The story so far ...

The adventure began on Tuesday morning (Japan time) when we arrived in Narita airport, Tokyo, after a (movie-filled) 11.5 hour flight. We were met by Steve Weams and Kenton Samuels of OMF Japan and were taken to OMF HQ in nearby Ichikawa. All thoughts of sleep had to be put firmly to one side however as there were far more important things to be done, specifically lunch! Lunch involved the team's first experience of the Japanese delicacy okonomiyaki; a very common dish something like pancakes. The customer orders the mix and fries the okonmiyaki on a skillet right on the table in front of them. It was a largely successful adventure and we boldly ordered something despite having no clue what it was. (For those of you dying to know, it was good. It was tentacles!)

After lunch we were let loose on the streets of Ichikawa to allow our jet lagged brains to grapple with such complexities as 'how do I use this phone??' (with a card) and 'What can I buy for a hundred yen?' (more than you would think!) and 'ew, what's that weird vegetable with the nobbly bits?' (still inconclusive) It was really great fun and we discovered many things about the town.

On our second day, after some lectures on Japanese culture and some language training, we were taken to a museum of the Edo Tokyo period. It was amazing architecturally and interesting enough to keep even the most jet-lagged of us awake; in fact we could have spent all day there, but there was far too much fun to be had elsewhere. In the evening we had our first experience of tempura; another Japanese delicacy, in a Japanese restaurant with a tatami (traditional Japanese woven) floor and intricately designed paper doors. Peter proved to be the champion at sitting in the Japanese position, crouched on his knees; I gave up after about three seconds! All in all it was a delicious meal and everyone handled the chopsticks like knives and forks are entirely superfluous in their lives.

The third day of our orientation included a visit to Asakusa to a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine. It was interesting to see them; they are, aesthetically, very impressive; but thinking about why and to whom they were built cast a darkness over the general atmosphere, and while it was good to experience the temple no-one was too keen to stay. There's something kind of depressing about the devotion and sincerity with which some of the people engage in empty ritual; and it's just as bad to see tourists who just do it because it's "Japanese" or "the thing to do". We had a time of prayer in the grounds outside the shrine to ask God to free people from this slavish devotion to something that is empty and meaningless.

Today was the day to get on the bullet train and come up to Sendai, in the East of Japan, North of Tokyo. The jourey takes six to eight hours by bus but on the bullet train a mere two hours does the job. It was a very weird experience; it's hard to believe that you're going as fast as you are! But no speed was too fast for me and I'm so glad to be back in my home away from home. It's so good to see Yamashita Mama and all my dormmates again; there were squeals all round! I'm really excited about serving the people I left behind, and it's brilliant to have the opportunity to stay in the dorm. Needless to say, we've already been to karaoke. The real surprise is, we've only been once!!!

Tomorrow is- yes! - just a little more orientation! Then on Tuesday the schedule begins in earnest with an "At Home" outreach event aimed largely at the girls in the dorm, who won't be able to attend events later in the month due to exams. Please pray for good attendance and good fun! Also pray for Phil, who jets in from Norn Irn tomorrow and will be about three days behind in recovering from jet lag! Also, it's very hot, so pray for good health, that we would not be lethargic or dehydrated, and that we would be able to sleep at night.

There it is guys; the story so far! What mad nonsense will we be up to next??! Will it be more, karaoke, running down an escalator and leaping onto a moving train, or eating more tentacles?? Watch this space!

Natania

Comments

• Kashi

  Thursday 10 July 2008

  Well I'm glad you're safe and well and everything, and I hope you have an awesome experience in Japan! Watch out for the endless vending machines, and I hope the Karaoke is as brilliant and accompanied with as completely unrelated videos as it is in China. I demand a catalogue of amusingly mistranslated/creatively translated signs :P as is pretty much mandatory from a Japanese trip. Practice the sitting, it will eventually work...
  
  (Sorry, I can't resist this... that paragraph made me a bit angry) And good luck trying to replace one "empty ritual" with another (I love the irony in saying a prayer to relieve an empty ritual... it made me die a little inside). But seriously, folks... Buddhism these days isn't afraid of allegory and metaphor, which means I'm afraid that it makes far more sense (to me) than modern forms of Christianity.
  
  Be fair to those poor impressionable trusting child minds please!
  
  Lots of love, Kashi

  Yao Yu

  Thursday 10 July 2008

  Dear Sendai Team,
  
  It just occurred to me that you're already in Japan, and it's great to hear about your time so far over there through your blog! May you have a fruitful and enjoyable time in Sendai! Will be praying for you!