content later this week, but in the meantime, I wanted to post my April prayer letter. I sent this via email last week, but hadn’t posted it here yet. So here it is:
Hi everyone,
Happy Easter!
March has been a pretty crazy month, but a good month over all. It’s been physically tiring but spiritually refreshing. Thank you for praying!
I’ve been traveling a lot. I had the opportunity to minister in 5 churches in 3 provinces. It’s been great re-connecting with friends and supporters, sharing my testimony and vision, and building my support team.
I also had a friend visit from Japan for about a week. Kenji is a member of my church in Nagoya, Japan, and one of my closest friends there. We had a great time doing ministry together, sight-seeing and just hanging out. For more details on his visit, check out this recent post on my blog:
http://www.robinwhiteonline.com/archives/1997
Please keep praying with me about the following…
1. Thank God for safe travel, and pray for His continued protection in the months to come. By the way, you can see where I’ll be in the next little while by viewing my schedule here:
http://www.wesleyan.org/gp/mschedule2/WM04-0316/2010-01
2. Pray that God will continue to build my support team.
3. The Immanuel Church (our Japanese denomination) recently held their Annual Conference. Among other things, this is when pastors receive their new assignments. Please pray for the pastors, families and churches going through transitions at this time. Pray for Pastor Uchiyama at my church in Nagoya, as he takes on the added responsibility of pastoring the Gifu Immanuel Church as well.
4. Pray for Japan: For more missionaries, for Japanese Christians to accept God’s call into ministry, and for God to draw the lost to Himself. Japan needs the hope that only Jesus Christ can bring them!
Your prayers during this home ministries season are much appreciated! I hope you have a great weekend as we celebrate the victory won by our risen Saviour!
– robin
by Whitey | Mar 27, 2010 | Weekly Re-Cap
I’m writing from the comfy chair at Starbucks this week. You’re surprised, aren’t you?
Since my last re-cap was so late, and this one’s on time, I don’t have much to talk about this week. I’ve spent the week getting caught up on paperwork, email, that sort of thing.
I’ve also taken some extra time to get used to some new digital art tools I recently purchased. I’ve finally landed on a method I’m happy with for creating Doodze, my current comics project and soon to be part of a larger project I’ve hinted at for a while now.
So that’s been my week. Nothing too exciting, but it’s been nice to be off the road for a few days. A couple days I didn’t even leave the house. Hence, Starbucks today.
And that’s a wrap.
by Whitey | Mar 23, 2010 | Weekly Re-Cap
The past week or so has been far from normal. As I said in my previous re-cap (well over a week ago now), I had a friend visiting me all the way from Japan. I had some ministry to do on the weekend, but during the week took some time off to spend with Kenji and show him around. It was a really nice change of pace.
Kenji’s come and gone now, and here’s what went down:
- Kenji arrived late Thursday night in Moncton, where we crashed at a friend’s place for the night.
- Friday morning we drove to Black’s Harbour and took the boat to Grand Manan, where we hung out with friends and got ready for Sunday. The church we were visiting was Central Wesleyan, one of my supporting churches.
- Sunday was ministry day, of course. But with Kenji here, we changed things up a bit. I ended up leading worship for the service, Kenji gave a short testimony (in English, for the first time) and I did the short version of my missions talk. I felt like God blessed our ministry, and I really enjoyed re-connecting with the church.
- Sunday afternoon there was some sight-seeing, and Sunday night we chilled out with our hosts. It was a really fun weekend. Grand Manan is a beautiful place with a culture all its own and a lot of friendly locals. I was glad Kenji got to experience the island.
- Monday we traveled to Saint John, met up with a friend for lunch, saw some of the city, and continued on to my home in New Maryland (a suburb of Fredericton, for those who don’t know).
- Tuesday we visited the Sabian cymbal factory, which was really cool. I’m a musician (of sorts) but Kenji actually plays drums, so I think he appreciated it on a deeper level than I did. The rest of that day and Wednesday we just hung around Fredericton, saw some local sights, and chilled out at home.
- Thursday we went to Sussex, where we had the opportunity to sing a song in chapel in Japanese and English, because it happened to be missions week at Bethany Bible College. We mingled with some students after, then did some hiking with my favorite professor and had dinner with his family.
- That night we headed back to Moncton, and Kenji flew out of Canada ridiculously early on Friday morning.
- Friday and Saturday were kind of “recovery” days for me after all the traveling and such. Yesterday I hit the road again, though, and went to Amherst, NS, to re-connect with Amherst Wesleyan Church. I had a great time there, too.
It was great having a friend visit from Japan — a first for me. I enjoyed getting to share my roots with Kenji; seeing him take photos and act surprised about what I consider normal (the same thing I’ve done so often in Japan); catching up on what’s going on in my Japanese church and with our mutual friends; talking about life, faith, church and culture; speaking Japanese, English and “Japanglish”… It was a good week.
And that’s a wrap.
by Whitey | Mar 12, 2010 | Weekly Re-Cap
Not too much to report this week. This past Sunday I had a great time re-connecting with a couple of churches not too far from here, in Sussex and Brown’s Flat. The church in Sussex did an interview with me, rather than the usual format, which was a nice change of pace. I had a good time visiting with a praying couple in Sussex, and with my parents in Brown’s Flat, where our cottage is.
The rest of the week was pretty uneventful, except for a couple of meetings (one yesterday in Sussex and another later today in Moncton) requiring a little more driving.
Today a friend of mine is arriving from Japan for a week’s visit. That will make the next week busy and full but really fun. We’ll be on Grand Manan island this weekend for some ministry and sight-seeing. He may be in for some culture shock; Grand Manan is a lot different from Nagoya. It will be interesting to see Canada through his eyes.
The blog will probably be pretty quiet over the next week, but I should have some fun things to share not too long after that.
That’s a wrap for now.
by Whitey | Mar 6, 2010 | Weekly Re-Cap
I almost forgot to do this. This week…
1. I had a busy Sunday of ministry in Digby and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. It was a good time of re-connecting and team building.
2. I spent a couple of days in Halifax visiting some of my favorite people. Really fun and refreshing.
3. I had a really productive day yesterday, catching up on office work and errands, both ministry-related and personal.
4. I’ve been working on setting up my new art computer (a Mac mini with a Wacom Cintiq tablet monitor, to be used for primarily for creative work) and cleaning up my MacBook (the laptop I’ll continue to use for general everyday computing). This has involved installing and uninstalling, uploading and downloading, and lots of waiting for the machines to do their thing.
5. Today I spent some time drawing and coloring on the new art Mac, trying to get used to working digitally. I think when I’ve gotten past the initial learning curve, it will make for a cleaner art style and a faster work flow. And working faster is a good thing, as I plan on this being part of my ministry, not just a hobby anymore.
And that’s a wrap for this week. Looking forward to the next couple of crazy weeks…
by Whitey | Mar 2, 2010 | Ministry News
Hi everyone,
I’m writing to you today from the home of some close friends in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I’m on the way home from a full and fulfilling weekend in Digby and Yarmouth, where I got to share my testimony and vision 3 times at 2 churches. Home ministries are going really well. I’ve enjoyed re-connecting with many churches and supporters, and I’ve been able to meet many new connections as well.
Please pray for…
1. Safe travel for my Japanese friend Kenji who is coming to visit me from March 12-19.
2. The Japanese church’s denominational annual conference next week.
3. My continuing home ministries — safe travels, effective ministry, and more prayer and financial supporters.
Thank you for your prayers during this time of home ministries travel!
– robin
by Whitey | Feb 27, 2010 | Weekly Re-Cap
I don’t have very much to talk about this week. Over 3 weeks ago, I caught a cold. Last week I thought I was getting over it, but it seemed to start making a comeback by the weekend. So I went to the doctor, and it turns out I have a sinus infection. So this week I’ve been trying to take it easy, and haven’t been very productive.
I’m scheduled to go to Nova Scotia again this weekend to visit two churches. Just like the previous time, the weather doesn’t seem to be cooperating. Right now I’m in wait-and-see mode, wondering if I’ll even be able to make the trip. It’s only four hours if I go by boat, but the boat’s not running today. If it’s running tomorrow, great. If not, it’s about an 8-hour drive, and we may still be in the middle of a blizzard. I’d hate to have to reschedule at this point, but…
by Whitey | Feb 20, 2010 | Weekly Re-Cap
I’m at Starbucks right now, where I just ran into an old friend. One thing I’m enjoying about being back in Canada is randomly running into old friends and acquaintances whenever I’m out in public. My hometown is just small enough that it happens pretty much every time I’m out. In Japan I live in a city of over 2 million people, on top of the fact that I’ve lived there a relatively short time, so it happens far less frequently. It’s an interesting contrast. I miss the big city, but there are definitely some things I like about smaller cities too.
This week I feel like I’ve finally gotten back into some semblance of a routine after some time on the road. In particular I’ve studied Japanese more the past few days than I have in a couple of months. I’ve also been exchanging emails with some Japanese friends, which has been good practice, and much more effective than just sitting and trying to memorize stuff. It’s been good.
Speaking of Japanese friends, one of my closest friends from the Nagoya church is planning to come visit me for a week or so in March. This news pretty much made my week. I’m looking forward to showing him around and seeing Canada through Japanese eyes. Should be a blast.
This past Sunday I visited Crosspoint Wesleyan here in Fredericton, and this coming Sunday I’ll be at another local church, Corbette Avenue Wesleyan. It’s nice to have my Sundays booked but not be on the road for a couple of weeks.
You know what’s funny? After starting this blog post talking about running into old friends, I just ran into another, before I could even finish writing.
That’s a wrap for this week.
