BIG hair in Japan

I stole this image from my missionary friend Sue's website. She write that big hair for guys is "in" in Japan these days. Hilarious!!!

Christ Bible Seminary Folks, etc.

Had to post these adorable photos:

The little boy is a son of a Christ Bible seminary couple. This lovely lady works at Christ Bible Seminary, and we will be doing a lot of work together if I make it to Nagoya in March. Her name is Yasuyo, and she is an administrative assistant and a student at the seminary.

If Yasuyo sees her photo on blog, I hope she's not too embarrassed! We met in the winter when all the Christ Bible Seminary students came to Philadelphia for a vision trip. I am looking forward to seeing her and all of the CBS students again. Here's a photo take in January of many of the students:

So, these days I am busy babysitting the five boys I live with, studying Japanese every day, and job hunting. I am looking for a full-time job, and hopefully I will find one soon. No more piano teaching - it was really fun, though, to do that for the past two years.

For anyone who is following, Michael Oh and family returned to Japan a few weeks ago. They are well. I hope to be reunited with them soon. Lastly, YES I am still raising support for Japan. So far, it is going so well. Hopefully I will be able to go to Japan in March 2008!

Dear friends of mine...

Most of my friends are from Japan. I am so happy when I have the opportunity to be with Japanese people. Here are a few friends of mine.

This lady was my Japanese teacher, and her name is Yukiko. Now she's in Japan, but she'll be coming back to Philadelphia in five months. She is the best Japanese teacher. I miss her every day.


This is my friend Aya. She is soooo cute! I teach her English about once a week or so. Her husband is a heart doctor, so he came with Aya to do research at Jefferson Hospital.

This couple, Ayako and Hironobu, just went back to Japan. Their absence leaves a huge hole in my life. I hope to be reunited with them next year. They are now living in Osaka, not so far from Nagoya where I plan to go.

This cute gal is Yume and her dad is named Nobuhiro. He does biochemical research at Jefferson. We took a day trip to Lancaster and had a lovely day. Yume has taught me so much Japanese, although she's gaining fluency in English by going to a preschool in West Philly every day.
Maria and Ernesto are my friends from Puebla, Mexico. Even though they are working every day, I get to see them regularly. I am so thankful to have met them - they often remind me of my love for the precious people of Latin America.
I am so blessed to have such wonderful international friends. I am also thankful God has given me the ability to have friends with people who've grown up in such different cultures than my own!

What's new...

Well, it's been quite a past few weeks. Upon returning to NJ from Kentucky's wonderful conference, one of my dearest friend's mother died very tragically. The funeral was unbelievably huge. I think about 700 people were in attendance.
These days I am saying goodbye to a lot of Japanese friends. Several are returning to Japan, so I hope to be reunited with them if I go to Nagoya next year.
I am planning to take Spanish lessons over the summer. My Spanish has gotten to be quite pitiful because I am always speaking Japanese. It's just too hard for my brain to make the switch now from English to Spanish, so I am going to take Spanish lessons before I forget all the Spanish I once worked so hard to learn.
Japanese is an amazing language. I have come to love it which is amazing, because I hated it the first year. Now it's a joy to study. It doesn't frustrate me anymore. I can hardly believe it. I remember a time when speaking Japanese gave me a huge headache. I used to think I'd never learn it. Now reading it is another story, so I need to work on my KANJI. To read a newspaper, you need to know something like 2,000 Chinese characters (kanji).
I am looking forward to going back, but I will miss so many people...

New Attitude 2007!

I had the privilege of attending New Attitude 2007 this weekend. We heard messages from men such as John Piper, Al Mohler, Joshua Harris, C.J. Mahaney, and Mark Dever. Here are some photos of what it looks like to worship God with 3,000 other believers. It was one of the most wonderful weekends of my life and I am not exaggerating! We had such heavenly times of singing praises, hearing God's word preached with power, and fellowship with wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ. The theme of this year’s conference was discernment. The goal was to learn how to look at our relationships with others, our enviroment, our world through the lens of Scripture. “Discernment is more than what we should do or shouldn’t do as Christians. Discernment is examining what we think and do and say in light of God’s Word.” I am so thankful for events like this that remind me that a day is coming when the praises will never end, when cries of WORTHY will honor the Lamb for all eternity!

Here's a chorus we sang over and over that I so loved:

O Praise the One who paid my debt

And raised this life up from the dead!

John Piper preaching Monday night

We did have some silly and fun times, too. I had a great time of fellowship on the van ride down to Kentucky and back. Lots of good memories!

More photos of friends...

Visiting friends in NYC

I am so blessed to have so many beautiful friends that give me great joy. Here is a photo of my dear friend Saori and her family in Queens, NY. Her baby is named Karin. She's so cute!

Here are some photos from another party for Japanese friends at Young's house. It was a great Easter-themed party!

Heading Back to Japan

Here is a nice photo with my friend Keiko and my friend Beniko's two adorable children Yume and Taro.

I was approved as a missionary to Nagoya, Japan! I am so thrilled to be going back to Japan. Life is very busy these days. I have to raise support to go to Japan, so I am praying about that daily.

Above is a photo of the Oh family who I will be working with in Nagoya. I am crazy about their four little girls, all very cute and precious. Here is a photo of Michael who spoke at the Lausanne Younger Leaders Conference in Malaysia last September. What a privilege to hope to work with such godly people as the Ohs.

March Happenings

Cherry Blossoms in Japan!

I am still playing piano. I love Chopin!!! To the left are my dear friends Yoko, Erika,Young, Sueen, and Joe. Yoko (black and white shirt) came from Japan to help out at her parents' church in Philadelphia. She left in March and is missed very much!

My star piano student Gio...what a kid! He really is that cool. :)

Movie and lunch at Hironobu and Ayako's house.

More pictures of friends 2007

Here is a photo from a fun party at Mayumi and Eiji's house. We enjoyed Japanese food, games, and dessert!



Okay, Japanese people say that one of the most noticable differences between American and Japanese culture is the size of the food portions. This is definitely PROOF! Erika is holding a piece of chocolate cake almost as big as her head and Yoko is enjoying a slice of pecan pie.


Here are some photos from a Christmas party at Young Hwangbo's house.

Japanese kids are the cutest!

Can you tell that I love Japanese kids? I really enjoy having fun with Japanese kids (in case you didn't know). This little girl, Marine, is the daughter of my friends, the Uemuras, who just went back to Japan in the fall. I miss them very much.
These little girls are Hanako and Mayu who go to Proclamation Presbyterian Church.

Playing "kitchen" with Yume

Here are photos of Yume and I - I got her a kids' baking set that she loved. She is such a cutie! .She has taught me so much Japanese...she speaks English very well, though.

Thanksgiving party 11/18

Last night some friends and I had a big Thanksgiving party for Japanese people. I think everyone had a great time. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, vegetables, stuffing, and corn, plus pie for dessert!
I had such a great time!