Sister Sister time!

Two weeks ago my sister came to Japan! It was so wonderful to see her and introduce her to everyone I work with here. We had a great time and got to travel to Kyoto and Tokyo for a few days. It was really great to have a travel buddy and we had a fun time exploring and eating in Japan. I missed her so much and I am so glad that she was able to visit this year!

We did many things:


We became experts on the Kyoto bus system




We met a woman who sold Leonardo Dicaprio an ice pop



We went to Ginkakuji Temple in Kyoto



We explored a rainy Tokyo




We helped at a children's program at St. Lukes




We taught little kids how to make crepes




Emily learned all about Anpanman



We sat on a golden fish in Nagoya Castle



We volunteered at a day center for the homeless




And most importantly, Emily bought Crocs. 

Peace,
Christen

What's in a name...

I have never been a person who has had many nicknames. When I was little I was called Sissy by my family and Chrissy by everyone else and I have one college nickname that’s stuck but for the majority of my life I have always been just Christen. In Japan however, I have more nicknames than I ever have before! Most often I get called Christen-san and I always introduce myself as Christen. My last name is a little difficult to pronounce in Japanese so I usually just stick to my first name.


In church I am often called Kuri-chan which comes from the first two syllables of my name when it’s transliterated into Japanese characters (Ku-ri-su-ten). Kuri also means chestnut in Japanese.

In the office at the youth center I am often called Ten-chan. Ten comes from the last syllable of my name and means “heaven” or “dot”. A few of the women I work with sometimes call me Ten-ten.

At work I am usually Christen-Sensei although in one English class I go by the English version “Teacher Christen”. The 2 year olds in Mitsuba just call me sensei but the 4 year olds in the kinder class can’t pronounce my name or remember to call me sensei so my name usually comes out as “tisten” or “sisssin“!

I also learned recently that my name when translated phonetically into Kanji means either:

"chestnut-vinegar-heaven” or “chestnut-bird’s nest-dot” I love that my name has a meaning in Japanese even though the meaning cracks me up!

Peace,

Christen

Cardboard City!!

I know it has been far to long since my last post!  This one will be mostly pictures but I'm working on a more substantial post to go up sometime this weekend. 

Last Saturday we had a children's event at the youth center.  We filled up an entire room full of cardboard and let the kids make whatever they wanted.  It was so much fun and the forts and things that the kids made were so creative!  This event was part of a program called the children's channel.  Six times a year the center runs events for children where they can come and do different events.  Each one has been fun!  It's also a good way to build community because many of the children and leaders come again and again.  This year we've made Udon noodles, played soccer and tag, and made Christmas crafts in addition to last weekends cardboard extravaganza!  Because space is limited in Nagoya, children don't often get a chance to play outside with other kids outside of school.  The purpose of these events is to give them the space to do that.  It's also wonderful because children of all ages come to play together with leaders who are mostly in their late teens and early twenties.
I hope you enjoy the pictures!  It was exactly as chaotic and fun as the pictures make it look!

The night before...

This one was build around the playground slide!

This is the kitchen in a cafe

In case you were wondering, yes, this is a cardboard toilet.

The aftermath

   

"Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." Mark 3:35

Occasionally I am asked to write articles for various newsletters that the center publishes.  Here is one I wrote last month about how I communicate with the children in the Mitsuba classes that I help with.  Mitsuba is a Christian nursery school that's run through the center.  The children are all 2 or 3 years old.  The children are so cute and I love being able to help out either two or three mornings a week.

3/10/11

One of the things that I was most anxious about when I first came to Japan last August was how I was going to be able to communicate without knowing any Japanese. I didn’t know how I would be able to interact with the children in Mitsuba without being able to talk to them!



It turns out that I didn’t have to be nervous. From the start the children in Mitsuba were incredibly welcoming to me. Even without being able to talk in Japanese, I was able to play with the children and communicate in ways without language. Throughout the fall as I learned more and more Japanese each week, I was able to talk to the children and it was wonderful being able to begin to have conversations with them.


The children understand that I don’t speak Japanese and when I don’t understand what they are saying they have been great at finding creative ways of communicating with me. I’ve had children point to what they are talking about, take my hand and bring me to what they wanted to tell me about or use different Japanese words that they know I understand to get their point across.


Over the past few weeks the Mitsuba teachers and I have given the children a few mini “English lessons” where we learned a song with the numbers 1-7 and introduced them to several animal names in English. I love being able to teach the children English because it introduces them to the English language and it helps them to understand that not only do I not speak Japanese, I speak an entirely different language!


It has been such a great experience to help out with Mitsuba group. The children are such a joy to spend time with in the mornings. Even though we speak two different languages, we’ve been able to communicate well with each other. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the children and I hope that by being a part of their class that they will not be nervous to try to communicate with other foreigners as they grow up- even if they don’t know the language!

"So they set out from the mountain of the LORD and traveled for three days." -Numbers 10:33

Earlier this month Rev. David Copley, the  Mission Personnel Officer for the Episcopal Church, came to Japan.  I met up with him in Tokyo and we spent a whirlwind three days traveling around Japan, visiting placements and meeting different people.  We went sightseeing in Tokyo and met with someone at the Provincial Office for the Nippon Sei Ko Kai.  Then we traveled to Tochigi Prefecture to visit ARI (Asian Rural Institute) and spend the night there.  After ARI we took a train to KEEP (Kiosato Educational Experiment Farm), a dairy farm, hotel and community complex that was founded by American Missionary Paul Rusch just after World War II.  Then we traveled south to Nagoya where David met with my supervisor and got to sit in on an English class that I was helping to teach!  It was a very busy but very fun trip.  I got to meet some incredible people and see some very beautiful places.  I even saw Mt. Fuji!!  Here are some pictures from the trip:


Sakura! Cherry Blossoms




Really Frozen Fish.  They cut them with giant power saws.




"Save Power and Carry On"




Anglican Church in Japan Provincial Offices in Tokyo




Pigs! At ARI!



Fixing the roof after the earthquake.

Earthquake damage



ARI is in a very beautiful part of Japan




Mountains around KEEP




MT. Fuji in the distance!




Music Box from France




At KEEP



Paul Rusch. "Do your Best and It Must Be First Class"

Hong Kong!

I went to Hong Kong!

Bird Market!



Temple of the 10,000 Buddhas




Snoopy World!




Hong Kong from the Peak




Spencer and Me at Cheung Chau Island




There are beautiful flowers in Hong Kong



Spencer's new apartment



Look what I found in Hong Kong! 

 Last weekend I flew to Hong Kong to visit my friend and fellow YASC-er Spencer.  Spencer is doing an amazing job working with Filipino mmigrant workers in Hong Kong.  Specifically she provides legal advice and support to women who are domestic workers and who are encountering difficulties with their previous or current employers.  Here is her blog if you want to check it out! Spencer's Blog

 I was only in Hong Kong for a short while, but during that time we did so much!  We hit all the major Hong Kong sight-seeing spots, went shopping in the markets and ate huge amounts of seafood. Hong Kong is such a cool city and it was so great to see where Spencer lives and works.  I wish I had had more time to explore the city but hopefully one day I'll be able to go back!

Last Week-Part 2



At Ise Jingu Shrine

 It has been a little over one week since the earthquake in Miyagi Prefecture. Things in Nagoya have settled down a little bit now. Since my last blog posting was little more than an assurance of my safety and update on what’s been going on here, I though that’s I’d post about what it’s been like to be in Japan over the past few days and share a few experiences I’ve had during that time.


After the earthquake on March 11th, people in Nagoya were worried and anxious for family, friends and everyone who was affected up north. This anxiety soon manifested itself into worry for a large earthquake that Nagoya is expecting and has been expecting for years now

On the Monday after the earthquake, while helping at the Mitsuba nursery school class, I’m fairly certain that I found two 3 year old boys “playing tsunami” in the sand box. People of all ages in Nagoya are trying to deal with the enormity of what has been happening up north. This is especially true for the children. They all know what is going on and are definitely picking up on the anxiety around them. Also on Monday, my friend and fellow missionary Steven Hart arrived in Nagoya. His placement was too close to the nuclear reactors and he came to Nagoya until he figured out what to do next. It was great to be able to hang out with him this past week and I really appreciated being able to process what was going on with him. His blog is here: Steven's Blog
On Tuesday, there was an earthquake in Nagoya. It was very small but enough to shake people up a bit. I was in a busy restaurant at the time and missed this one as well. The next day, all most people could talk about was the expected earthquake in Nagoya.

On Thursday I went to the Immigration Office to pick up a re-entry visa for my trip to Hong Kong this week. It was extremely busy there and I was told that the line was hours long because of the earthquake and nuclear problems. Some foreigners who can are trying to leave for a while.

On Friday I went to a department store to pick up some things that I needed. There has been a little panic buying here and the store was running low on flashlights, large bottles of water and some canned foods. The Youth Center where I work has updated and re-distributed their earthquake evacuation plan.

Things today seem calmer now. Nagoya is EXACTLY as safe a place to be as the day I first arrived and I keep telling myself that when I feel myself getting anxious. I don’t like to use this comparison, but it’s the closest one I have to put what’s going on in Nagoya in perspective: The atmosphere in Nagoya feels very similar to the atmosphere in Massachusetts after September 11th, 2001. While the events are completely different and not really comparable, the anxiety and fear of the unknown is remarkably similar. While life continues on in Nagoya, everyone is aware that it could have just as easily happened here and that Nagoya will get earthquakes in the future. These thoughts have shaken people up a bit and caused some anxiety.

Many people at home keep asking how they can help Japan in this situation. Right now all I can tell you is to keep Japan in your prayers, especially the relief and rebuilding efforts. Please pray for the children who are having a hard time processing what is going on and please pray that the nuclear problems will soon settle down and not cause any damage or widespread panic. If you want to do something tangible, please consider donating money. Yahoo news has put together a list of organizations that are collecting donations including the Red Cross.  The list is here: Yahoo News Donation List Meanwhile, the Anglican Church in Nagoya has sent a group up north to see how they can best minister to the communities that were most effected. I will keep posting all the current information on my blog in case there is a need for anything more specific.

Also, Steven and I were interviewed by Episcopal New Service. Here is the link: Episcopal News Service Article

Please don’t worry about me in Nagoya! I am safe, happy and healthy. I was anxious for a few days after the earthquake but now as things are calming down here I am much more calm and relaxed. Life has continued on as normal and now things are beginning to feel normal again as the atmosphere is less tense. I thank all my family, friends and communities back home for their prayers and continued support through the last week. Please continue to hold Japan in your prayers. It’s going to be a long road to recovery.


At Ise Jingu Shrine


Peace in Christ,

Christen