Yes, I am a teacher (almost)

Hello!
Today I watched somebody teach my classes,
and tomorrow I am on my own!
I am so excited!!!!!!
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Dear readers,
Do YOU know the difference between count and non-count nouns?
How many traffics are there?
How many traffic is there?
How many a traffic are there?
How much traffic is there?
How much a traffic is there?
Which one is correct?
Stayed tuned (in the NEXT blog) for the answer.
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Tonight they passed around a special treat.
You have 6 clues:
Clue 1: it wasn't sugary
Clue 2: it wasn't pretty
Clue 3: it's a little smaller than My pinky
Clue 4: its brown
Clue 5: it used to be alive
Clue 6: it probably was crunchy
:) yes! you ARE right!!
It WAS not appetizing!!!
And I think it looked kinda... disgusting That is why I didn't eat
:drum roll please:
a locast!
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Alright, going to bed.
Have a wonderful day!

Monday

Today I prepared for my classes.

I’m really excited,

and really nervous.

Honestly, I look at these amazing students

and think,
“I really just want to serve them,

help them,

and be a GOOD teacher.”

But I can’t do that if my fear and nerves are getting in the way.

In quiet time,

what I’ve been getting out of Psalm 104,

is God provides.

He is going to provide what I need for this!
After all, He is the one who got me here :)
(THROUGH those who have supported me financially/prayerfully.)

I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t supposed to be,

Praise the Lord!

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This term is not only going to grow the students, but the teachers and staff as well! I am BEYOND blessed with this opportunity!!!

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***stayed tuned on facebook for a movie I made of my bike riding experiences

(Sorry for the random comment)
(I didn’t know where to put it though)
(But you really should look for it.. it’s really REALLY special)

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I have taken pictures of the SYME building.

I will post them sometime today when I get a spare minute :)

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Funny conversation:
“do you not like your face?”-friend

“i guess...idk...not really?”-me
“So you say you do not like funny faces?”-friend
“mmm, (laughing), are you saying I have a funny face?”-me
“Oh! no...no, no, no.”-friend

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<3>

2nd post (so lower for 1st)

Today I am going to teach one of my students (friends) how to pray in English.
Mmm, I just think thats beautiful!
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Yesterday (Sunday)
Breakfast was at 9,

and then some of us listened to a sermon online.

Then we went to Ginza- ate lunch and walked around.
Church was at 3.

And then potluck(?) afterwards.

It was a long day, but a good day.
A lot of fellowship with people.
It was really good.

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Saturday....I forget :)
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Friday we went shopping.
Dollar stores here are AMAZING!
I wish we had them in America!!!!
They have everything from socks, dishes (cute cute dishes), silverware, food...

MMMM so good.
**shout out to my dad
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okay time for lunch!!
Sorry these posts were weird.

I'll be back on track tonight!!
<3

1st post

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days.
It's been hard to find enough time to actually sit down and write out my thoughts!
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Most of the students have arrived!

There are 11 all together:

7 boys 4 girls.

There are 3 interns:

1 boy 2 girls.

It has been really fun so far!
A lot of laughing, random picture taking, music, lots of conversations..

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My room is wonderful.

It's spacious and is cool (like the weather, haha).

A lot of room, nice storage, a table, a desk, a huge window,

it's amazing.

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The bathrooms are neat.

The first area of the bathroom is the sink area
The second area is divided into 2 parts with a walkway in the middle.

Toilets on the left and showers on the right.
Each toilet has their private little area.

The shower has 2 parts.
The first part is the changing area,

and the second part is the shower room---

literally all 4 walls and floor to ceiling is the shower.

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I'll take pictures of all of this tonight so you can better understand!
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I have started this weeks planning for classes.

I will have a sub for me the first day or two to see what I'm supposed to do.

That makes me feel really comfortable :) and not so overwhelmed!
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Tuesdays look like this:
(tomorrow might be different because of the first day)

7:40-8:10- quiet time
8:20-8:50- breakfast

9:00-9:35- family time

9:45-10:35- Life of Christ (my class)

10:45-1135- Reading Power 1 (my class)
11:45-12:30- chapel

12:40-1:20- lunch

1:30-2:20- Conversation (my class)

2:30-3:20- WOL club prep
3:30-5:20- free time

5:30-6:20- dinner

6:30-8:20- study hour
>>exciting, yes?!
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the next post will be about things i've been doing.

Written on the bus to SYME.

I keep getting a little weepy.
Is this really happening?
Am I finally going to the place that I’ve dreat and prayed about for so long?
Honestly.
God is amazing.
In just a few minutes I will be picked up and brought to my new home for 3 months.
Thank you, Lord.. for bringing me here safely!
Thank you, Lord.. for this opprotunity!
Thank you, everybody who has supported me prayerfully and financially.. for brining me here!
Thank you!!
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Pretty sure this is one of the most beautiful scenery bus rides I have ever experienced.
I wish my eyes were video cameras that streamed to the computer so everybody could experience it too!
Oh my goodness!
I wish everybody could see this!
And you know what makes this bus ride even more amazing?
I am listening to “sleepless in seattle” on my ipod.
One of my most favorite movies on the planet
(tied with Cast Away and You've Got Mail.)
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One thought..or two:
There are electrical wires millions of feet in the air throughout the mountains. I almost passed out thinking about the men that had to create those things and hang the wires. Eee.
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Alright, I've arrived here safely! I need to finish unpacking :)

Read the post underneath this if you want, it's new too.

Bye!!

A biker's tale

Something tragic happened yesterday.
I was minding my own business,
riding my bicycle on the road,
and this bus came up aside of me.

Now, to not lose Amy who was ahead of me, I decided to pedal really, really fast and try and pass the bus.
However, Mr.Bus has a different idea.

He decided to park.

He decided to park right where I was riding.

I grabbed my break handles super fast,

tippy-toed my bike backwards,

looked behind me,

and frantically passed Mr.MeanBus on the right.

Yes, I did ‘ding’ my bell when I passed him.

If a Japanese person was in the way of somebody else, they would say “sorry” or “excuse me” (clearly in Japanese). (In America, we grunt. Or if driving, we honk. Nobody ever honks in Japan. The only time I heard a honk was when I was riding in a bus and we almost got hit by another bus....which is rare.)

When riding a bike, it’s nicer to “ding” your bell to let people know you are coming rather than get into a collision or scare somebody.

So for my “ding” to be appropriate,

I should’ve ‘dinged’ my bell when I was almost crushed between guardrail and Mr.MeanBus.

But, being my American-tourist self, I dinged my bell as I passed him.
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Sorry I didn’t post this sooner. 
That just means you’ll be blessed with 2 blogs today.

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bye!

Out and about

Good news!
I don't look as American anymore!

(remember my story about my "I heart NY t-shirt"?)

Well, clearly people don't look at me and think,

"Hello, Japanese woman!"

But at least they don't look at me and think,

"She is embarrassing herself and her country."

---

We rode bikes again last night.

I did better than last time,

until a huge thing of soda and icecream was put in my basket.

Then we had some problems.

Only a few.

The only time I STILL feel bad about is:
A woman was coming over on her bike infront of me, on the left, on an angle.
like this:

.../

../

./

/

and I was still going straight.
so this was what was happening:
|.../

|../

|./
|/

Yeah, it was special for sure.

We almost crashed and flew onto the pavement.

But I zoomed around and sprinted back to Amy,
promising my self to not look back-

mostly because my face was super red.

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Guydon is fighting for #1 on my favorite food
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We went shopping yesterday.

SUPER fun!
However, on the way home, on the train, there was a special man.

And this special man clearly liked to look at Americans.
He also won lots of awards yesterday.

You know the famous "thinking pose"?
He would win first place for a look-a-like.

He would also win first place for the "do not blink" game.
Lastly, He would win first place for making somebody want to jump out a window because they felt super self-conscience of every move they made.
It was fine though.
It made me laugh...
laugh uncontrollably.
The only time it wasn't funny,
was when he got off the same stop as we did.

<3>

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We went to a crape place.

It was SO good! And SO cute!

My sister will have to help me put pictures on here, because it gives me a lot of trouble.

But check facebook, cause I have pictures!
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Bye <3

Mmm, mm, good.

In the supermarket I found something.

What looks like a water balloon,

feel likes like a water balloon,

smells like a water balloon,

but tastes like a peach (or tangerine or soda[?still dont get that one])?
Yes! I have no idea either!
But it was super cute and interesting, so I bought Amy and I one.

At first, I expected jello.

And then I found out, it wasn't like jello at all.

It was like...yogurt and jello had a baby,
and then put it into a balloon.

It was good! (shout out: COL)

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Last night, Amy and I had:

Basking Robbins Icecream,

Avacados,

A bread thing with a hotdog,
A bread thing with bacon,

and Green Tea!<3

(and the last 3 things in the basket for breakfast this morning..
and that bread is CHOCOLATE BREAD!!!!!)

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off to Tokyo!

Well, hello there..

So I wanted to blog ev-er-e-day..

but on account that I'm sick,

I don't really know what to blog about!

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I think everybody should go to their netflix account,

and order "the Princess and the frog"

because pretty sure it's one of the cutest movies ever.

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Oh. I got skyped for my graduation yesterday!

It was from 11:00-1:30am in the morning for me!
But it was worth it.

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Amy is taking such good care of me!
And I've had the best food,

and healthy for that fact!

Last night, we were watching a movie and it was taking place around Christmas.

We were currently drinking more Green Tea,
(because I am sick),

and the movie was talking about hot chocolate.

:) Amy made hot chocolate!
It was so comforting.
We both were curled up on the couch in our blankets, sipping hot chocolate, and watching an adorable movie.

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today should be an adventure..

have a good night!

What to do on a Saturday..

To some people,
cleaning out closets, drawers, and boxes,
throwing unneeded items out,
and organizing found treasures,
seems like an overwhelming, drag of a day.
To me,
it' a little taste of Christmas.
Opening a box found in the depths of a forgotten drawer is just like opening a box under the wonders of a christmas tree!

So yesterday, I really wanted to help Amy organized her stuff.
I came early to Tokyo to be with her and help her.
The house they moved into had another person's belongings in it.
Try this:
Take your house and cut it in half, but don't get rid of anything.
And then your sister and brother-in-law move in with their own things.
Can you imagine that?
A few weeks ago the woman that has lived in this house (who now lives in America) just took the last of the belongings she wanted. However, she still had left some things at the house that Amy and Kazu could have.
Honestly, I was so excited to dig in and help her organize all her old and new treasures. So we took on the upstairs and finished it!
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I'm sick, for those who don't know.
a cough
the sniffles
an aching head
the sneezes
a post nasal drip..
Kind of like the grinch stole my Christmas...stinkin
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For dinner, Amy made fried rice and Gyoza! SO GOOD!
And after dinner we went on her roof and watched Japanese fireworks!!
They are incredible!
So big, so beautiful, and the cutest designs ev-er!!
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Have a good Sunday :)

You better believe it!

Guess who rode a bike in Tokyo?
Guess who rode an Electric bike?
Guess who almost ran into taxi...or four?
Guess who almost ran over a woman's foot..or people's bodies in general?
Guess who almost became master of the "weave"?
Guess who held up the sidewalk for basically a hour while turning her bike around?
Guess who rode super close to the guardrail so that cute, small, Japanese cars could still drive on the road?
Guess who wore a "I <3 NY" t-shirt to look more "American" so people would "understand" her incapabilities of riding a bike?
Guess who weaved through small spaces between buildings?
Guess who rode a bike at night time?

Amazing. Experience.

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Humorous story:
Amy teaches an adorable Japanese girl. We had conversation time, and we were asking questions.. We were talking about favorite memories and I said that mine was Thanksgiving, because it's the best family-time ev-er. Then, feeling really confident and curious about Japanese tradition, I asked her if they have Thanksgiving...

>>Clearly Thanksgiving is about Pilgrims and Indians...
I blame it on my jet lag.<<

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My Saturday was really good,
so reporting from the future,
you will have a good Saturday too!!

<3

From the flight above the world, to my bed in Tokyo

The flight over was actually not bad.

Blessings:
1) the lady that checks the bags ripped up my old boarding pass,

and gave me a new one with a better seat

2) the man next to me was really awesome.

Starting with blessing 1:

My new seat was by the emergency exit --

So the only thing in front of me were my legs and the emergency door. It was awesome. I tried to sleep, but I only got naps.

blessing 2: (sorry this part is long..)

The man's name started with a G sound and was Japanese. He was a producer (in America. He lives in NYC and used to work for MTV), so when he was done sleeping for 6 hours straight he got out his computer and started working.

I watched everything.

One time, he had been typing a report for like 100 hours.

Clearly I was bored.

Clearly he was bored.

Next thing I know, he pulled up a music video of his current client, TAO. (I'll post the link at the end of this post.) Anyways, he continued writing his report and as I quietly watched the video. Then we looked at a ton of amazing pictures.

**please note, we had not said one word to each other yet. Kinda awkward, yes?

Around hour 9 on the plane, we started talking. He was so funny! If anyone knows Paul Goodrow, he laughed exactly like him! So funny! We played airplane hangman for basically a hour. Then he told me he'd take care of me when we got off the plane. Listen to this:
-he took my carry on to customs as he walked with me
-he waited for me at customs

-he waited for me when i went to the bathroom

-he waited for me at baggage claim, and helped me with the suitcases

-he waited for me to exchange my dollars into yen

-he showed me where the pay phones were

-he helped me get my bus ticket

WHAT A BLESSING! (shout out to my mama and Mi-soo)

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>>fast forward to after the bus ride that I conked out on.

Poor, beautiful Amy had to help me bring my suitcases all around Tokyo.

Yes, we we DID look like wonderwomen.

We travled over to and down 4million flight of stairs with my luggage to get to the subway, got squished on the subway, found elevators up to ground level, and then finished walking to the Kato's house (not her house). They had to take a family picture.

I have never been so hot, so sweaty(!) in all my life.

What an adventure though!

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Amy and Kazu's house is SO cute and beautiful! I can hardly believe it!
Pray with me that everything will work out and they can keep it!

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Have a goodnight everybody!

I wonder what my first day in Tokyo will be like...

Hopefully it will really sink in that I am here!

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CHECK IT OUT!!:

http://www.drum-tao.com/en/index.html

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Mom, please by stamps.>

JFK Airport

Dad told me something like this before I left:
"A child says 'don't worry, we'll have enough time no matter what time we leave' and a mature person says 'we leave at 3'."

I sit here, in the JFK airport, as a very VERY mature person.

I am not only 1 hour early, not even 2 hours early.

No sir,
No ma'am,

I am 3 hours and 50 minutes early for my flight.

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So yes, I did buy the internet for 6 dollars.

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I decided, a few seconds ago, that I am never eating airport food again.
I bought the following items for breakfast:
-banana
-lays baked chips
-water

-egg mcmuffin

-antieannes pretzel nubby things

(I haven't consumed my chips yet..or my banana.)

but something special jut happened:

I almost had the opportunity to share my breakfast with the people sitting around me.

Wonderful :|

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Talked with Amy and Kazu on skype.

I feel a lot more confident on my independent adventure into Tokyo.

I won't tell you about that until I arrive safely at Amy's house.

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Some cute little baby just ran into my suitcase,.
She was crying and asked me "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

I thought "I am a mature adult that is 4 hours early for her flight,

that is charging her computer, holding down her breakfast, and
writing cell phone numbers and address's frantically in different places
because my mom told me 'what if your purse gets stolen'."

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See you in Tokyo!