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.

The summer holiday has started and my Japanese course is under way. The teaching has been very good and is stretching me in many ways.

I have always tended towards internal thinking. I like to listen and to absorb. I like to reflect and to revise. I am comfortable with these practices. However, I don’t like being asked questions without having the option to say, “please let me reflect on what you’ve asked and come back to me.” Of course, the teachers are absolutely right to build this into lessons, but I struggle with being put on the spot, especially in front of a group, simply because I don’t like making mistakes and the public correction that follows. And when I’m put on the spot, I talk all kinds of nonsense. I know that this is an immature position. The rod and reproof give wisdom, says Proverbs. But even though correction is a powerful honing tool, I haven’t learnt to love it yet!

Anyway, back to the course, I am glad to be challenged to "have a try and see what comes out", since I know that this is how the majority of communication works. Planning ahead is fine if you’re giving a speech, but real conversations don’t work like this.

The course runs for one month. I may blog more during this period, simply because I spend more time each day in a Japanese-only speaking environment, but still need an outlet to communicate more extensively. We shall see.

Thank you for your support and messages of encouragement!

July update

Hi everyone. Just a quick update because it’s been a while.

Things are going well at GraceCity church. Thinking back to when I arrived in Japan last summer, the church has grown so much since then. Recently, we had some more baptisms, which was great. In August, we have a weekend away planned to Lake Hamanako. I think there’s about fifty of us going, which must be nearly double the number that went last year. Last year, I arrived in Nagoya just after they had all got back, so I’m especially looking forward to it. The video for the last year’s camp is here: http://www.gracecity.jp/media_en.php.

In two weeks, school finishes for the summer. We have one month off, which is lucky. I’ve booked myself onto an intensive Japanese study course, five days a week, every morning. I’m so looking forward to it!

Finally, thanks for all my birthday messages last week. I had a really nice birthday and got another surprise on Friday from my fantastic tennis friends. Love you guys.

Take care!

May update

After reading about Simon and Becci's three-week adventure in Cambodia, I feel inspired to write another blog entry.

Today is a beautiful, sunny day. I've recently finished playing tennis and am now at home, recovering from slight sunburn and an all-you-can-eat naan bread lunch time challenge at Mogul Palace.

I've completed six weeks in my new job at Aichi International School. Have done all the usual beginning of term things; establishing rules, routines, that sort of thing. The kids are very young, only five years old… and there are twenty of them. I'm still very much learning how to relate to kids of this age and am not sure if it will ever be my niche, but I’m just happy to be back in primary school. Recently, we had an egg hunt for easter and a picnic outside under the beautiful cherry blossom trees.

Life is good at GraceCity church. Easter flew by quickly, without all the chocolate and bunny rabbits in the shops. My craving for cadbury’s mini eggs has only recently passed. Lots of guests came to our Easter service, which was good. We were packed in like sardines and the search is well and truly on for new premises.

In other news, Nilesh came back from his travels in Australia recently, which is sad for him, but great for me to have my housemate back. Japanese study is going okay. I have a new teacher. She doesn't speak any English, which is good for me. I was talking to Dave recently about learning Japanese, and we decided that it's good at the start to have some English, just to explain certain things. But this new arrangement feels like the first time your arm bands are removed when you're learning to swim. I feel the step up, and it's good.

I hope you’re all doing well back home. I’ve heard you’ve had lots of nice weather recently. If you have some time, get in touch and let me know what you’ve been up to.

Osaka trip

Finally posting some pictures from my short trip to Osaka in March.