Why Japan?

For most of you it was no surprise when I said I was becoming a missionary and moving to Japan. In addition to my involvement with the church throughout my life, I've always had a passion for Asia. Several examples of what I mean; in Jr. High School my best friend was Laotian. I spent every weekend at her house for probably a year. Learning the proper way to make noodles, eating sticky rice, and understanding that a good bowl of noodles required a box of kleenex when eaten. Then I went to college and became best friends with a Cambodian. He and I celebrated Cambodian New Year with his family. In addition to that wonderful celebration we also often ate many home made Cambodian meals, his mom even taught me how to make egg rolls from scratch once. Then my sophomore year of college, I decided to study abroad. No surprise to anyone, I choose Asia...more specifically China. I fell in love with Asian culture up close and personal. So when I announced I'd be moving to Japan after graduation there were few people who were actually surprised. However not many people know what sparked my interest in the Asian cultures. It began long before China or college or even Jr. high, and has nothing to do with boys. Lately this story has been on my mind a lot and I thought I'd share it

When I was about 6 yrs. old or so, my mom took my brothers and I to the park that was attached to our elementary school in Milwaukee. (Our school also happened to be an Asian Immersion school) We were all playing on the playground equipment and then I found a pink ribbon hair clip. Looking around there were two other young girls in the park about my age and I wanted to see if this ribbon belonged to either one of them. The fact that I asked those two girls about this bow changed my life in ways I never would have imagined. One of those girls was named Wen and she was Chinese and the other girl was named Mariko who was from Japan. The bow didn't belong to either one of them, but from that moment on Mariko and I became very close best friends for years to come.

Mariko and her family were from Tokyo and temporarily living in Milwaukee while her dad, Tsueno Mizumura, who is a heart surgeon, was in the U.S. for research purposes. Mariko introduced me to Japanese culture and to another part of the world I had only briefly heard about in school. Her mom, Kyoko, gave me my first pair of chopsticks: they were pink Snoppy chopsticks, and spent an entire afternoon teaching me how to use them as I moved kidney beans from one bowl to another. I learned to take my shoes off at the entrance of the house and that hosts were always gracious and gave presents when friends came to visit. Mariko's family also had Japanese TV stations so we watched the Power Rangers in Japanese, she also taught me how to count and write our names in Japanese. Japan was my first Asian love affair.

Mariko and I stayed close friends, actually our whole families stayed close friends. Along with our siblings, we played together whether it was at her place or mine. Her parents even attended my moms funeral. Slightly after my mom died we moved to Arkansas and Mariko and I became pen pals. A few years later she moved back to Tokyo and we continued to write each other for years. Sending gifts for birthdays, pictures, Christmas cards and other things. We always talked about being able to visit each other whether it be in Tokyo or back in America.

Now I sit here 16 years later living in her home town of Tokyo.... But we somehow lost touch within the past year or two. I finally returned to my first Asian love affair, Japan, after all these years I finally made it but cannot find Mariko. I often find it crazy that my life has come some what of a closed circle for me. I have always dreamt of coming to Japan when I was little, which to a 10 yr. old is a HUGE dream to have. People kind of laughed and said, oh yeah? and where else are you going to go? But something inside of me always side I'd make it here one day.

God finally decided to let me in on his plan and called me here for mission work. Sometimes God's plan truly amazes me. I still have a hard time believing I actually live in Japan.