Tuesday Evening, June 21st

This is why my posts get so long, I'm sorry. I should be posting every day -

Sunday: I was able to attend church at the "new" Central Baptist Church. The church I attended while here on island recently moved from a city quite a ways away from the school to just down the road. It actually bought out a former store that I used to shop at and converted the building into the new church. I was sceptical and worried about what I may find, but wow! It is a beautiful new building. I am happy for them for that, but even happier because this church has been having some issues finding a long-term pastor. Actually from the time I lived here (in the early 2000s) until now the poor congregation has really hopped from one preacher to another as they saught the right fit for their congregation. Sunday, marked the installment of their new missionary pastor and his wife. It was a precious ceremony and I truly pray that this new pastor will be a good fit for everyone. It was an exciting day!

An entertainment story for you - this happened on Sunday. Well, when I lived here before we had been given careful instructions on how to care for our apartments. We had rules on how to clean the air conditioners, how to wash the typhoon bars, and how to wax the floor every year, or at least every other year. I have waxed many a floor in this apartment building. Well, I wanted to try to leave the apartment I am staying in a little better than it was when I got here, and one way I thought I could do that to help would be to strip and wax the floor for them. I was hoping to just tackle the kitchen.

Well, after lunch, I went to Makeman (makumanu) to buy some floor wax and the stripper and whatever equipment I needed. I was recalling the feeling of accomplishment I got after waxing and enjoying that, so I was looking forward to the project. I found the floor wax. I actually had to ask a customer:

"Sumimasen, kore wa waxu?" - that was my version, of "Excuse me, is this wax?"

"Hai, so desu" - "Yes, it is"

I was excited and I remembered that my roommate Jenn and I had used some special spray bottle to remove the wax. It had worked well, so I went up and down the isles trying to find it. Believe it or not, in 20 years, I seem to have forgotten what that bottle looked like, or else they switched lables/artwork/colors. So, after much searching and attempting to reach my Japanese, I found a gal who worked at the store:

"Sumimasen, waxu desu?" - This is wax - I held up the bottle and showed the woman.
"Hai,so desu" - yes, it is.
"Strippah, ga arimasu?" - my attempt at "Do you have any stripper?"

At this point, I got a very odd look from the store clerk. I realized, strippah wasn't translating the way I thought. As a matter of fact, "stripper/strippah" may actually refer to a woman who likes to remove her clothing. Quickly, I realized I needed to switch gears!

"waxu - bye bye" -- "wax, bye-bye"
"Mmmmm, lemovah" - "oh remover!"
"HAI! So desu" - yes, that's right!

She then brought me over to the "remover" and I felt complete. Kind of stupid and amused at the events, but complete. 8 hours later, however, I wasn't so sure that was a good idea. How could I have thought I enjoyed waxing? OK, the waxing part is fine, but the stripping? CRAZY!

Monday: First day of school.

I got to meet my kids and we spent most of the morning getting to know each other and I was assessing where they were at so I knew what to try to work on with them. It was a great day with very little to report as far as being great or negative. That's a good sign for a first day! After school, I met up with a couple of the missionaries who live in the apartments now. One of them went to the beach with me and we swam some laps. Then we came back home and picked up the other gal for a dinner down at my favorite little "ramen" shop. A very good day.

Tuesday: Second day of school. I am very much appreciating your prayers, especially for "Bradly". Everything has gone more than smoothly with him. I have had NO ISSUES at all, and I am praising God for that. However, there is one little boy in his class that did get some rather firm correction out of me today. He was enjoying his summer school experience, and the friendly competition that I was bringing to the math experience, a little more than was needed. However, trying to reign in enthusiasm, that's a problem I don't often have to contend with in the secondary realm, so that was a fine thing.

My second group of kids are my 5th graders. They are a widely varied group of kids as far as ability is concerned. I have a high school helper with me in both classes, and I'm grateful. They all seem to need help at the same time, so I very much appreciate her being there to assist. It is nice! I have some little boys in that class that I vividly recall from the last time I was teaching here. One of them was our permanant talker during chapel, recess, or every field trip we took. He always had something to say and some story to tell us. THe moment he walked in the room on Monday, I knew that I recalled him. I even greeted him by name. Of course he had no memory of me, but I smiled thinking "I could never forget you,however." :) He is a bright young boy however, so I have enjoyed having him in class. He is still rather talkative and enthusiastic, but he seems to enjoy math and works hard at it. It is fun getting to know their personalities.

This evening, some of the office staff that I worked with when I lived here took me out for a very special and very fancy Okinawan meal. I was thrilled just to be out with them, but the meal was very special too. It was a fun day!

As far as my current prayer requests go, I am starting to get a little concerned about my sleep. I have been waking up about 3 AM every morning, which is rather normal with jet lag. This morning, I actually thought I could sleep in after waking up. I got up to use the restroom and then thought I'd get a drink of water. I walked to the sink and as I grabbed a cup - zip...a big cockroach ran right under my hand. My heart started pounding immediately and the battle to catch the bugger was one. I did NOT go back to sleep, but that cockroach will not be bothering me, or anyone else, any more. (Funny aside, one of the office staff decided today was a good day to bring in a bag of plastic roaches and just leave them in odd places: desks, offices, bags . . . for her coworkers to find today. I guess a work order was put out to buy some roach traps and the maintenance men were placed on the job. HA! Masako-san brought levity to the day, at least in my opinion she did!) Anyway, I've been averaging about 5 - 6 hours of sleep each night. I actually feel pretty good in spite of that, but I don't want to wear down and get sick. I love getting up in the morning to work out, but I do need a little more sleep too.