I have lived through the day! The program went pretty well. I am sitting up in Lisa Sorley's apartment reliving the highlights of the day. There were a lot of people that came out for our final production. I have heard some good comments, so I guess I can say that it all went well.
I have been going since about 5 AM. It is now almost . . . 12:30 AM and I haven't exactly packed. I guess I need to go do that. I am having email difficulties, so hopefully this will serve to let my family know that . . . I am on my way! I leave here at 8 AM THIS morning, I guess. I have miles to go before I sleep! I have to keep this short!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
OH I FORGOT
Yesterday, I shared the wordless book salvation story with the kids. I gave the kids a chance to pray to give their lives to the Lord if they felt led to do so. Many students stood up and went out to talk/pray with their teachers! I don't know how many were first time prayers, or rededications, but I know many were led to pray. I praise God for that!
Early Morning, Thursday, June 19
Today is the day! It is the big production of our summer school program. We have been studying lines, learning songs, memorizing Bible Verses, "dancing" . . . You name it we have been working on it. In about 7 hours all of it will be over. I pray it all goes well.
Rehearsal yesterday left a lot to be desired, but that is the way dress rehearsals go, right? It was pure chaos and I think my blood pressure was probably elevated. I slept well though, so we'll give it a go again today. On a positive note, there is so much excitement among the kids about this. One little boy is BEGGING to rehearse more and more and more and more....every time I see him I have to ask him to go sit down (and he is in 4th grade.) They are all coming around - - even middle school! I have 4 BIG middle school boys who wanted to be in a choreography section. I thought that was neat. The kids love the songs, and the teachers have all commented how WE all wake up in the morning singing the songs. If nothing else, we all have those songs (which are scripture verses put to song) hidden in our hearts. That is success.
Um, let's see. Some of you know that I missed all day Tuesday here because I was home with that cold. I slept the day away and I do feel better now. I praise God for that.
On top of the program today is my last day on island. I fly out tomorrow, so I am trying to pack all of the last minute errands in. Some things just aren't going to get done. There is NOT enough time. The biggies on my list (and yes, most of them are food related) - I ate at Royal (several times), I had a `donut dog` and `donut fish`, I have walked around the neighborhood, I have been snorkeling, I have been to the beach, I bought out the 100 yen stores, I ate at Ghenkis Khan, I had Ube ice cream (sweet potato - blue), I saw a lot of former students . . . . I have tried to hit everything.
I don't know that I will be able to post pictures or update you on the performance until I get home (in early August.) I fly straight from Okinawa to Oklahoma to stay with some more friends/family from Okinawa. I know my day is completely packed from here on out, but I did burn a CD last night with some more pictures for you. Maybe I can find some time in between set - up today to share some with you.
Thank you all for your interest and your prayers as I was over here. This whole summer has been a blessing.
Rehearsal yesterday left a lot to be desired, but that is the way dress rehearsals go, right? It was pure chaos and I think my blood pressure was probably elevated. I slept well though, so we'll give it a go again today. On a positive note, there is so much excitement among the kids about this. One little boy is BEGGING to rehearse more and more and more and more....every time I see him I have to ask him to go sit down (and he is in 4th grade.) They are all coming around - - even middle school! I have 4 BIG middle school boys who wanted to be in a choreography section. I thought that was neat. The kids love the songs, and the teachers have all commented how WE all wake up in the morning singing the songs. If nothing else, we all have those songs (which are scripture verses put to song) hidden in our hearts. That is success.
Um, let's see. Some of you know that I missed all day Tuesday here because I was home with that cold. I slept the day away and I do feel better now. I praise God for that.
On top of the program today is my last day on island. I fly out tomorrow, so I am trying to pack all of the last minute errands in. Some things just aren't going to get done. There is NOT enough time. The biggies on my list (and yes, most of them are food related) - I ate at Royal (several times), I had a `donut dog` and `donut fish`, I have walked around the neighborhood, I have been snorkeling, I have been to the beach, I bought out the 100 yen stores, I ate at Ghenkis Khan, I had Ube ice cream (sweet potato - blue), I saw a lot of former students . . . . I have tried to hit everything.
I don't know that I will be able to post pictures or update you on the performance until I get home (in early August.) I fly straight from Okinawa to Oklahoma to stay with some more friends/family from Okinawa. I know my day is completely packed from here on out, but I did burn a CD last night with some more pictures for you. Maybe I can find some time in between set - up today to share some with you.
Thank you all for your interest and your prayers as I was over here. This whole summer has been a blessing.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
TC - AC (Monday, July 16)
Actually, we are no longer in any typhoon condition at all, and the sun is shining. I just really wanted to come over to write you on Saturday to say that we were in TC - AC - or tyhpoon condition, ALL CLEAR! The typhoon that hit us was called typhoon "Man-Yi". It was a category 4 typhoon and had some very damaging winds and rain. It hit later in the day on Thursday and whipped around very strong until Saturday Morning. On Friday we watched as trees out our window (way across the soccer field) snapped or were uprooted and thrown to the ground, the typhoon bars were vibrating and shaking like crazy, and the cars were shaking quite a bit too. We went out to play games at a neighbor's on Thursday afternoon, but found it rather hard to climb up the stairs. Of course, we didn't give up and made the trip fine.
Saturday morning, I got up early to try to do laundry (Can't do laundry during a typhoon because the washing machines are outside, taped shut.) I found that the laundry area was full of debris and salt water. I spent a while cleaning that out and spraying down windows. Shortly after that, I heard Max out with his chain saw. I spent the rest of the morning with some other teachers picking up sticks, trees, branches and debris. About noon it started to POUR rain, but gratefully we had done when we could by that time. Lisa and I went down to the sea wall for lunch. The waves were huge - when we could see them through the downpour! The roads were blocked by typhoon debris so traffic was pretty bad all day.
Sunday, sadly . . . I missed out on all the fun. I came down with a cold Saturday afternoon and spent most of the day in bed on Sunday. I spent the night at my friends home (Randy and Kathy Fagan) and I did go to church with them. However, after lunch they brought me back to their house where I slept ALL AFTERNOON. They went up to the pineapple factory without me. I was fine with that.
Today, I am feeling pretty congested still,and my throat still hurts, but I think the worst is over. The kids however, pushed me over the edge in music classes today. The 4th and 5th graders got quite a lecture from me. I almost cried I was so angry with them. They refuse to participate, or follow directions from anyone (not only me.) The 4th graders all wrote me very nice letters of apology. The 5th graders verbally said that they would do better, so we will see. Tomorrow is a new day. We only have 3 more days to learn this!!!! Time is running out, so they had better get their acts together. I will love them through this, but I will not allow them to insult God - and that was what pushed me over the edge today. Please continue to pray for them, and for us as we lead them. We need wisdom to reach these kids.
I will be sharing the "wordless book" for chapel in a couple of days. If you would be willing to pray that God will prepare the hearts of kids even now, and that those who are ready to receive salvation will do so . . . I would appreciate it. I think some kids are really thinking this summer.
Thanks for all your prayers. I cannot believe that I only have 4 days left. However, will I fit everything in my suitcase!
Saturday morning, I got up early to try to do laundry (Can't do laundry during a typhoon because the washing machines are outside, taped shut.) I found that the laundry area was full of debris and salt water. I spent a while cleaning that out and spraying down windows. Shortly after that, I heard Max out with his chain saw. I spent the rest of the morning with some other teachers picking up sticks, trees, branches and debris. About noon it started to POUR rain, but gratefully we had done when we could by that time. Lisa and I went down to the sea wall for lunch. The waves were huge - when we could see them through the downpour! The roads were blocked by typhoon debris so traffic was pretty bad all day.
Sunday, sadly . . . I missed out on all the fun. I came down with a cold Saturday afternoon and spent most of the day in bed on Sunday. I spent the night at my friends home (Randy and Kathy Fagan) and I did go to church with them. However, after lunch they brought me back to their house where I slept ALL AFTERNOON. They went up to the pineapple factory without me. I was fine with that.
Today, I am feeling pretty congested still,and my throat still hurts, but I think the worst is over. The kids however, pushed me over the edge in music classes today. The 4th and 5th graders got quite a lecture from me. I almost cried I was so angry with them. They refuse to participate, or follow directions from anyone (not only me.) The 4th graders all wrote me very nice letters of apology. The 5th graders verbally said that they would do better, so we will see. Tomorrow is a new day. We only have 3 more days to learn this!!!! Time is running out, so they had better get their acts together. I will love them through this, but I will not allow them to insult God - and that was what pushed me over the edge today. Please continue to pray for them, and for us as we lead them. We need wisdom to reach these kids.
I will be sharing the "wordless book" for chapel in a couple of days. If you would be willing to pray that God will prepare the hearts of kids even now, and that those who are ready to receive salvation will do so . . . I would appreciate it. I think some kids are really thinking this summer.
Thanks for all your prayers. I cannot believe that I only have 4 days left. However, will I fit everything in my suitcase!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
TYPHOON HERE! - Thursday, July 12
The biggest news of the day is a looming typhoon. Actually it isn't looming so much anymore. We sent all the kids home today at noon because we are officially in TC-1 (typhoon condition 1 - - which means winds in excess of some high amount are expected in the next 12 hours.) If we enter TC-1C then the military bases all close. Our kids have to get back home before that happens, so they went home. We probably won't have school tomorrow either. I cannot tell you the name of this typhoon. The office ladies here are telling me it is "typhoon #4". I don't think it is supposed to be a super typhoon, but it is big. It is also headed to go straight over us. It might be a noisy night.
The other big news was that yesterday was my birthday here. I had a great day. The kids were great at school. After school, I went to the beach to buy a "donut dog" from the bus stand for lunch. They are really called "America Dog"s, - corn dogs, but they are especially sweet and crunch. I love them. After my extra special lunch, I tried to go snorkeling. We drove to two differend beachs and did try, but they were all stirred up and quite wavy. It was fun none-the-less. Then, that evening, a bunch of missionaires/visitors went with me to the "Sushi-Go-Round" down by the ferris wheel. While I was cautious and only ate cooked food, I enjoyed the sushi very much. Then, we went to play video games at the Dragon Palace, followed by ice cream . .. and the highlight of everything for me: KARAOKE! FUN FUN FUN! It was a great night.
Today at school the office ladies made me a birthday cake even. It has been very special!
Music classes are going very well. The 4th graders are extremely excited about the musical now. One boy asked me to come meet his mom, he was so excited to be a part of it. Thank you for praying. Please keep it up! Hopefully missing the one day of rehearsals won't be a problem for our performance next week.
I hope all is well with each of you. Things are great here. I will give you a typhoon report when it is done. As it is, we are all typhoonizing our rooms and getting things boarded up.
The other big news was that yesterday was my birthday here. I had a great day. The kids were great at school. After school, I went to the beach to buy a "donut dog" from the bus stand for lunch. They are really called "America Dog"s, - corn dogs, but they are especially sweet and crunch. I love them. After my extra special lunch, I tried to go snorkeling. We drove to two differend beachs and did try, but they were all stirred up and quite wavy. It was fun none-the-less. Then, that evening, a bunch of missionaires/visitors went with me to the "Sushi-Go-Round" down by the ferris wheel. While I was cautious and only ate cooked food, I enjoyed the sushi very much. Then, we went to play video games at the Dragon Palace, followed by ice cream . .. and the highlight of everything for me: KARAOKE! FUN FUN FUN! It was a great night.
Today at school the office ladies made me a birthday cake even. It has been very special!
Music classes are going very well. The 4th graders are extremely excited about the musical now. One boy asked me to come meet his mom, he was so excited to be a part of it. Thank you for praying. Please keep it up! Hopefully missing the one day of rehearsals won't be a problem for our performance next week.
I hope all is well with each of you. Things are great here. I will give you a typhoon report when it is done. As it is, we are all typhoonizing our rooms and getting things boarded up.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Monday, July 9
This is the first morning that I have had any time to collect my thoughts lately. The 2nd grade teacher has returned from the states and that has significantly lightened my work load. I spent all weekend (oh, I should say my free time this weekend) pulling together all of the loose ends of the musical and chapels. I have two choreography sessions planned, the solos are all asigned, drama parts have also been assigned, and the kids are starting to learn the songs. I worked with Lisa Sorley to try to establish some music classes for the individual grades as well. Tomorrow, I will begin my new music schedule.
Please continue to pray for the kids. I am getting a lot of resistance from the 4th, 5th, and middle school grades. They refuse to participate in chapel, and unfortunately, I just cannot attend to them AND all of the other grades at the same time. Pray that their teachers can reach them, and that perhaps when I have them in music class I will be able to connect with them and break down some of these barriers. The message the songs present is clear and Biblical. I pray that they won't harden their hearts to everything.
Last week flew by in a blur of activity. I cannot even recall any specific activities outside of school. I am sure I did something, but I am not sure what it is. I do know that on Saturday, Max Cruzado took some of us out on his boat to go snorkeling. We were going to go out to sand island to snorkel, but the waves were very bad. I had taken all of my seasickness medicine, but I wasn't as worried about snorkeling as I was about the fishing. We wouldn't have been driving nearly as far away, so getting sick didn't scare me as bad. The waves were worse, but I decided not to worry. Max said that the waves were too bad to boat out to sand island, so he took us up to Maeda Point on the boat. I had a great time, but about halfway there (after a wave crashed over the top of the boat drenching all of us) I wandered back to Max saying, "Max, these waves are bigger than 2 meters!!!" I am not so sure he appreciated my commentary at the time, but I decided to trust him. (I didn't share with the others on the boat that he had told me before that it wasn't safe for the boat with waves bigger than 2 meters) We rocked and rolled along the coast of Okianwa - barely making it by Zampa point, in my opinion, but then we entered the calmer seas near Maeda. It was great. Unfortunately, everone in the boat with the exception of me and Max felt woozy at one time or another (two people becoming quite ill!) I felt great and had a blast. Max warned us that the waves would be worse heading home, but it was fun.
When we got back, Max allowed me to help him with the boat. There was an ocean Matsuri on Sunday, so he wanted to get the boat out of the port. We sent home all of the other people, and then used the trailor to get the boat out. I was able to drive his van a few times and I even drove and connected it to the trailor! Once we got it out of the water we washed it off up at school. I enjoyed every moment.
Then, that evening, Max, Aidy, and Hazel invited Kathleen and I over to their place for dinner. As always, the food and conversation was wonderful. For those of you who haven't met the Cruzados, they are very special people to everyone at OCSI. Max is our head maintenance man and Aidy teaches K4 at school. When I first got here (10 years ago), they were the first people to greet me and make me feel welcome. They gave me a ride to church for almost the first year that I was on island. They feel like family to me, so I especially enjoyed the night.
Sunday, I went to THREE church services. I used to think 2 was a lot, but I packed in a third one this week! The morning consisted of chapel 2 on Kadena, followed by Central Baptist. After church a whole crew of people met for lunch at Obligato. Then, Lisa and I worked out summer school detiails before we left for Calvary Chapel that evening. Trevor Raichura was speaking, so it was fun to go and hear all of that.
Please continue to pray for the kids. I am getting a lot of resistance from the 4th, 5th, and middle school grades. They refuse to participate in chapel, and unfortunately, I just cannot attend to them AND all of the other grades at the same time. Pray that their teachers can reach them, and that perhaps when I have them in music class I will be able to connect with them and break down some of these barriers. The message the songs present is clear and Biblical. I pray that they won't harden their hearts to everything.
Last week flew by in a blur of activity. I cannot even recall any specific activities outside of school. I am sure I did something, but I am not sure what it is. I do know that on Saturday, Max Cruzado took some of us out on his boat to go snorkeling. We were going to go out to sand island to snorkel, but the waves were very bad. I had taken all of my seasickness medicine, but I wasn't as worried about snorkeling as I was about the fishing. We wouldn't have been driving nearly as far away, so getting sick didn't scare me as bad. The waves were worse, but I decided not to worry. Max said that the waves were too bad to boat out to sand island, so he took us up to Maeda Point on the boat. I had a great time, but about halfway there (after a wave crashed over the top of the boat drenching all of us) I wandered back to Max saying, "Max, these waves are bigger than 2 meters!!!" I am not so sure he appreciated my commentary at the time, but I decided to trust him. (I didn't share with the others on the boat that he had told me before that it wasn't safe for the boat with waves bigger than 2 meters) We rocked and rolled along the coast of Okianwa - barely making it by Zampa point, in my opinion, but then we entered the calmer seas near Maeda. It was great. Unfortunately, everone in the boat with the exception of me and Max felt woozy at one time or another (two people becoming quite ill!) I felt great and had a blast. Max warned us that the waves would be worse heading home, but it was fun.
When we got back, Max allowed me to help him with the boat. There was an ocean Matsuri on Sunday, so he wanted to get the boat out of the port. We sent home all of the other people, and then used the trailor to get the boat out. I was able to drive his van a few times and I even drove and connected it to the trailor! Once we got it out of the water we washed it off up at school. I enjoyed every moment.
Then, that evening, Max, Aidy, and Hazel invited Kathleen and I over to their place for dinner. As always, the food and conversation was wonderful. For those of you who haven't met the Cruzados, they are very special people to everyone at OCSI. Max is our head maintenance man and Aidy teaches K4 at school. When I first got here (10 years ago), they were the first people to greet me and make me feel welcome. They gave me a ride to church for almost the first year that I was on island. They feel like family to me, so I especially enjoyed the night.
Sunday, I went to THREE church services. I used to think 2 was a lot, but I packed in a third one this week! The morning consisted of chapel 2 on Kadena, followed by Central Baptist. After church a whole crew of people met for lunch at Obligato. Then, Lisa and I worked out summer school detiails before we left for Calvary Chapel that evening. Trevor Raichura was speaking, so it was fun to go and hear all of that.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Tuesday, July 3
I was pretty sure this would happen, but now that I have started teaching time is really flying by. My second graders keep me hopping at all times. Phew. I learned a new Japanese/Okinawan word: "Natsubate." It means the fatigue that comes from summer heat and humidity. I claim to have that, but I am pretty sure my fatigue is coming from 21 active 7 - 8 year olds. We are really having a VERY hard time following directions and thinking independently. However, I am stilly trying to learn what I can expect from them. I am not sure how much is natsubate for them vs. English language barrier. A lot is probably that English barrier. It is hard to follow directions, no matter how simple they may be, if you don't understand English.
My roommate has been sick for quite a while. She got a cold about 3 weeks ago and it continues to hang on. I have selfishly been praying that I wouldn't get sick too. I have felt great until today. I have a very sore throat today, but I am hoping that if I load up on vitamin C or something like that I will conquer it. Maybe I will take a little nap this afternoon too.
With school going on, I don't have any fun little adventures to share with you. Oh, well, maybe some of you will relate with this. I tried to ship home a couple of boxes yesterday. I wanted the curriculum that I had written before AND I bought some little trinkets for my students and friends back in America. I thought it would be a fast project to get that together and mail out. HA! I forgot about the Japanese system for anything. At 4:45 last night, 4 hours into the process, my boxes were finally in the mail. However, I had made several trips to the post office in the meantime, called my credit card company to try to get the card working AGAIN, exchanged money some other way . . . . The post office wasn't actually the problem, the money was. Oh well. My boxes are on their way and I can relax some now.
We don't have school tomorrow for the 4th of July. A lot of the missionaries are going up North to a resort, "Kanucha Bay." I used to work for Okinawa Times teaching english years ago. A perk of that was that I could reserve their cabin for only 2,000 yen a night. Someone we know, still has those connections, so we get a $750 room for 2,000 yen -- that is less than $18.00. Split that 5 ways and it is a very inexpensive yet luxurious outing! The weather is great, so I look forward to my time in the pool! We are leaving today at 3:30, when we are all done with school.
My roommate has been sick for quite a while. She got a cold about 3 weeks ago and it continues to hang on. I have selfishly been praying that I wouldn't get sick too. I have felt great until today. I have a very sore throat today, but I am hoping that if I load up on vitamin C or something like that I will conquer it. Maybe I will take a little nap this afternoon too.
With school going on, I don't have any fun little adventures to share with you. Oh, well, maybe some of you will relate with this. I tried to ship home a couple of boxes yesterday. I wanted the curriculum that I had written before AND I bought some little trinkets for my students and friends back in America. I thought it would be a fast project to get that together and mail out. HA! I forgot about the Japanese system for anything. At 4:45 last night, 4 hours into the process, my boxes were finally in the mail. However, I had made several trips to the post office in the meantime, called my credit card company to try to get the card working AGAIN, exchanged money some other way . . . . The post office wasn't actually the problem, the money was. Oh well. My boxes are on their way and I can relax some now.
We don't have school tomorrow for the 4th of July. A lot of the missionaries are going up North to a resort, "Kanucha Bay." I used to work for Okinawa Times teaching english years ago. A perk of that was that I could reserve their cabin for only 2,000 yen a night. Someone we know, still has those connections, so we get a $750 room for 2,000 yen -- that is less than $18.00. Split that 5 ways and it is a very inexpensive yet luxurious outing! The weather is great, so I look forward to my time in the pool! We are leaving today at 3:30, when we are all done with school.
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