Summa Summa Summatiiiiiiiiiiime!

The school year is back in full swing here in Japan, so I thought I’d take the time and recap how I spent my summer vacation. The calendar may read Fall but the weather here in Tokyo still feels like summer. Things have begun to cool off a little bit these past few days, but I’m not sure how long that will last. As many of you know, I was a bit worried about this summer and having so much free time, (what a horrible thing to worry about, huh?) I was sure I was going to go insane from boredom. However, to my pleasant surprise this was not the case. I managed to have quite a full summer with people visiting, traveling to several places, and catching up with friends; this summer was rather enjoyable. Granted this summer was also the hottest on record here in Japan, so quite a few days were also spent inside in the air conditioning.

The school year ended with our traditional end of the year party and many of our classes going out to nice lunches. My co-worker Matt, had a friend in town for a week so the three of us were dined rather nicely the last week of our classes. I then spent the next week hanging out with Matt and his friend, and doing some touristy things in Tokyo. Most of the time we just hung out and stayed in doors since the weather was extremely hot during this part of the summer. One day we also ventured down to Yokohama. Yokohama was having their annual summer fireworks, which was about an hour long and quite impressive. There were millions of people there, well that might be a bit exaggerated but probably not by much. The fireworks were beautiful and then we wandered around China town for a little while, and grabbed some food before we headed back to Tokyo. It was nice to have another American around that we could hang out with, and joke around with. Visitors are always welcome in Tokyo!

Next two of my friends from college, Luis and Matt were on their way here. They both accepted jobs with the JET program, teaching English in Japan, and had a 3 day orientation in Tokyo. While there were here, we mainly hung out at night because they were busy during the day, so they got to see the night life of Shinjuku. It was rather refreshing having more friends from home around here in Japan, people who actually know me, it’s quite nice. The three days they were here seemed to go by pretty fast and then they were off to their new locations in Japan.

After Luis and Matt left, another missionary Carolyn came up to stay with me in Tokyo for a few days. The first night Carolyn arrived we went to a club in the Roppongi part of town with another friend of mine from church. It was a very nice club with a roof top garden, and big plush couches to sit on outside. Rather nice if I do say so myself. We had a lot of fun at Feria and made some new American friends there as well. The clubbing atmosphere is totally different in Tokyo than anywhere else I’ve been, and makes for some long nights once you take the trains into consideration…. But overall we had a great time!

The next day Carolyn’s friend Sarah from college flew into Tokyo and also stayed at my place. So many Valparaiso Alumni in Tokyo! I loved it, I feel I had my share of Valpo talk that I haven’t been able to have for awhile. While Carolyn and Sarah were here we explored around Tokyo, and also spent a few nights in Shinjuku. We managed to “get lost” one night, but happened to stumble upon a festival in the Golden District of Shinjuku. There were streets with tons of little bars, with many enough for 10 people to sit comfortably. We made small chit chat in Japanese with the bar owners, and they were impressed we spoke Japanese. At times, I’m rather confident with my Japanese and while Carolyn’s friend was here, I managed to do quite well. We had a great time at this summer festival, and just happened to stumble upon it, sometimes the best adventures come about when you’re not trying.



During the time Carolyn and her friend were here, I also went to another fireworks show in Tokyo with some other friends. This fireworks show I’ve been told is the largest one in Tokyo, and is located in the Asakusa part of town. This fireworks show was CRAZY!!! I have NEVER seen so many people in one location in my entire life. To say there were a million people here would probably be an understatement. Police had to control the trains as far as 5 stations away in order to control the hoards of people that were coming in town. I met up with 3 of my friends there and we began a 30 minute walk to just try and find seats for the fireworks. This show however, was by FAR the best fireworks show I have ever seen and lasted a little over 2 hours. I’m not sure fireworks in America are going to cut it for me anymore… Tokyo has this down pretty well.

Then sadly, all my visitors departed and I was able to spend the next week, just hanging out with some new friends in Tokyo and decompressing from all the business associated with having guests in town. This week also happened to be rather hot, so I was glad to stay in doors for a little while. After a week of rest, I was ready for some adventures again, and then departed for Cambodia. I took a trip with a friend to Cambodia and was there for a total of 12 days. It seems like a long trip, but realistically I could have stayed there for a few more weeks. I have wanted to go to Cambodia for a loooooooong time and it finally happened! I was so excited. I would write more about that but Cambodia deserves an entry of its own, so I will write more about that later!

The day AFTER I returned from Cambodia I immediately took another trip with a friend from a different church and ventured down to Osaka and Kyoto. Maike, her baby Leo and I traveled around the Kansai area for 4 days. It was still quite hot there, but we managed to get in some good site seeing. We went to several temples and walked around the famous shop streets in Osaka. I really enjoyed this part of Japan. Tokyo tends to be rather strict and conservative in their culture, where Kansai tends to remind me more of America. I rather enjoyed being in this type of atmosphere where I didn’t have to worry about talking on the trains and other trivial things I have to worry about in Tokyo. It was a quick trip, but one that definitely made me want to explore Japan more!




After returning from Kansai I had one more week off before our special interest classes began at Hongo. These are classes, or activities, offered to returning or new students as a way to get to know their teachers better. Whether its making pancakes, a game day or a trip bowling, we had several students come for these activities and enjoyed ourselves very much. That was basically my summer. A lot of traveling, a lot of friends, and a lot of fun. And to think I was worried about not having anything to do! I am sure there is stuff that I left out, but it was a rather busy summer so there is no way I could have possibly mentioned everything. I promise to post a new blog soon about my trip in Cambodia!

Tis the season… To be homesick.

Allow me to apologize in advance, this entry is going to be all over the place.

Christianity in Japan is slowly growing, I do not know the specific numbers, but missions over here are slowly doing their job. Some churches have had life long members and others are conducting baptisms on a regular basis. One huge difference I notice in Japan, in regards to church, is that specific denominations do not argue with one another. It is hard to focus on the minor details of a specific denomination when the larger portion of your audience is hardly acquainted with this Christ fella. Although I recognize the importance of some of these differences, you have to lay the foundation first.

However, when we return to America these are issues that we are going to have to deal with again. Several of my colleagues are beginning to worry about their transitions back into American life and with this challenge comes the new dynamic of the ELCA church back home. Something that for the larger part of our mission here, has unaffected us in our daily work. However, I am constantly reminded by e-mails from Global Missions, and friends who are graduating seminary the difficulty of the church back home. People from my home congregation are leaving and finding else where to worship, Pastors are coming and going, and the “church family” I once had is slowly beginning to dissolve. This bothers me on several levels, but most of all because everyone will not be exactly where I left them 1 year ago. Things have changed.

Things are different. People have moved, friendships have dissolved, friendships have grown, loved ones have passed away, babies have been born and life continues to move right along.

The comforts of home do not always last, and this evening I find myself reminiscing with a friend online over the simple things of home. Right now the focus is on the fall season. We’ve discussed everything that we are homesick for, including but not limited to: NFL football, ΓΦΒ, college football, hoodie and shorts weather, and most of all Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks (well most of all at this given moment). A simple joy that had me waiting in line at Starbucks these past few years. Japan has not been so quick to catch onto the joys of Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

I am enjoying my time here, but it’s hard to fully enjoy everything when you’re constantly reminded of what you’re missing at home. Although the notion of being homesick got me to thinking this evening as well…I’ll never be able to go “home” again. Its cliché but you never really can return home again. I’ve been trying to define home, and I can’t quite get it down. I have been away from my physical home many times, and spent the past 5 years pretty far away from Rogers, so I’m not sure why this should be any different. People have changed, places have changed and nothing is quite how you remember it.

Maybe this is all to say that we should enjoy our pasts but not look to recreate them, to live in the moment and look forward instead of looking back at your past. We often chose to only remember the good times, but I so easily chose to forget the times I was bored to tears in Rogers, the nights I thought if I had any more homework I’d go insane. They all seem like pleasant memories now…but at the time they were not. I’m sure I’ll look back at my time in Japan and choose to only remember the good times, which there are many of, and I’ll forget about all this homesickness business. But at the moment…I’m left wanting a Pumpkin Spice Latte, that is all.