Free Hugs
One recent weekend I was wandering around taking pictures and enjoying the nice weather (It's spring here, you know, and that actually means something, unlike back in Canada). In front of Nagoya Station, probably the busiest part of the city, I saw the above-pictured...
On Street Musicians and Parking Violations
I was wandering around in Sakae (a busy, trendy shopping district of Nagoya) one Friday night and heard what sounded like live music. I followed the sound a sure enough, there was a band playing on the sidewalk in front of a certain department store near a busy street...
Prayer Letter
The following is a copy of my April prayer letter, emailed yesterday (yes I know it's not April yet) to my supporters. If you'd like to get these by email, drop me a line. Several have bounced back as failures, so if you're supposed to have gotten one, let me know...
Weekly Re-Cap
Highlights of my week, in convenient, numbered form: 1. Sunday we had a "mina kuukingu" (Cooking Together) event at the church, where we broke into groups and enjoyed a time of making Indian flat bread, and then eating it with a super good Indian curry. For dessert --...
Idol Smashing
I hesitated to share this story because I don't want to come across as culturally insensitive or religiously intolerant. So first let me say that I do respect people of other religions (here in Japan it's Buddhism and Shinto), whether I agree with them (or even...
Weekly Re-Cap
I'm getting pretty bad at keeping up with these weekly re-caps, aren't I? Either I'm a day early or a day late or I just don't know what to say. Honestly it's been a pretty quiet week in real life as well as on this blog. That's not to say I haven't been doing...
Weekly Re-Cap
Good news: I know what day of the week it is this time. On the other hand, I'm not sure what to say. Let's see... Japanese studies are keeping me busy. It's more and more clear to me that when April comes, and I'm full-time, I'm going to be super busy with studies and...
Weekly Re-Cap (part one?)
Stuff about this week: 1. Japanese is still going well but getting harder. I'm going to have to turn it up a notch if I'm going to keep up. This week we were learning about complicated verb conjugations. It wouldn't be so bad if they're weren't so many "exceptions" to...
Weekly Re-Cap
Numbered highlights from the past week: 1. I have an English student now! Last Saturday I met with Yusuke, a guy who just moved to the area from Kanagawa and whom I got connected with through a missionary friend up there. Yusuke and I will start meeting more-or-less...
Wednesday Evening Brain Dump
1. I'm not feeling very energetic right now. Three hours of Japanese class just saps my strength some days. 2. I've re-discovered my Palm pilot. Actually it's a Treo, which makes it a smart phone, only they don't use the same cell phone system here, so in effect it's...