caramel apples

I led the womens Bible study at Sendai Minami church this month. Since the five of us that attended all have a pretty good relationship with each other, we were able to have a objective and open conversation about Jesus' power over the storm at sea. Our small group meditated reflected on God's purpose for us in times of fear or struggle. Why is it that the disciples were shocked at Jesus' lack of reaction to the possible destruction of the boat, but didn't look to Jesus for deliverance? Is our reaction to hardship similar to that of the disciples at times? Yumiko, a seeker who also comes to the weekly Starbucks study, was kind of quiet and thoughtful most of the time. She said that from what she's read about Jesus so far, he's a "great man that comes [through] no matter what happens."



After the study, we made caramel apples! We all tried as hard as we could, but none of us finished the entire thing. Next year, mata ganbarimasu!

random fall happennings

We met a new friend, Audrey, who lives near Ishinomaki (east of Sendai and about an hour away). She's great! She arrived in Japan about three months ago and loves her job teaching English. There are lots of opportinities for her to build relationships with Japanese people there, seeing as she is the only foreigner in her town! Audrey has come to Sendai to worship with us a couple of times and has plans to attend a young adult retreat with us in Ibaraki in a couple of weeks.


We missed you, Haruna (blue shirt)! A few weeks ago, we got to celebrate the visit of a good friend and former cell-grouper who has plans to move from Hiroshima to Africa very soon! Her plans are to teach science and math to children in schools there. Please pray for her safe travel and rewarding experience, that God will continue to reveal to her His glory!



Happy birthday, Ken, Tsubo and Yuko! We had a barbecue in our back yard to celebrate our dear friends with September birthdays. Love you guys!

where I work

My 26th Birthday Party

I think that if word got out about what an amazing job I get to have, there would be a long line of people waiting to grab it up. I don't know why I get to be so blessed, but I'm thankful!!! I work at an international kindergarten. It's a small class with only ten children, but we have a recently renovated room and hopes of having lots of new students join. The class is part of the Abroad Language Center in downtown Sendai.

Singing 'Father Abraham' (in Swedish for Culture Day)

I teach 3,4,5, and 6-year-old students. They are all really close friends and we always have a lot of fun together. They learn English using English and the progress is so rapid that I can hardly keep up with them!

Their spoken English is sounding more and more natural everyday! The other day, one boy in my class decided he was going to set up his own little restaurant at the kitchen center. He was meticulous; making sure the place settings all had the same spacing. Upon announcing to the rest of the class that his restaurant had opened, he promptly welcomed his first guest, another boy of the same age. With one swift movement, the second boy swept all the dishes off the table and onto the floor with his arm. After a brief pause, Restaurant Boy looked up at the second boy from the heap of brightly-colored plastic dishes and yelled, "Get oudda here!" I was really impressed that he new the right timing for that phrase!

Recent Ad Photo

As much as I can, I try to make the class feel like a kindergarten class you would find in Japan, keeping the same standards and preparing the kids for first grade in Japanese schools, while also taking as much as I can from what I learned about kindergarten methods when I was student teaching and working as a substitute teacher in elementary schools. Our daily schedule includes morning routine, language exploration (vocabulary and phonics), writing, math, music, physical activity, read-alouds and centers time.

Playing at the Park

It's a different setting than that of my training, the biggest difference, of course, being that I am teaching in Japan. Also, we are downtown in a city of a million, so walking to the park means descending from our 6th floor office building location and being on guard walking the crowded sidewalks next to busy streets. It would be great to have a building with a playground! A recent change in administration has brought about lots of changes for our little class; an actual (busy) event calendar, a bigger room, and LOTS more resources! The long-term plan is to find a facility that will allow our little ones more room to run like the wind. I might be witnessing the beginning of an international elementary school if all goes as planned. I'm excited!

Show and Tell

I love these children! It's such a pleasure to get to watch them grow.