A Holiday Visitor to Harumi

No, not Santa Claus. The Kaiwo Maru is a training vessel for students from universities across Japan who are planning a maritime career. It's docked at the pier at the end of our island for the Christmas/New Years season. While the rivers to the north, south and east of Harumi are narrow and there are bridges joining them to other islands, to the west of Harumi is an expanse that opens onto Tokyo Bay, so we are looking northwest in this picture. You can take a look at the area through Google Maps:http://maps.google.ca/maps?rlz=1T4TSCA_enCA441CA441&q=%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E6%99%B4%E6%B5%B7%E5%9F%A0%E9%A0%AD&gs_upl=0l0l0l13321lllllllllll0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=N&tab=wl

Another November, Another Community Barbecue!

Yes, November. It's never rained in five years of holding community barbecues and this year was especially warm. The only problem is, with so many new people moving into our area, the barbecue park is getting pretty crowded!

The barbecue gives us a good chance to meet the families of the children and women involved in various programs.

And since the Loves are in Calgary this year, the men of my Saturday English & Bible class stepped in to help with the grilling duties. We'll have to continue this even when Loves return, since it affords us an opportunity to mingle and meet people.

You can hardly see Carol and Tomomi for all the smoke from the grill. No burnt offerings, though.

Making s'mores has become a tradition, although roasting a marshmallow takes a very long time when one is timid about getting close to the hot coals and holds the marshmallow up high.

Fifty four adults and numerous children. Thumbs up on this day as a great opportunity to meet community people!

Boys' Clubs!

In Toyosu our cohort of boys has become busy with the rat race of cram school and entrance exams to get into high school, so we're down to just two. As you no doubt can tell, we're practicing the tautline hitch here. I didn't need to tell you that, did I?

30 minutes of English conversation, 30 minutes of some craft (like learning essential knots) and then 30 minutes of reading and discussing the story of one of the heroic men of the Bible.

In Hachioji, 90 minutes west of Harumi, there's a larger group of Jr. Hi boys meeting for Boys' Club. This is at snack time after our continuing study of the life of Joseph.

I learned that the bigger the group, the longer it takes to do the craft. No one had mastered any of these basic knots before I taught them at Boys' Club. And, no one had read anything in the Bible before Boys' Club.

Enough of knots. On to paper model building. This was printed on glossy photo paper, so the picture doesn't do it justice. How long will it take to do this project? How much more challenging a model can we attempt? I'll keep you posted.

Girls' Club!

Some games, a craft, some English, and a message from the Bible...That's Girls' Club.

...and, sometimes the little sisters sneak in on the action.

Immortalized in Plastic Bottles

Triton Square is the centerpiece of Harumi island. It's three office towers with a mall connecting them at the base, and then a food court and some apartment buildings included in the whole complex. Because the towers are so large, only one and part of another are visible in this picture. In the foreground are the model towers, constructed of a steel framework and 500 ml. plastic bottles strung together. Harumi Triton Square is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Here's another angle showing more of the model. The alcove  in front of the model represents the outdoor terrace in front of the food court where the model has been built. Just above the tower on the left is the real tower on the left, which is our apartment building. You may (probably do) have larger living quarters than us, but have they ever been commemorated in a model made of recycled water bottles? I don't think so.

Canadian Thanksgiving

The Japanese word for "turkey" is "Shichimenjo" which means "seven chin bird" We had some friends over for Canadian Thanksgiving and everyone enjoyed the traditional meal. As you can see, it's a pretty tight fit in our place, but we managed to pull it off. The turkey just barely fit in our convection/microwave oven. And, after a meal like that, we may just barely fit in our clothes!

Getting to the Bottom of It...

Hedoro, (tsunami sludge) that is. While Carol, Megan and I went up for 24 hours in Tohoku to help with serving lunch in a neighbourhood of Ishinomaki, we also got involved in removing the sludge from a home. Carol remarked that it didn't stink as much nor attract the flies as it had in June. We met a team there from Ontario, from Hamilton, Burlington and other nearby places.

Meanwhile, Megan was manning the beverage table, keeping people hydrated on a very hot September day. I posted earlier about a volunteer who'd been bathing the feet of the elderly in shelters, thus following Jesus' command, and here's Megan offering a cup of water in Jesus' name. Every Saturday since March Christians have been organizing this lunch for the people of this neighbourhood.

It's yakisoba this Saturday. That's a fried noodle dish with vegetables and chicken. Notice the huge imported propane barbecue in the background. Not a common sight in Japan.

Over 100 came for lunch and conversation, and there was also a program for children after lunch. Then it was pack up the food, fold down the tents, and head back to Tokyo. We slept for 12 hours on Saturday night after this exhausting trip that had started the previous night.

This is representative of the local neighbourhood. The house on the left is completely untouched since the day the tsunami flooded in. The house in the foreground is completely gone, either swept away or collapsed by the tsunami, and carted off to the five story tall rubble pile near the sea. The house in the background is in the midst of repair. The same could be said for the lives of the people living here. We provide a hot meal, a place to gather and meet neighbours, and a listening ear for the many who need to talk. We trust these bonds of friendship and trust will grow and bear fruit in time.