This place & these people!

This is downtown Morioka. In the front is Morioka Station.

Taken from downtown Morioka - you can see where I live in relation. And that's grand ol' Mount Iwate in the distance.

Here are some people in my life! (you can click on the photo to see a bigger version)
Pastor Uenuma was visiting from California just for the day as a guest pastor.

The Miyakawa family runs Tsukigaoka Church. Daughters Mifumi & Honami are in this picture, but Izumi is married, so she doesn't usually go to this church.

The Morita family runs Hallelujah Chapel/Nursery. Dr. Morita is the pastor there, and Nozomi (the daughter) works at the nursery.

Mana (Friday night "singles" group at Tsukigaoka Church) members:
Mifumi (Miyakawa)
Michiko
Nozomi
Yoshi
Nishi
Keiko
Me

Makito & Masami are students of mine at Hallelujah Nursery.

These are a few of my favorite things:

Here's a glimpse into why I love Japan...

A bit more...

Hello all!

This week has been going well. This afternoon I'll have my third Japanese lesson, then I'll bike to Geo-E (a geo-thermal company) to teach two businessmen classes. On Sunday I'll be traveling to Sendai for an English Teaching Expo and coming back Monday afternoon. All of the other short-term missionaries/teachers will be there except Kaila. It will be a good time - but we'll miss her!

Here's my weekly class schedule:

Monday: day off!

Tuesday:
10-11 am - women's class (at Tsukigaoka Church)
2-3 pm - "older" women's class (Tsukigaoka)
4-5 pm - 2nd graders (Tsukigaoka)
7-8 pm - High Schoolers (Tsukigaoka)

Wednesday:
2:15-3 pm - kindergarteners (Tsukigaoka)
4:30-5:30 pm - 3rd graders (Tsukigaoka)

Thursday:
5:45-6:45 pm - Geo-E employees (at the Geo-E office)
7-8 pm - Geo-E employees

Friday:
4:30-5:20 pm - 1st graders (at Mitake Chapel)
5:30-6:30 pm - 3-4 graders (Mitake)

Saturday:
1-2 pm - 3rd-5th graders (Hallelujah Nursery/Chapel)
2-3 pm - one 6th grader (Hallelujah)
5:30-6:30 pm - 4-6th graders (Tsukigaoka)
6:30-7:30 pm - 7th graders (Tsukigaoka)

Sunday: no classes
10:30 am - church and lunch after the service

Aaaaaand more pictures!

My "sister" Honami and me waiting to be seated at a sushi restaurant.


A highlight from our retreat - the ladies' outing to the sand bath - and the man who we met at a gas station who showed us how to get there.


A picture taken after the service last Sunday at Tsukigaoka church. We had a guest pastor, Uenuma-sensei (front row, third from the left). And the fourth from the left is Pasto Miyakawa. Can you find me??

And now... for those of you who are dying to know what I look like as a teacher:

My Tuesday 10 am class - Keiko on the left and Chihiro on the right.

My Tuesday 2nd graders

Keiko and me

My Tuesday evening high school class (plus Keiko - she's not in high school, but she's in the class for fun). Satoko is the one speaking on the right.

That's all for now! I hope you are all doing well!

Blessings,
Anna

Alive and Well

Konnichiwa!

I'm now pretty settled into my teaching schedule and apartment, and I just started Japanese lessons last week. It'll be quite a while still before I have a good handle on the language though!

For now, here are some photos, so you can "picture" my life here!

My apartment:

Where's my bed? It's in the closet during the day, then I move the table at night and pull out my fold-up "futon."

My apartment is right next to Tsukigaoka Church, one of the places I teach. On the right is my building and on the left is the church.

This is one of the main shopping streets in downtown Morioka. It takes about 15 minutes by car or bus to get there from my apartment.

Here are some places I've gone since I've been in Japan:

In August during the teachers' training in Takanosu, the Nordaases took us to this beautiful spot for a picnic.

Here's Kirsten, Hannah and me at the train stop for Kinshuko, the place of our Fall Spiritual Retreat.

These two were taken at Nanshoso, an old Japanese house and garden here in Morioka. This is Mrs. Miyakawa, the pastor's wife at the church next to my apartment. The Miyakawas have three daughters: Mifumi (28), Izumi (26) and Honami (17). They've taken me in as a part of their famly now too, so it's nice to have "my family" right next door!

Here are all of the teachers this year: Kaila (top left) is in Takanosu, Kim & Jon (center) are in Sendai with their three kids, and Hannah and Kirsten (right) are in Akita. We've bonded quickly, and it's always a good time when we're together! It'll be a good year!