I have mentioned in a previous blog entry how my interest in Asia all began. It started when I lived in Milwaukee and went to an Asian emersion school and partially because of my friend Mariko. (Please read my blog entry from last December “Why Japan” for more back ground information) Mariko and I had lost touch, and shortly after I wrote a blog about that, I mentioned it to my students in one of my classes at Hongo. I then had an amazing student who helped me find and get in touch with her dad, and subsequently I was finally able to FIND HER!!!
So the day after Oktoberfest, my friend Scott and I went to go meet Mariko and her family in the Hamarikyu Gardens in Tokyo. Mariko’s current job has to do with designing space for events and graphic designing, and was hired to be in charge of the event at the gardens. The Tokyo Grand Tea Ceremony was being held that weekend and she was in charge of all of their graphics, so she invited us to meet her there and participate in the event. I was so nervous! It was weird to think that I was going to be seeing my friend whom I hadn’t seen in over 13 years. I’m glad I had Scott with me that day because I was a nervous wreck! He would ask me, “what does she look like?” and I thought to myself…I have no idea! But after a few phone calls and trying to figure out where we were suppose to meet, I saw girl running, and Scott asked me if that was her, and I replied YES! Mariko looked the same, and she said that I did too! How crazy is that?! It was such a great feeling to finally be able to see her again after all these years! I had always told her one day I’d live in Tokyo…and now I do. Crazy.
This was a rather eventful day in itself. I was reunited with Mariko; we participated in a tea ceremony, saw a Geisha performance, listened to a traditional Japanese instrument performance, walked around the garden, and then finally had dinner with part of the Mizumura family. Kyoko, Tsuneo, Mariko, and Ana joined Scott and me for dinner that night. It was great to catch up with old friends who have known me for such a long time. I haven’t kept in touch with too many friends from Milwaukee because I was only 10 when we moved, but Mariko and I managed to stay pen pals and have been reunited after such a long time. It was really a great day!
The following Saturday I had signed up to go on a retreat with another ministry site in Japan called the Lighthouse. The Lighthouse is a ministry that focuses on out reach to men in the Navy down on the Navy base in Yokosuka, about 2 hours south of Tokyo. I highly enjoy the people there as well as being able to be in an English ministry setting where I can finally be filled as well. The group was going on a tour around the Kanto area. We started off in Yokosuka, drove to Fuji, a beautiful lake in the area, Matsumoto Castle, and then drove up to Nagano where we saw many beautiful places and learned all about the history of Japan and Christianity in Japan. I had a blast with my new friends riding in the car for hours. We had some great conversations, and it was really nice to be around friends again; whether they have been friends for over a year, a few months or a few moments. It was also really fascinating to learn more about the Japanese context, history, traditions and it shed great light onto why some things happen and why some things within the church remain stagnant. Very educational.
After we returned to Tokyo from Nagano, I quickly made my way to the airport to pick up my friend Laura who was visiting from Hong Kong. Laura was my college roommate in Valpo; it was quite nice to have her staying with me again even if it was only for a few days. It was just like old times at VU. A friend to talk with, watch movies with, lay around and do nothing with, and of course we went shopping. Laura’s time was brief in Tokyo but it was enough to get a lot of sightseeing in and to give her the real Japanese experience, last trains and all. We went shopping in several different areas of Tokyo, took purikura pictures and of course played the Taiko game at the arcades…I think we did pretty well. Overall we had a blast. Most of all it was nice to have a friend visit who really knows me, and someone who I don’t have to act different around or speak slowly with. I’m really glad she was able to visit. Its funny how after I moved to Japan, it seems a lot of my friends from college are also migrating to this side of the world….a welcomed move. After six days of rommie reunion it was time for Laura to head back to Hong Kong and for me to get back to work.
That was the majority of my month of October, I might have left a few things out but with so much going on this fall its hard to write about everything that’s happening. These next two weekends I will be on retreats and after I return to Tokyo I will try to catch you all up on how those went!
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