In Japan, I hear a lot of ideas about world peace. All of these ideas seem to be a bit "out there" and not realistic at all. It's an important issue but people seem to not be very educated on what's going on in the world, simplify issues, and look at them through rose-colored glasses. (Yes, I'm also aware that this happens in the States, too.)

This excerpt is taken from an article written on the 9th grade speech contest winner in Japan. (http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/20061126TDY02006.htm)

In her speech, which opens with her enthusiasm for the "Harry Potter" books, she said the books have been translated into 62 languages, and spoke about how she started thinking about the people who cannot read the fascinating novels. "I think they cannot read them because they are suffering from starvation, diseases and poverty caused by wars. So they cannot have the opportunity to escape into the magical world of Harry...This is something very hard to believe for us living peacefully in Japan."

Believing that "world peace means a world where everyone can read Harry Potter," Miyamoto explained about her research on the topic and her experience at a UNICEF fund-raising event, and concluded that individual help, though each may be small, can save many lives around the world.

Thanksgiving was another Baiko teacher event. All of the Americans brought traditional dishes of a Thanksgiving dinner. We invited all of the non-Americans in the apartments to the meal and celebrated the day together. It was a wonderful day of food, talking, laughter, stories, music, and more food. And course, we went around and shared what we are thankful for. I am especially thankful for my family. The longer I am away from my family, the more thankful I am for them. They are precious to me, and I thank God for blessing me with a wonderful family!

On Wednesday, we had a teacher outing. This included bowling and supper, and it was a lot of fun! Believe it or not, I actually got sixth place bowling, which earned me an electric calendar, clock, timer, calculator. Now I just need to figure out how to use it.

Supper was a nine course meal. It was delicious and included shrimp, crab, lobster, whale, and oyster. To the right is a picture of nabe. It is like a hot pot/soup. In addition to all the food there was a drink bar. The guy sitting across from me had fifteen beers in two hours. Needless to say, he was pretty willing to use what English he knew by the end of the evening.

(There is a zero tolerance level in Japan for drinking and driving. Fines are very expensive, so people are really careful. If they are planning to drink then they either take the train or have a designated driver. Recently, a new law was passed about drinking and driving. Now, if you are in the car with a driver who has had alcohol, you will get a ticket as well because you let the person drive.) To end off the fantastic evening, we all received a party gift--toothpaste. At least it's useful!

It was my turn to teach the Children's English Program at school. This is a program for sixth grade girls and is one of the promotional tools Baiko uses to recruit students. Today we learned about Thanksgiving and then made Turkeys with our hands and feet. It went well but doing a craft with Japanese girls was a very different experience than with American girls. They were all silently and meticulously tracing their hands and then carefully cutting them out. Their concentration on the project was quite amazing. They all wanted to do it just right. Here are a few pictures from the turkey-making event.

After school there was the traditional tree lighting ceremony. It was a bit earlier this year, and to be truthful it did seem a bit weird to be having a candlelight service and singing Christmas carols before Thanksgiving. On the upside, it wasn't as cold even though it was a bit windy. Due to this fact, it took a long time to get everyone's candles lit, and I think everyone had to re-light at least once. However, the service went well and the tree was successfully lit.

I'm going to Tokyo over Christmas vacation! On Monday night I navigated through a Japanese airline website. Two hours and 68 emails later, I successfully reserved my seat. (Miho, thanks for all of your help!) Once reserving the seat, you select how you want to pay for it, either by credit card or going to a convenient store. I decided to go with the later. So, tonight I went down to the 7-11 on the corner and showed the cashier my paper from the internet. She kindly showed me the computer that was attached to the copy machine. Then she walked me through the process and showed me what numbers to punch in when and where. Then I walked to the cash register with her, paid for my ticket, and walked out the door with the airline ticket in hand.

It's amazing what you can do at these convenient stores. You can buy things from snacks to cans of oxygen, print out digital pictures, rent movies, pay your gas and electricity bill, purchase baseball tickets, and pay for your airplane tickets. There is probably even more that you can do that I don't know about. Wow!

Bullying is a big problem in Japan. In a society where group identity is everything, being ostracized is a huge deal. I think that most of the bullying is verbal or ignoring the person; although there is probably some physical violence as well depending on the situation.

Lately, it has gotten national attention. On Monday, a junior high school boy sent a letter to the minister of education in Japan saying that he is being bullied. His teachers, parents and other authority figures hadn't done anything to help. In the letter he said he wanted help, and if he didn't get it he would commit suicide on Wednesday. However, he didn't sign his name or say what school. Thus, the minister of education televised a plea and said he wanted to help.

A day or two ago, the minister of education received another letter from a high school girl saying that she was also bullied. The boy's letter had encouraged her to ask for help or commit suicide on Saturday if she didn't get help. Apparently, this letter was faxed to all of the high schools in Japan to see if any teacher could identify the handwriting. This morning all of the homeroom teachers were called into a short meeting about it. For me this is a reminder of the need to encourage and support my students in prayer.

On my list of things I never thought I'd see in Japan: Flamingo Dancing. I have a friend in her 50s that does flamingo dancing. This afternoon she had a dance recital that I was invited to. The recital was three and a half hours of only flamingo dancing. Wow! I've never see so much in my entire life. The costumes were colorful, the dancing was great, and the Spanish guitarists were amazing.

Today was culture day, which means there was no school! You're probably wondering what happens on culture day. It's a national holiday and a day that churches have bazaars and schools have festivals. I did both. In the morning I went to a friend's church bazaar. There were some handmade goods as well as garage sale type items. Everyone was very welcoming and friendly. I was looking at a cute little tea set and making conversation about it with the lady next to me. The next thing I knew she bought it for me and handed it to me in a bag. Wow! The lady doesn't go to the church but was visiting as well. Random acts of kindness are little blessings from heaven.

I also ate udon (Japanese noodles) at the church. I ended up sitting next to a lady around my age who was an English teacher. We talked in Japanese for 20-30 minutes, but when all of my Japanese was exhausted we switched to English with occasional Japanese phrases. I even had an opportunity to encourage her to start going to church and asking God questions.

Then I went to the school festival at Baiko University. There I had my big "culture" event of the day. I went to a tea ceremony. Everything is done with grace and precise movement. I'm sure there are reasons for everything they do. My legs were tired from sitting on them seiza style, meaning directly under me, but it was really interesting. I enjoyed the o-kashi (Japanese sweet) and macha (tea).