November is Filled with Adventures!

So although November has just begun I’m already behind on my blog posts, and for that I apologize! The first weekend this month we had our annual J3 retreat in Karuizawa, Nagano which is north of Tokyo. The new J3’s (myself, Doug, Sue and John) met up with Charity Hall, Matt Linden (current Tokyo J3s) and Mary Johnson (a missionary in Guam and our regional representative) in Ikebukuro to have lunch. We went to this western restaurant called Shakey’s and had PIZZA! It was a really good time, we then ran into the other J3’s from Kumamoto who had also decided to eat there. The 12 of us then proceeded to find our bus and make the trip up to Nagano. The bus ride was around 2 hours which was filled with laughter, conversations, reading short paragraphs about the “Life of a J3” and their assignments wherever that may be. It gave great insight into the job description as well as the humor to which the other J3’s have managed to keep, along with their sanity….slightly. It was a really good trip up there, and the scenery was BEAUTIFUL. The leaves had started to turn which was gorgeous, the foliage in Tokyo….or lack there of, hasn’t allowed us to experience fall in Japan, but our trip up to Nagano did the trick. The leaves had turned beautiful bright reds and oranges and made the drive through the mountains absolutely breath-taking. It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. (Although I absolutely love that about the city!)





The retreat itself was rather laid back in nature and mainly consisted of free time and time to talk with one another and really get to know the other J3’s, which was nice. It was held at a Christian retreat center, and yes they exist in Japan, which had great accommodations. It felt like I was at a sisterhood retreat with the beds and shared rooms. There was also a great little coffee house attached to it which had a Christmas tree set up, and I even got an Apple Cider! Totally made my day.



This was our first time to meet those who have been working down in Kumamoto, on the southern most island of Japan, Kyushu. Being able to talk with the other missionaries that have already been working this job for several years gave me a great perspective as to what teaching Japanese students will be like, what you can expect from the schools, and the difficulties that follow. We also worshipped together, sang together and had “family talk” time with Mary, which allowed us to talk about some of our excitements in the program, the daily stresses and what we do to overcome those obstacles. It was nice to know that these other missionaries know exactly what I’m going through, and went through these same challenges upon their arrival in Japan. So I guess it’s nice to know you’re not alone in the struggle, so that was really reassuring to me. We also had one on one time to talk with Mary so she could catch up on how we were feeling about everything. This time allowed us to talk candidly about how we were feeling with the program on a spiritual, emotional, physical, and academic basis. It was really nice to share those feelings that I may have not been sharing with anyone else, it felt good to lay it all out on the table and realize there are resources to get you plugged into other networks within the city to make it feel like not such of an isolating experience.

While in Karuizawa we had free time to walk around the area and experience that town. There were amazing shops everywhere with tons of jams, jellies, honeys and other fun local treats. One thing I’m learning while in Japan is that Kit-Kats are kinda a big deal here. Each region or season has different flavors of Kit-Kats, and Karuizawa had some interesting ones. I admit I wasn’t brave even to try all of them, but I now think I might start to keep a log of how many I try! Their local specialties were blueberry cheesecake, chili powder, and apple; interesting fun fact I guess. We ate lunch at an Italian restaurant, that had a menu printed in French…not sure why, but I’ve learned to stop asking questions. I picked up two pairs of nice chopsticks and had my Japanese name デイナ engraved on them so now I can be “eco” (echo) friendly as they call it here.



Overall the retreat weekend was a great time to be with other missionaries. It was a nice time for me to be around a group of Christian Missionaries who were in my peer group. Doug, Sue and John have been a great group to be with, work with, and socialize with, but there is something to be said about being with your peers. So that was really refreshing for me, and exactly what I needed. We stayed up rather late one night, talking and joking around and I honestly have not laughed that hard in a LOONG time. I really cannot explain how much those other missionaries really lifted me up that weekend, and those conversations were hysterical and definitely kept me going. The retreat was a very fulfilling experience for me and definitely reminded me of why I’m here and that I can make it through this experience despite my age and the pervasive loneliness at times. The other missionaries are absolutely fantastic and I’m glad that we can all share in this experience together! Overall I would say the J3 retreat was a success!