"Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming"

Wow!  It has been a busy week.  Thursday-Saturday was the Children's Peace Forum which ran from about 8am-9pm every day.  Then after that Monday and Tuesday I spent at St. Luke's helping out with the English Summer Program there.  I've had the past two days off to get ready for my Okinawa trip.  Today I went to Sakae (Downtown Nagoya) to do some sightseeing and shopping but a lot of my time has been spent reading and learning about Okinawa to get ready for my trip.  I must confess that I don't have much knowlege about US military history and I have even less knowledge about Japanese history.  I've been trying to play catch-up in this lack of my education so that I will be able to form knowledgeable opinions on this trip.  You can bet that I'll be posting about it when I return!

This past week has been a great one.  I enjoy being busy and although I'm looking foward to having a routine it's been really fun getting to do many different things and having many different experiences! The week after I get back I will not only be starting to teach regularly, I'll also be starting my Japanese classes at the YWCA which I'm really looking foward to.

I also wanted to throw out a request for any really good rice recipes anyone has.  Rice is the main staple here and although most Japanese eat it plain, I'm always looking for creative ways to cook it for myself! I don't have an oven, but I do have a rice cooker and one burner.  Any ideas would be appreciated!

Finally, I hate to admit it, but the customer service at Starbucks here beats the customer service at every Starbucks I've been to in the States (a lot of them).  I've been to two different Starbucks here and each time the people who work there have been awesome.  At one they gave me a picture menu and helped me order and at the other one they gave me sample of all their different cold teas to help me order when all I could do was say "Ocha" and point to a cold cup! 

My week in pictures:

We made Gyoza (potstickers) the first night of the Peace Forum

"Strangely Delicious Electrifying Bread"  Turned out to be cake made in a milk carton "oven" that was plugged into the wall!

The Electric Cake was a huge hit with the kids.

We really like to cook at camps!  This is homemade nan.

Playing with Sparklers on the last day of the Peace Forum

I found a really cool bug on my way to church.

Flowing Noodle party at St. Matthews.  You have to catch the noodles as the go by with your chopsticks and then dunk them into your soup. It was SO delicious and harder than it looks!

"Flowing Noodle Party!"

Sakae

Sakae