"Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in LOVE". 1 Corinthians 16:13

Welcome to the beginning of fall in Japan! The weather is finally starting to cool down and is actually pretty chilly at night! I apologize for the lack of updates last week. I’m definitely in a routine here now and there really wasn’t anything new to report. I am greatly enjoying my work and the friendships I’m making. The English classes that I teach are challenging because the students are at all different levels of English ability but I’ve found some ways to make my classes interesting and engaging for everyone. Last week I brought a collection of Disney stories to read out loud and it was a big hit! The kids are all familiar with the stories so even though the language is above some of their levels, they are a still able to follow along. I think I might have my older class take turns reading out loud every week.


On October 3rd was the annual St. Stephans’ Bazaar to raise money for different ministries and programs that St. Stephans' supports. I was thrilled to be on coffee duty and was able to introduce chocolate brownies to the menu! The bazaar was very similar to the All Saints’ Christmas Fair that I grew up going to at All Saints’. There were crafts sold, a second hand shop and games for the children. It was a lot of work but also a ton of fun. While I don’t have final numbers, I’m pretty sure that the event was a success!

Last Sunday a group of us from St. Stephans’ went to Gifu prefecture to attend a Diocesan learning event. The program was an introduction to the work that the Kani Mission Center for Filipino Migrants is doing in Kani City. The program was in Japanese but I will be getting notes in English about the history of Kani Mission and the work that they are doing. Afterwards we had a delicious dinner and there was a fun raffle.

My language training is going really well. Every day I can understand a little bit more. I won’t be even close to fluent by the time I leave, but I am slowly working up to having basic-basic conversations!

In the next couple of weeks a few things are coming up. First are two Halloween parties. One is at St. Lukes’ and one is at the Youth Center. Halloween is not very popular here and the parties are a great way to introduce Halloween to the kids in the community. We’ve been learning about Halloween in all of the English classes this month. I love it because Halloween is by far my favorite holiday! The second is that COP-10 has come to Nagoya.  I'm still learning about what it means, but from what I've gathered it's an international meeting that this year has the topic of biodiversity.  Two weeks from now I will be going to a COP-10 event that's open to the public. It should be really interesting and I'm looking forward to it.

Sorry that this entry is so diary-like. I do hope to write more about my thoughts and emotions about things here soon. One thing I can say is that I’ve had a couple of dreams over the past few weeks where in my dreams I “wake up” and realize that I still haven’t left for Japan and the past three months have all been a dream. It’s really a disorienting way to start my mornings and combined with the fact that time feels like it's constantly running inconsistently, I’m beginning to feel a little like Alice in Wonderland! I hope everyone is having a fabulous fall. I hear it is beautiful in Boston right now and that the leaves are changing in Groton. I’ve been told that they change color here too but sometime in mid- November.

Peace, Christen