January USA trip itinerary

Below are some pictures from my time in Japan this winter. My hometown, Shinminato, is located on the Japanese/East sea coast. In the winter, it usually looks like this:

Happy New Year! It is 2011! I have had a wonderful and blessed time in Japan, thanks to so many of you who took time to see me and take an interest in what I am doing in Nepal. Thanks so much. It’s sad to say goodbye so soon, but I am also looking forward to arriving soon in USA, and visiting more of you who are close and dear to me. Thanks in advance to you who have been organizing and planning to visit with me (I mean, planning to let me come and visit you! ;-P) I am getting excited about seeing you!

A tentative itinerary, which is not exactly set in stone, I am including here in this post so that some of you who haven’t heard much from me can know basically where I will be and when. Please let me know how I can meet up with you!

I will try to do a much better job than I did in Japan of letting you all know about “Nepal parties” etc. that will be hosted in various places (thanks to my gracious and kind hosts! J) and when I will be coming to an area near YOU!

I will have a phone number, also, which I will be getting out to you all as soon as I know it myself.

Tentative Schedule for Midwest trip (Indiana and Illinois):

January 12 - 16 (Wednesday – Sunday) in Leo and Fort Wayne.

January 14 (Friday) evening is Leo Youth Fellowship Nepal night at Sauders’ house.

January 18 – 19 (Tuesday and Wednesday) Indianapolis

January 20 – 21 (Thursday and Friday) Bremen

January 22 – 23 (Saturday and Sunday) Fort Wayne

January 24 (Monday) Purdue

January 25 (Tuesday) Travelling to Illinois, Cissna Park

January 26 – 27 (Wednesday and Thursday) Morton

January 28 (Friday) Bloomington, IL

January 29 - 30 (Saturday and Sunday) Huntington, IN

January 31 (Monday) Leo and Fort Wayne

February 1 (Tuesday) Chicago

February 2 (Wednesday) depart from Chicago O’Hare airport for Tokyo

February 5 (Saturday) Arrive in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Blessings to you all. Thanks for keeping up with what I am doing, and for your prayers.

“I lift my eyes up to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth… the Lord watches over you. The Lord is your shade at your right hand… He will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121:1,5,7,8.

Above: views of the Japanese alps from my hometown, Shinminato, on the Japanese/East Sea coast. Taken in January.

Note on Snowboarding

One thing I greatly enjoyed while in Japan was snowboarding. I forgot how much I loved that sport! I was privileged to go no less than three times! Each time, I was amazed again at the beauty of God’s creation, the wonder of snow, and how he has created the human body to enjoy such great sports, and thanking God for the health and economic privilege that has allowed me to enjoy such things to begin with. Many good conversations and beautiful memories come to mind as I recall those days up in the snow.

One time, as I was riding the ski lift, looking down all around me at the incredible evidence of our awesome creator God who made this beautiful world, Psalm 19:1-4 came to my mind.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the works of his hands. Day after day, they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

It is so true. God’s majesty is obvious. The earth is filled with His glory. We should all be in awe of him and worship him with all that we have, every minute of every day. God commanded: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) If we think about how amazing He is, and how much he has done for us, we should jump willingly to our duty! Sometimes, that jump might look a little like a ski jump at the board park. Someone told me, “Snowboarding is worship, too!” It sure is. Everything is worship. So, we may as well do it all for God.

Christmas in Japan

Above: My mom and dad, and me in Karuizawa.

I was so blessed to spend this Christmas 2010 with my family and friends in Japan!

Above: the group arrives in Tokyo and make our way to Karuizawa! (Ruthie, Sam, Tyler, Dustin, Ben, Essie, and Melissa)

Above: Essie and Abby in front of volcano Asama.

Above: Sam is the designated driver?!? (>_0)

Above: girls day out in old downtown Karuizawa.

Upon arrival in Tokyo, I met up with Sam, Essie, my childhood friend Melissa McCleod (who also grew up in Japan), and friends from USA (Dustin Huber, Ben Gerber, Tyler Knochel) at the airport. We all traveled together up to Karuizawa, where we spent a few days with most of the rest of my family (Mom, Dad, Abby, minus Joe who had to stay in Toyama for work) enjoying the mountains, and while we were at it, we did a little Messiah Manga etc. literature distribution and caroling, all dressed up as Santa and the elves. It was fun!

Above: friends at Shinminato Kirisuto Kyokai (my Church)

Above: Mei and Ruthie at the fish market in Kanazawa.

Above: December JAM night at Kureha church.

Above: Ruthie and Melissa on the old samurai-era castle grounds in Kanazawa city.

For Christmas Eve, we came back to my hometown, Shinminato in Toyama prefecture. It was so good to have the family all together for Christmas, and to meet up with dear old friends there. Everyone was really supportive and encouraging of the work in Nepal. It was great to have such enthusiasm and interest as I explained about Studio TEN’s work in Nepal. Thanks so much for your encouragement, everyone! I know I am very blessed in my life. Thank you for being God’s blessings to me.

Above: TEAM girls retreat in Karuizawa.
After Christmas, I had a wonderful and special reunion with a bunch of girls who I grew up with in Japan. April Mack (Selander), Amy Nielsen, Bethany Travis, Alecia May, and Melissa McCleod, all used to spend time together with me up in Karuizawa in the summers. We’ve all been going our separate ways and living far away from each other for several years, but it sure is interesting how life sometimes seems to swing back full circle. After all our very different adventures, we are now all working as teachers in Asian countries! And all happened to be in Japan for Christmas, 2010! We re-lived many memories and did lots of catching up on our “Girls’ Reunion.” Hopefully, there will be many more of those in the future!




Above: snowboarding on the Japanese alps!

I think I gained a lot of weight in Japan this winter. ;-P The food was too good. And I enjoyed too many wonderful parties and wonderful times with wonderful people. It’s hard to believe the time here is already almost over! As I write this note, it is Sunday night. I just said my final goodbyes to my dear church family at Shinminato Christian church. Now, I am in the car with my parents and my sisters, on the way to Tokyo. We will spend Monday there, and on Tuesday, I fly to USA.

December in Pictures

The junior youth group and Sunday school kids at Naya Geet church were practicing all month for Christmas performances. Our kids from Guardian Homes sang at CARNET Nepal Children’s Christmas event. The event was sponsored by CARNET, a group that works to help underprivileged, abused, neglected children in Nepal. This annual Christmas event is an opportunity for kids from various children’s homes and non-profit organizations around the city to enjoy a concert and special program, get gifts, and play in a big field south of Kathmandu. At the end of the day, we all got balloons with John 3:16 tags on them. We let go of the balloons so that they flew up into the sky all at the same time, hoping that they will fall down to someone who will receive the word with joy.

The first half of December I spent in Nepal. Finishing up the school year at Living Stone, where I have been teaching English reading, pronunciation, and phonics classes was wonderful this year. On the last day of school, I took pictures of some of my students and of the Christmas decorations that the kids put up. They had a card-decorating contest, and decorated their classroom windows with watercolor paint.

It was hard to say goodbye to the teenage girls and all the kids and youth at Guardian Homes as I prepared to make a big trip to Japan and USA this Christmas and New Year. Last Christmas, I was in Nepal. This year, I went to Japan to be with my family.

I left Nepal on December 19^th, and arrived in Tokyo on the 20^th.