Wednesday, November 19, 2014

November 11-15 - Japan

Admittedly. it was a work trip.  But since it was my first time in Japan, let me post some impressions!

TOKYO

Tokyo is a huge (13.5 million), modern city, bustling with activity and style.  The wealth here in the city is apparent in its skyscrapers, very fashionable population, and sticker shock!  Who can afford to live here??  Surely Japan has many poor, but in Tokyo, it's the wealthy that walk the streets.


downtown building
the one with the gold flame? foam? is the Asahi beer headquarters
We were in Tokyo for 2 days visiting our good friend, Katsuki Hirano.  Katsuki lived with us in Durham, NC for 3 months last fall while on sabbatical at Duke.  Katsuki is a mega-chuch pastor in Japan - a country where the Christian population is less than 1%.  So his 250 member church qualifies as MEGA!  He is also the principal of his church's elementary school, chair of a preaching school, editor of a Christian magazine, frequent speaker, writer and translator - and all-around good (very busy) guy.  He is also the lead organizer for the Duke/MCC Forum for Reconciliation meeting being held in Nagasaki next April.

Katsuki met us the first morning and informed us that we would be lunching with VIPs, but that in spite of all the business suits in Tokyo, we could wear jeans...


 Our VIP lunch was with the children in his kindergarten where, as visiting "dignitaries" and after eating lunch at pint-sized chairs and tables, we answered lots of important questions such as "what's your favorite color?" and "what's your favorite animal?" - delightful!!



We also did the requisite touring, complete with traditional (?) Japanese boat and Ninja warrior. Yikes.

TEMPLES

Japan is a primarily Buddhist and Shinto country.  It is often at great cost that a person becomes a Christian, as Buddhism and Shintoism are deeply ingrained in the family relationships (Buddhism) and societal structure (Shintoism).  Every community has its Shinto shrine.  People make frequent, quick, stops at the shrine as they pass by on their daily errands.
small neighborhood Buddhist temple

oft photo-ed entrance gate to the famous Senso-Ji Buddhist temple

Fujin, Shinto god of the wind - the stuff of nightmares
(nice abs, though)
 TWINKLE LIGHTS

Japan apparently loves twinkle lights (and neon).  The streets are beautiful at night!





Christmas appeared while we were here!
And it disappears on Dec. 26, when Japan begins preps
for New Year, the really BIG celebration.
TASTES

Oh the food of Japan!  It's beautiful as well as nutritious.  I'm not a huge fan of raw fish - which there is lots of here - but even that tastes better when it is so artfully presented!  And there were so many good foods to choose from.  Allow me...

Sushi - wrapped in wood and settled on ice chips
cooked fish and veggies


the sushi chef - many restaurants let you watch the preparation

Preparing our ramen....

the finished product - steamy hot and delicious!

another sushi restaurant with a moving conveyor belt of delicacies

still sushi, but no raw fish - this California girl's fav

dessert - choc mousse, coffee ice cream, raspberry, mint and pear slice
wow!

That's a quick overview of some of the delights of Japan and our first 2 days in Tokyo.  Next entry will be about Nagasaki and MCC's work in Japan.  We really were working!

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Finally! Made it to Korea, and finally getting a chance to blog!

Somewhere between being stuck in Vermont over visa issues, and our 12th day in Korea, life happened.  We're still catching our breath and hoping to land on our feet, but it's beginning to look like this place of kimchi and hieroglyphic alphabet may at some point become home.

There is a common phrase in Korea -  빨리 빨리  - bbally! bbally! -which captures so much of the Korean life we've experienced so far.  Hurry! Hurry! Fast! Fast!  Our days since arrival on October 27 have been overflowing with busyness - meeting people, finding an apartment, planning office renovations, eating plenty of good food, exploring our new home of Chuncheon.  It's only been 12 days, but with all the contrast to the U.S., feels more like 12 weeks...

We came to the "big city" of Seoul yesterday for two days of rest before continuing to Nagasaki on Monday for a week of work-related planning meetings.

So, finally, time to stop and blog and share pictures of our new life.

At the airport with 3 trunks & 3 suitcases - all of our worldly possessions! Excited, overwhelmed


It's fall in Chuncheon - beautiful leaves, clear blue skies, crisp autumn air

From the glitz of modern skyscrapers to the charm of old-time street workers

MCC's office will be on the 3rd floor of this building - first order of business?  design an office

Chris, in front of the apartments which are our new urban home - bldg 302, 11th floor.
More than all I could ask or imagine! 

Living room - no furniture yet.  We're sort of  "camping" at this point  :)

Brand new apartment with many Korean high-tech gadgets.
 It's gonna take me a month to learn how to  "operate" this place!

view from the living room

view from the kitchen sink

new friends from church gave us piles of new and slightly used household items, a big step toward
making a home here
Potluck after church meeting - so grateful for this new community, including KyongJung who has
taking care of MANY logistical details of our move, DongGyu and HyeRan who hosted us for the
first 10 days, helping us learn Korean language and culture while enjoying delicious meals amidst
much laughter, and so many others who have warmly welcomed and embraced us.  Feeling blessed.

We continue to live in the throes of transition.  We really barely got started at settling in, before leaving for a week in Tokyo and Nagasaki.

For the most part, it's been a good ride.  We're learning to live and work together on a 24/7 basis (and I emphasize learning!), I'm picking up words and phrases in Korean even though my formal language training hasn't yet started, we're beginning to get the "feel" of Chuncheon (a city of about 250,000), and although we don't officially take up the roles of MCC Northeast Asia Reps until January 1, are already making decisions and working with the rest of our MCC team on transitioning the office from Beijing, where it's been for 16 years, to South Korea.

                                        Stay tuned for more on Japan and beyond!

                                                                    Eph 3:20

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Wait!  Didn't you leave already??

Christopher, Talia, Chris, me and Ben at Shelburne Farm, VT (summer 2013)
If this doesn't look like Korea to you, you're right.  Even though we thought we'd be in Korea starting the first of October, Chris and I are actually in Lincoln, Vermont, staying with his parents while we wait for visa issues to be worked out.

Our last weeks in Durham were a whirlwind of activity: sorting possessions - getting rid of 75% of our "stuff" to charities, yard sales, friends, etc. and storing the rest, renting our home, "adopting" our beloved family cat to our next door neighbor, numerous send-offs and farewells, too many difficult goodbyes to precious friends, getting the kids settled as best we can for the long haul, and packing our minimal 4 bags for Korea!

On Oct 7 we flew to Lincoln, Vermont where Chris' family lives and where Ben is in college.  At that point, we knew we had a brief delay due to visa problems, and thought it was a great chance to decompress a bit with family and in the eye-popping environ of leaf-peeping season in Vermont.  We've been able to relax, spend time with Ben, take care of many remaining transition details.

But visa delays have lengthened, and it now looks like we won't leave for Korea for another week or two.  So I write from the back porch, overlooking a valley of gold, orange, red and green leaves, confident that we're still to go, but not knowing exactly when!  It's been a journey.  :)