Stumbled upon this group playing at Oasis 21 in Sakae the other day. They’re called Gotcha — if I remember correctly (but I can’t find their website to confirm that). And they were great. Unfortunately the video quality is not so great, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Here in Japan one of the traditions at the beginning of a new year is to do a thorough housecleaning. I guess it’s kind of an “in with the new, out with the old” kind of thing. Seems like a good way to start the year, so this year I decided I should do that.
In addition to my semi-regular vacuuming, dusting and such, I cleaned out my closets, sorted through papers, books and other clutter; sorted, filed and threw a lot of stuff out. It’s amazing how much junk one can accumulate over the course of one year. I still had boxes from when I moved here that hadn’t been thrown out. With only a year till I move again, it almost seems silly to throw them out, but they’ve been sitting out on my balcony in the weather, so they were getting to be in pretty rough shape.
Have you ever noticed (or is it just me?) that when you do a good housecleaning, you’re extra careful to keep things neat and clean? You notice every speck of dust or lint, you don’t let stuff pile up on your desk, and you’re careful not to make a mess when you’re cooking… At least, for the first few days. But it doesn’t take long before you start to slack off (or, again, is it just me?). The dishes and papers pile up, there’s a layer of dust collecting, and before you know there are a tumbleweed-sized dust bunnies rolling through the room.
I think we’re the same with New Year’s resolutions, too, aren’t we? We vow that this year will be different, we make pledges to ourselves to do things differently, and we start off on the right foot… but before long, we lose our footing and fall right back into the same old ruts. We do this not just at New Year’s time, but any time we try to make a fresh start… in our own strength.
I’m feeling pretty good about how this year is starting off. There are definitely some things I’m planning to do differently. I think I’m off on the right foot, too. And I’m praying for grace to follow through.
I’m breaking my weekday blogging fast because I took a sick day from school on Monday (nothing too serious, just a nasty cold) and finally got around to watching a DVD that I received a while back. Before I tell you what I thought of it, why don’t you check out this trailer?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgkOxqroGT8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1]
Mujo No Kaze is an award-winning short film that my friend Paul (from the Japan Christians in the Arts Network) was involved in the production of. What’s it about? The official site describes it like this:
After a Japanese exchange student is murdered while studying in the US, his best friend in Tokyo is thrown into a world of depression in which a series of hallucinations lead him to a divine encounter in the countryside. Mujo No Kaze is a short film about finding hope in the midst of depression, suicide, and the futility of life.
I found the film to be really well-produced, culturally relevant, and redemptive but not preachy. I’m looking forward to seeing what Studio Re comes up with in the future, and I’m excited to see them stepping out in faith with this ministry.
If you’re interested, you can view the entire film HERE. It’s pretty short, just over ten minutes, so it’s definitely worth your time.
I’ve been back in Japan for almost a year now. Crazy. I wish I could say I’ve made more progress in my Japanese than I have. But the biggest thing I’ve learned is how to learn. Actually I’m still learning. Hopefully the next year I can apply what I’ve already learned — both the “how to learn” and the actual language skills — and really see some measurable progress.
It’s Sunday afternoon, a rainy day, and with this cold I’ve caught, a great day to say inside. It’s a pretty good time to get sick, though. At school they’re having our annual health checks this week. Yes, my language school gives us health checks; I think it’s a law here. And actually kind of nice that they take responsibility for their students’ well-being like that.
I really don’t have much to say today. I just wanted an excuse to post a couple of photos. I’m thinking I’ll completely can the photoblog and instead just post more photos here. Maybe a re-design would help, though, something that lets me post them at a larger size and really let ’em shine. What do you think?
The above photo, by the way, was taken at a Nagoya Station subway platform. Below, something a little more peaceful and traditional — yet another shot from the Nakamura Festival. These are dancers from the same group as the girl in my most recent Photo of the Week.
A while back, received a random email from some guy named Tim, who, the email went on to explain, found me through a mutual friend’s Facebook page. Tim’s a fellow-Canadian (woohoo!) and just moved to Japan. He lives about an hour from Nagoya and has been studying Japanese there for about a month now. Yesterday we finally met up in person and did some wandering around Nagoya. It was nice to have a fellow-Canadian to talk to for a change — we understood each other’s jokes. And speaking of jokes… here we are a with a couple of really cute Japanese chicks we met in Sakae:
Awful pun, I know. Couldn’t resist. Hope you all had a great weekend, too.