Recovered from my triathlon

I can hear one of my neighbors snoring... I don't know which neighbor it is, but I can very clearly hear them. Now, I don't hear everyday activities-- walking around yes, but I don't understand why I can hear them snore... Maybe it's since they sleep on the floor...

My roommate's mom came from Korea today. She's really, really sweet. I've actually only been in contact with her for like 5 minutes, as both of us have been gone in opposing times today. As I was coming home, with very tired feet and a few groceries in one hand, I saw them walk out of our entrance to the apartments. Her face lit up, and her mom greeted me. But, when my roommate-- So-chan- told her that I was her roommate (or, I guess that's what she said), she lit up, her eyes, big, and she threw her arms around me to give me a hug. It was pretty darn cute.

They just got home from going to church and then going out to dinner with someone from there.

Yesterday... when did I last write?... Oh, yeah, when I had been worn to pieces by running, biking and mountain climbing in a day. Friday, I was at Sagami-ono for a meeting for my class-- to get the curriculum for the class that starts Tuesday (nothing like good preparation). It took all of 20 minutes to be introduced to the place, around, discuss pay, etc.

I left and decided to stop by Starbucks down at the corner... I debated in my head and then decided to go ahead, after thinking that it would be good to sit and have some peace after all the things I've been doing lately. As I was ordering, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and it was Yuiko! She was coming for her peace and quiet time-- her "hour off". So, we sat down and chatted and got to know each other better. It was really nice.

Saturday we had a really good Fuse meeting. We were able to pass out a lot of flyers in the streets (we walk the streets around Machida for like 2 hours, but we do have lunch in that time)... and there were quite a few new people at the Fuse. Also- we had out guitar player Kengo back from the States. Debbie gave a great message on The Power of Words... and in our Super-small group right after it, my group had a good discussion about times when words influenced us for the good or for the bad... and then we encouraged each other in things. It was really cool-- and one of the girls really shared-- in fact, everyone in our group shared something. Afterward, we all hung out at a cafe, which is where we all go out to eat and get to know each other a little more. It's particularly good for new comers, but in general, the fellowship is always good.

Anyway, I think that this Fuse meeting went very, very well! I'm very happy with it!

Today, I got to Skype with my family and then went with the rest of the Fuse team to Jesus Lifehouse which is what the Fuse is kinda modeled after. Jesus Lifehouse is the fastest growing church in Japan, and I was pretty impressed with it. There were people from all over there, and it was a great, great message, very relevant to the Japanese culture... and beside that, it was exciting to see so many Japanese people worshiping God there.

It proves that the Japanese are open to the Gospel! God is here in Japan! I was inspired that our small church plant will grow also, and that we will reach many Japanese in the Machida area.

For my odd fact of the day: not that I usually have one, but..
We were discussing some kanji written on our board advertising the Fuse yesterday. It said: 本日　　This means: today. There's another way to write today, which is 今日　but apparently, that first one also means today... and that's how Yuiko chose to write it, and since she's Japanese, she wins. So, anyway, she wrote this and Mark was saying that it meant today-- he said the pronunciation, but I don't remember it at the moment. I said, wait-- if you switch those around, doesn't that mean Japan? 日本　Which sounds completely different from what it sounds like if you switch it around.

In case you didn't know-- kanji, which are those picture words, in Japanese, have multiple readings (for example, when you see 日　it can be pronounced like a million ways, depending on the word/context). And if you combine it in different ways, it can mean different things... so. Lots of fun!! But many Japanese have consoled me in that- it's hard for them to read it sometimes too!

So, tomorrow we're going to do some girls' time... I made some salsa for it... but I probably need to get to bed, since I'm going to be tonsa busy on my day off...