Japanese - Brazilian - American

Happy May Day! The last week of April was a busy one for us (so what else is new!) We spent the weekend over in Kyotanabe as Steve was preaching Sunday at Kyoto International Chapel. So, as on many other Fridays, we packed up our things and drove over in the morning at 5:00 am. You see, Steve has as men's group called Men's Faternity that meets at 6:00 am and it is at least a 45 minute drive from Ikoma to Kyotanabe over mountain roads. Later that day Steve and I borrowed the Hutton's van and ventured out to the grocery store and the 100yen (Dollar Tree) store for things I would need for my up coming American apple pie class. On Sunday Steve gave his message "Balancing Worship in the Christian Life." It was well received and over lunch of curry beef and rice we had some good discussions. Later Sunday afternoon we went with Gregg & Becky and kids to a Brazilian church near Osaka. Now there is a mix - Japanese Brazilians. Many in the congregation are full blooded Japanese but were raised in Brazil and so speak Portuguese better than Japanese. Gregg was preaching since their pastor was on vacation. He spoke in English, Igor translated into Portuguese and Becky translated into Japanese through head phones (like at the UN) We had a great time. Just about every single person in the small congregation came up and gave Steve and I greetings. One gentleman hugged Steve like he was never going to let go. Another lady told us she loved us - maybe that was the only phrase she knew in English. After the service we went downstairs for dinner - and what a dinner. I must learn how to make deep fried rice balls - yummy. They were also celebrating all the April birthdays and so had a large cake and it was oh so rich and good. What was in it? I don't know but it was sweet and gooey and had to of had a bizillion calories. Church was over around 9:30 pm - that's the Brazilian way they tell me. Then Steve and Igor got together and jammed a bit. He is Japanese/Brazilian but didn't know any Brazilian guitar cords and so Steve showed him some that he had learned. Igor not only translated for Gregg but led the Praise Team. He is a super friendly guy and we really enjoyed getting to know him.

Across the street from the church is a KFC and out front is a statue of Colonel Sanders, although you wouldn't of recognized him. He was dressed as a Samurai warrior. You see Boy's Day is coming up and so all Japanese want their boys to be strong and brave like the Samurai. You can see Samurai images everywhere.

On Tuesday morning Steve and I taught English at Ikoma Chapel. It was the beginning of a new term and we had several new ladies. Steve teaches the advanced gals and I have the intermediate class.
We mainly work on "conversation" English getting them to form complete sentences in English. It is proving to be a lot of fun. Then. .

Psalm 17:8
"Guard me as the apple of your eye.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings."

In the afternoon I held my American Apple Pie class and had 5 ladies come. What a great time we had but I was totally exhausted by the end of the day. Most of the ladies could speak some English and all of them understood English and so I didn't need to have an interpreter. Each lady was able to make a small pie that they could take home to their family plus have some extra dough to make a pie on their own. My recipe that I love and use all the time makes enough pie dough for 2 double crust pies. I also showed them how to use your extra dough to make cinnamon and sugar pinwheels. While the pies and pinwheels were baking, Steve entertained us with his guitar and some fun songs like " In The Shade of the Old Apple Tree" and he wrote new words to "Deep In The Heart of Texas" replacing Texas with Nippon, the Japanese word for Japan (apologies to our daughter Heather and family who just moved to Texas) and using Japan and apples in the lyrics. He also led us in some praise songs. After our song time I served up slices of apple pie that I had made earlier with ice cream plus the cinnamon & sugar pinwheels. Everyone seem to have a wonderful time and the next day I heard from one lady that she had 2 slices of her own apple pie when she got home Tuesday. I laughed and said, "Let's see, one at my place and 2 at home, that makes 3 pieces of apple pie." That's OK they were small. The ladies over in Kyotanabe now want to have a class too so we'll have to see when we can schedule that event. Take a look at their finished product. Aren't they beautiful, my ladies and their pies?

What Happens When You Can't Read The Labels?

Last Monday evening, April 19, we invited some friends over for dinner and games. I thought "since these American's have been here in Japan for 20+ years, I will fix them an American dinner." So, for the main course I fixed Sopa Fideo (not exactly American, more like Mexican but hey very Californian) and for dessert, apple pie. Can't get any more American than apple pie. The meal was a big success for which I was very glad as I always worry that it might not taste good. I cut the pie and served it with vanilla ice cream and coffee. While we were enjoying our pie I went into the kitchen and returned to the table with a green bottle of "vinegar" and asked Nancy to tell me if indeed it was vinegar. You see, my pie crust recipe calls for a tablespoon of vinegar. She began to laugh and said, in her sweet way, "no Karen, that is cooking sake." That is rice wine for those of you who don't know. My face turned a thousand shades of red I am sure. The rest of the evening my "sake" pie crust was blamed for losing at the game of Jokers, wild hits of the ping pong ball or just plain silliness. But as you can see, the pie looks great, the crust was flaky and rich and the pie crust pin wheels were gone by the time the evening was over and we all had fun.

This Tuesday, April 27 I am holding an apple pie making class and I have about 4 or 5 ladies coming. Believe me, I have vinegar for the crust this time. Steve and I went shopping for all the ingredients and I gulped back my embarrassment and asked the clerk at the store to show me vinegar. She spoke a bit of English and understood my request and took me right over to the shelf with several kinds. "Oh no!" I thought. "Which one do I get?" She explained the difference in 2 word sentences and so I got light vinegar. Now I'm all set for giving a lesson in American Apple Pie Making. It should be lots of fun. Steve will be on hand to take pictures and to taste the finished product of course. Each lady will make a small pie to take home to her family.

A DAY OUT IN NARA

Every week finds us doing something new here in Japan and this week is no exception. First off we made a Skype call to our daughter Holly for her birthday. We had to wait until midnight our time on the 13th so that it would be a descent hour in Oregon (8:00 am) for her. It was so great to hear her voice and to share what we had already done on April 13 and to hear what she was going to do for her birthday that day. Her birthday was the first one that we have had to celebrate 1/2 way around the world. There are more to come as we will be here in Japan until July 7.
So, what did we do on Holly's birthday?
We were treated to a wonderful day in the city of Nara by our friends the Satos. Nara is known for their deer. There are literally hundreds of deer that roam the city park and they even venture into the roads and on to the medians. They are considered wild but we found them to be tame, or at least they certainly aren't afraid of people. There are little concession stands around where you can buy deer food but we brought our own - cabbage and they loved it. Here is a video of Steve and the deer bowing to one another. It was so funny and amazing to watch them. They all did it and we don't really know how or why but every time we'd laugh at how cute they were.



In the big park area sit the largest wooden building in the world, the Todaiji Temple. Most buildings that large have steel girders but this is just made of wood. It is 187 ft W X 165 ft D X 160 ft H. It holds the largest Buddha, measuring 49ft H. It was built between 710-794 AD. As you look at the building, notice how little the people are. This will give you some idea of how big this building is. Inside they have a tree trunk that has a hole cut in it that is the same size as the Buddha's nostril and people are allowed to crawl through it.

As you can see, I made it through.

Well, it is pretty much the end of the cherry blossom time. The trees are beginning to lose their blossoms and be replaced by reddish green leaves. As we walked through the park it was like walking through a pink hazy snow storm of drifting petals. The ground was a carpet of pink and a deer or two were snacking on the petals. The trees that still held tight to their blossoms created a canopy over our heads. What a lovely day we have had with our friends Akira & Kiyo Sato but now it is time for dinner. So we stopped off at a restaurant for some Okonomiyaki-Japanese style hotplate pizza made from grated cabbage, flour, egg, meat of your choice, which is all mixed together and fried on a griddle that is built into your table top. Then topped with mayo, a sweet soy sauce and very thin fish flakes. Believe it or not it is very good. Well, Steve didn't like the fish flakes.

What a great way to celebrate our daughters birthday. We were only sorry that she wasn't with us to enjoy it but we know from our earlier phone call with her that her girls had made her breakfast and she was going to have a wonderful dinner out with her husband. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY!

WHAT NEXT?

What NOT to do when your socks are wet. Last Friday Barbara and I took a walk around the neighborhood and canals of Kyotanabe. It was drizzling but we wanted to see the beautiful cherry blossoms that were everywhere. As we walked and walked and walked, I began to realize that my thin loafers were taking on water and my socks were soaked. By the time we got back to the church my socks had absorbed water almost to the ankle bone. I hadn't brought any other shoes or socks and my feet were freezing. One of the men, John Blocksom, Barb's son, suggested I dry them in the microwave in the kitchen. Well, I thought, I know you are not suppose to dry your pet in the microwave or put metal things in the microwave but what about socks. So I took them off, rung them out a bit and placed them in the microwave for 20 seconds. "Ding" there were done - not quite. So I put them in for another 20 seconds. "Ding" again. Done!! I was pretty happy to see that they were dry and toasty until. . . I noticed the upper cuff was a tad brown and then as I pulled them on the cuff began to crumble between my fingers. I had a pair of well done socks. But my feet were warm and dry and that made me happy!

On Tuesday, March 30 we had a wonderful time playing tennis with some new friends, the Seto's and their friend Mr. Uda. It has been many a year since we have played tennis but I think we did OK. After 2 hours it was time to leave and so the Seto's drove us home. We invited them in for some refreshments and to talk. Oh yes, and a game of ping pong. Seems they like ping pong too. We met Kiyoko (Mrs. Seto) at the supermarket a week or so ago when we were trying to figure out which milk was low-fat.
She excused herself and said "that one is low-fat". We thanked her and then began to talk with her. She is learning English and wanted to practice. She then asked if we liked tennis and we said yes, we use to play so she invited us to join her and her husband Akira. They are coming to our house (chapel) for dinner this Friday and bringing Mr. Uda. I plan to fix Sopa Fideo and maybe even an apple pie for dessert. She is planning on bring some Soba Noodles (Buckwheat). We will teach them the game of Jokers and maybe even set up another tennis date. They are such sweet people and we are hoping to introduce them to Jesus.

Oh, one more thing. I ran into the fence behind me trying to get a ball and well, you can see my chin. No one can say I didn't give it my all. Not only did my face hurt the next day but so did my old bones
. . .and muscles I had forgotten I had. I am recovered and ready to go again - - - - - -I think!