Easter Dinner

Happy Easter everybody!! We were very blessed to have three friends over for dinner on Easter. We actually were able to have a relatively traditional Easter meal; ham, mashed potatoes and the like. Everybody had a great day of worship and the meal was a good conclusion for this wonderful holiday. From my right is Alex from Singapore, Jacob from China, Junko from Hiroshima and the pretty one on the right is Misty.

Want Not Waste Not

Yeah . . . So, do you remember that time in elementary school when you joked to a friend about how gross it would be to turn on the sink the same time someone flushed the toilet? So do the Japanese. This is something that our friends in the states found incredibly interesting, and now we're making good on a month's old promise to explain how it works. When you flush, the water to fill the reservoir first flows out of the faucet, allowing the user to wash his or her hands. That said, we really just wanted the excuse to post a funny picture on our blog. I'm sure it will be the butt of many jokes.

Snippets of Japanese Culture

Hey these are just random photos we thought you might like to see. From the top left: a traditional Japanese bride and groom, an old-style building at a garden, a kimono fashion show, shrines for the dead, a panhandling idol receives three yen (2.5 cents), a mound for the casualties of the atomic bomb, hina dolls, a household altar, and an offering tray.

Ohanami!!!

In Japan, viewing cherry blossoms (ohanami) is a big deal, so we took a trip to a local garden with two friends, Keiko and Emi. Even though the blossoms hadn't fully bloomed, we were still able to enjoy some beautiful views of God's creation.

Our Bowling Outing

Every Saturday we have been meeting with our friend Jacob and 3 Japanese girl friends. Usually we meet at a coffee shop, but on this day we decided to go bowling. And if you know Misty, you know she loves bowling! Chie (top picture, far left) was our Champion. Below, Jacob shakes off yet another gutter ball.