June 19-21st:
We left early on Tuesday morning (19th) to travel via many long trains to Gotsu, Japan. This is where Aishin Christian High School is.This Christian boarding school is located on a mountain top right beside the Sea of Japan between Japan and Russia/China. It is beautiful! They are unlike other schools in the way that the kids are the one tending the gardens/chickens, cooking the meals in the kitchen, and doing other various jobs in addition to their schoolwork. The school is a very traditional looking school as well as culturally and mannerly. This was one of the hard places for me to be able to adapt to the culture because it was so strictly Japanese and I am not as familiar with it as I am the Chinese culture.
We arrived in in the afternoon and got to meet the principle and several of the teachers because the kids were doing homework. Later as homework got finished we got to meet several of the students. It was really stretching in this setting because their English wasn't quite as good and our Japanese wasn't the best either! =) It was a lot of fun trying to communicate and use body language to help convey meaning and get to know these kids. We met for dinner in a big cafeteria and they split our team up between the tables so that we would be able to socialize with everyone. It was a lot of fun and very family style! Later that evening we attended their evening chapel service. Listening to hymns sung so beautifully in Japanese is breathtaking and mesmerizing. (I have a video of this coming soon!) We were also able to do some rehearsal work for our performance and workshop the next day. That evening we went to our different dorms to be able to hang out with the kids in our dorm. They all came to our room (it was so cute and traditional Japanese! We had the grass mats, the sliding paper doors, the futon beds, the little tables.....it was so cool!!!--picture above) bringing snacks and different things. It was really fun to get to know them a little more personally and experience their personalities. And to taste the foods! Some of them were even homemade cookies their mom sent to them. Yum!
The next morning (20th) we were awakened at 6am to the loudest alarm I've ever heard! They kept warning us all day when we first arrived, "It's loud." "The music will wake you up." "You know that it is really loud?" "Don't be afraid or worried, it's just loud." We were so curious to see just how loud this music was! Let me tell you, it's very loud!!! They played a song (not sure if it was contemporary or a christian worship song) to wake all of the dorms up at 6am. After the first one ended, I thought "That was nice! So cute and Japanese!" Then a second song came on. My waking up brain thought, "Well maybe it's for the really hard sleepers though I can't see how anyone could sleep through that!" And then the third song came on. Still just as loud. We could hear the girls getting up, singing along, and beginning their day. Finally a fourth song came on. Now, I was a bit annoyed. It's 6am, and I just woke up. My ears are done being shouted at! =) It was really pleasant and enjoyable music even though I didn't understand the lyrics.
Next thing I know the girls are knocking on our door asking us if we were ready. I quickly grabbed some clothes and pulled my hair into a hair tie. Following them we went to a huge field where we could see the other dorms had also gathered. Suddenly there was more music and a voice telling us what to do, in Japanese of course! We were having morning stretching/exercises. It was really funny!!!! (video to follow!)
Later that morning at breakfast I nearly had a heart attack. Disclaimer: all the food we ate the high school was delicious!!! It was very traditional Japanese (Japanese noodles, Japanese stir fry, yummy clear jello, and much more!), but very yummy. Okay, so I walked into the cafeteria room and at every plate on the tables was a fish, complete with its head, eyes, skin, and scales looking like it had been grilled as is on the grill. I was in utter shock! I've had to eat my share of strange things on mission trips to be culturally respectful and not dishonor people, but never for breakfast! I was also perplexed as to how to eat that with chopsticks! So, after asking the blessing, I asked one of the girls next to me how to eat the fish. To my relief, she flipped it over where there was no skin or scales and I couldn't see the eye ball. She then proceeded to slice it down the middle where it was easier to grasp the meat with your chopsticks. It was delicious! Reminds me of the phrase, 'Things are not always as they appear'.
American-feet house slippers =)
We got to take a short nap during one of their school classes because we were all exhausted from travel and jet lag. Later that morning we got to help teach the English class. They were divided into 5 groups of about 8 and rotated every 20 minutes. All of us 'Kawase' kids sat in a different group and answered their homework questions they had come up with. Several of them were really deep! Examples: What is the meaning of life? What are some of your dreams and desires? What do you think about atomic bombs? Who is Jesus to you? Why is Jesus God? Please continue to pray for these students! Many of them are searching for truth and have not yet made a commitment to Jesus. Pray that the seeds we planted will grow and they will accept Jesus as Lord of their life. They are hungry for truth and have been so steeped in the Japanese spirit of perfection and religion that it has been hard to find truth.
After lunch we went down the mountain to the beach. Unfortunately we didn't bring our suitcases with our swimsuits so we just watched while some of them got to swim. Abi & I spent lots of time taking pictures because it was so beautiful. We decided to go with Kenon to the huge windmills down the beach. We definitely underestimated how far away they were! Running on the loose sand beach for 30 minutes one way for sure gave us a workout!
Later that evening after chapel we put on our performance for them consisting of some upbeat hip hop pieces and improv pieces as well as the evangelistic pieces. The students connected well with the performance, but it was spiritually very hard for us dancers. The workshop didn't really go as planned because of the misunderstanding and miscommunication of what we were trying to convey. This was the first time they had ever seen dance or dance this way and didn't really know how to integrate it into their strict Japanese culture. While dancing we found that we were fighting and plowing through the spirit of perfectionism that is so prevalent in Japan because this was the first time they have seen this type of dance(worship dance) as well as a spiritual stronghold over the area. Instead of the workshop being a tool to get them to commune with God through the use of their bodies, it ended up being more of a dance party and funny moves. I think that the kids really connected and were able to let down and relax, enjoying themselves which is really good. God can use whatever little seed we planted! It was really good to spend time with them and it gave us a heart for that age group in Japan. Holy Spirit move in their hearts!
One thing that I was very proud of was that I was able to avoid public showers for 3 days! Thank you Jesus! Not quite used to that part of traditional Asian culture yet! Thursday morning (21st) we left early in the morning to travel the long train rides to Hiroshima. It was hard to say goodbye to all the friends we have made, but we know that we will see them again soon! Continue to pray for the teachers, students, and staff of Aishin Christian High School!
Picture of our team and then our team with some of the faculty
We got a little slap happy on the so you get to work your muscles!
super long train ride
