Eyes on Japan

Watch this...

http://vimeo.com/43502269

... and then come to Japan :)

A meal of milk

Hi everyone! Hope you are doing well?

Summer is on the way. Today I wore my flip-flops and ate スーパーカップ (SuperCup) icecream in the park.

The church is well. Steve Brading visited from Sydney last weekend. He spoke at our men's breakfast, to us as leaders and at our Sunday meeting. He reminded us that God is with us and is for us and that we are loved as much as Jesus is loved. Very encouraging!

From Monday to Friday, I continue to teach at international school. This year, my timetable is mainly teaching maths to years 4, 5 and 6. We use a Japanese textbook which has been translated into English, often with hilarious consequences. It's very interesting to see how maths is taught in a different country. I recently taught a chapter in the year 4 book called ‘big numbers'. In the end of chapter test, the kids had to answer some extraordinary questions such as: 6,000,080,000,000,000 is ...... lots of 100 trillion and ....... lots of 10 million. Last week, I was teaching division of fractions in year 5. We had a lot of fun with this question: ‘There is 1 and 4/5 L of milk. If you drink 3/5L each time with your family, how many meals can you have with your family?’ I asked the kids what they thought. One boy replied: in this family, the mum clearly isn’t much of a cook! I gave him a house point for that one.

In other news, I recently bought an iphone and an electronic piano. I use both every day.

Unfortunately, the next holiday isn’t until July, during which I’m planning on re-entering Japanese language school. Studying during a one month holiday may seem a bit extreme, but in the Nagoya summer heat, the allure of an air conditioned classroom during the daytime becomes quite appealing. I’ll let you know how it’s goes.

Mikio, Gracie and Ivy come to Nagoya! I first met Mikio and Gracie in Coventry, at Jubilee church. It was the first time for us to meet in Japan and the first time for me to meet little Ivy!

Mikio, Gracie and Ivy at GraceCity church.

We went for lunch with Masami, Aki, Kana and Yuna chan.



I first met Masami in Coventry, whilst she was studying at Warwick. I met Aki, Kana and Yuna in Nagoya. They invited me to Ise one weekend. Aki's lovely family looked after us all. Thank you.

Aki and his brother, Hiroyuki.

Yu came back to Japan for a friend's wedding. We met Nobu and Junshi in Tokyo and played tennis together.

Sayaka joined us for lunch!

Being reunited with old friends is just great! Let's meet again soon!

In other news, the church continues to grow and change. We need a new building! The school year comes to an end in a few weeks time. I'm thinking about going to Thailand for a few days, with a very nice Canadian friend. Spring feels like it's still a long way away, but seasons change quickly here in Japan, and i know it won't be long until the spring flowers appear, we're enjoying the cherry blossom and finally playing tennis again!

I hope you are all doing well. As always, thank you for all your messages and your prayers.

Happy new year, everyone. it was so nice coming back to England at Christmas and reconnecting with family and friends. thank you so much for looking after me whilst i was back.

I'm back in Japan now and thankfully over jet lag.

Came back to exciting news: three people have chosen to follow Jesus in as many weeks. very exciting to see God at work at church!

I'm back at school. Really so grateful to God for my job. we're holding a talent show in a few weeks time, so we're all busy getting ready for that.


my new year's resolution is to try to be more deliberate about how i use time. last year, i wasted a lot of time after work in the evening just flitting around on the computer. i feel like i can study, pray and read more if i can plan how to use my time a little better.


this year, i really hope and pray that more japanese people choose to follow Jesus and join us. also, i am always thinking and praying about church planting, where we might go next and who might go. I would love to see some plans take shape in the coming year. we shall see.

Have a very happy new year everyone.

Driving home for Christmas

Hi everyone,

How are you all?

Oops, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything. But I do have some news.

In a few weeks time, I will visit the UK  J.

It’s the first time for me to come back since I left in August 2010. I can’t wait to catch up with family and friends, in Telford and in Coventry!

So, on that note… if you are free on Tuesday 3^rd January, please drop in at the Open Arms pub, in Cheylesmore for a drink and a catch up. Anytime between 5pm-11pm is good.

Yay! I’m looking forward to it J.

Thinking of you all…

September

It's August. Time flies!

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and unfortunately, the summer holiday is nearly over. Looking back, it’s not been the most restful holiday I’ve ever had, but I have really, really enjoyed it!

For the past five weeks, a typical day has looked like this:
-Wake up
-Cycle to Gusto for breakfast. Look at the notes for the day’s lesson
-Cycle on to my Japanese class
-Home for lunch
-Cycle to Starbucks to do my homework and occasionally chat to someone there
-Do something fun in the evening (often involving people and tennis).

Today, I had the end of course test, which, thankfully, I managed to pass. This means that I am eligible to study in the next class. However, I’ve decided to take a break for a while. We’ve flown through so much material in the last five weeks. I’ve understood it (often thanks to some second and third explanations from Nilesh, Michael and others!), but I’m not yet using all of it so I want to spend some time practicing speaking (watch out Yuichi, Kabe, Adrian, Eri, Mai etc!!). All being well, I will try to start the next class at the same school in January.

I have done some other things too. A while back I got an email from Hugh and Mikio in Coventry which lead to me meeting a lovely family who have just moved to Nagoya from Coventry: Aki, Kana and their daughter, Yuna. Well, in August, they invited me to Ise in Mie Prefecture for the weekend. Their whole family was so kind to me and gave me a lovely experience of their home town, including a visit to Isu Jingu and a taste of the local food, including delicious udon and sensational sashimi!

The week after, we had our church holiday on the sea front in Hamanako. There, we ate the local delicacy, eel, which got a mixed reception and Tsuyoshi taught us how to windsurf, which we all enjoyed! It was a really significant weekend for the chuu,rch, with several people being baptized in the Spirit and all of us growing together as a family.

I’ve also enjoyed some great day trips. In particular, last weekend I went on a white water rafting day in the stunning location of Nagara, Gifu with Eri and Marie from tennis and some other folk I met on the day. It was a really brilliant day!

Finally, I’m excited to tell you I’ve booked a return flight to the UK on December 23rd, for about two weeks. More details about that trip in the future.

So, a lot to report, but it’s back to work next week. Our topic is Dinosaurs. I’m confident that the kids will know more about them than I do, but I have at least got a good idea for a dinosaur related dance!

God bless. P.S. Yu, I played tennis with Nobu last week. We thought of you.