Tanabata

Today was the big annual Tanabata festival in Sendai and a bunch of us went in to enjoy the atmosphere. Along with Dan and me were Christopher and Joshua Bengtson, the Sorensen clan and Tim Piccharini from Minneapolis, the son of Jan DeVries, a friend in Fergus Falls.

In the outdoor shopping Arcade that runs about 5 city blocks there are hundreds of hanging streamers that organizations, stores or clubs enter into a contest.

This particular row of streamers signified the 62nd anniversay of the Hiroshima and Nagaski bombing. You can read the tag that hung from each streamer below in the next picture. It felt quite humbling to be in Japan on the very day of the bombings 62 years later.

Me and some cute Japanese girls also in yukata (the cotton summer kimono).
While we were walking through the Arcade Maria found a yukata that she loved and was able to get it and have it put on at a kimono shop, so for the rest of the day, she and I walked around

The evening ended with a parade that we really enjoyed.

Fireworks festival

On Sunday evening our friends and English students, Tomita's, envited us and the Sorensen's to go watch the big fireworks display in downtown Sendai from Mr. Tomita's 7th story office building. Dan and I had recieved summer kimono's from our church earlier that morning and had the perfect opportunity to wear them that evening. It was so fun!!!! The best was that the office was air conditioned and didn't have bugs! They even surprised us with Pizza Hut pizza!! It was a great memory!

On Sunday morning Dan and I were asked to be a part of the service and give our testimony pertaining to what we've experienced this past year in Japan. After the service they celebrated with throwing us a goodbye lunch and a welcome lunch for the Sorensen's. From the left: James, Jon, William, Kim, Maria, Christine and Dan. We all sat a head table together.
Some of Dan's English students surprised us and showed up at the morning church service!
Alpha's Celebration dinner at Shingakko church in the evening!

Sunday, July 29th

This past Sunday was jam packed! The morning started out with our final church service at one of two churches that we serve. They had refreshments at the end of the service and our pastor's presented us with this beautiful flower pressed painting. It is incredible! and so beautiful. You'll have to see it in person, but every detail is all made from pressed flowers.

After the service, we headed back to the church were we are now staying until we return home. Dean, Linda and their boys were getting to know everyone, so it was really fun for us to see that! Around 4:15 p.m. we all headed into Sendai City we were going to meet the Sorensen's and their children at 5:30 p.m!! It was so fun when they actually arrived! Arrival!!

Christine, Linda, Maria and Kim poking our heads through the Tanabata streamers.

Out to dinner. By this time we were sooooo hungry!

Kim and Jon finally in their new home and all their kids in bed....

Happy Birthday Sara

Lastnight our friend Sara came down from Akita to stay overnight with us. We took an evening bike ride down to the river, then over to the newly remodeled mission house that we used to live in. The house looks completely different!! This morning she left our house at 7:45 a.m. on her way to the train station. Today is her 28th birthday, so we all woke up this morning to celebrate a little bit, then she was off to America!

Tomoko and Uwe Visit Sendai

This weekend we were so happy to have our friends Tomoko and her fiance, Uwe, visit us in Sendai. They were here all day Saturday and part of Sunday. We took lots of pictures and had a blast together. It was one of the most fun weekends we've had!!. On Saturday morning we took the Loople Bus (tour bus) around Sendai and visited some of the famous sites.

We were walking through a temple gate and Dan and Uwe were too tall!! It was really funny.
This is Uwe being a HUGE dare devil and catching eel with his bare hands. There was a lot of fun stuff going on in Sendai when were there. One of the events was trying to catch eel for Y300 ($3.00). It was sooooo worth it! I was digusted, but it was a great memory.

Tomoko and I were cooking dinner together....she was cooking eel and I was cooking meatloaf. What a difference in food preference between cultures! We didn't end up eating the eel, only meatloaf.

On Sunday morning after church the four of us took a ferry to Matsushima. On the ferry, one of the funnest things to do is feed the seagulls! After the ferry ride we all agreed Uwe found his new favorite animal....seagulls. He was enthralled with them and could have cared less about the mystery of the pine islands. It was great!!

Earthquake; don't worry

We just wanted to let everyone know we are 100% safe and fine.

There was a rather strong Earthquake yesterday on the WEST COAST of Japan in Nagano and Nigata Prefectures. We live on the EAST COAST of Japan in Miyagi Prefecture. That damage seems to be pretty bad many houses and bulidings have collapsed (about 500 buildings in all) and a train was derailed. 700 people were injured and so far, 9 people died from the earthquakes already. It registered as high as 6.8 and there have been 67 reported aftershocks (and they are expecting more aftershocks) It seems that we will not have any effects from this earthquake here in Sendai but please pray for those people who live in Nagano and Nigata. Many are injured and many more have moved into Emergency Shelters. Pray that the Earthquakes will not continue or at least not be severe. Pray for those who have been injured and the families of those who have lost their lives. Also pray that they will have enough water and food for those in shelters.

Feel free to email us back, and please let friends and families know about this information and ask for their prayers as well. Let anyone who asks know that we are fine as well, and there is no need to worry about us.

Murata town

Today we visited the small town called Murata, a town I had been dreading to visit because I thought it was going to be really boring. I WAS TOTALLY WRONG!!! I had one of the best sightseeing days in Japan that I've ever had. On our way to Murata we stopped at this big water-wheel. It's used to help in the process of making soba japanese noodles. Next to the big wheel was an old straw-roofed Japanese style house.

After seeing the water-wheel and straw house we went into Murata town. One of the first things to impress me was the small alley's, doorways and OLD houses. I rarely see that in Sendai city. One interesting thing was that this town was one of the first few places to get telephones long ago. We saw numbers on the outside of houses like #10. #25, meaning that house was the tenth or twenty-fifth house to get a telephone in all of Japan. It was so cool! Also, this town of Murata, now has one of the largest populations of artists in the area because the mayor is making it so easy for artist to have exhibitions and to move into the area.

One of the most stunning places we visited was a huge old Japanese house that used to be own by a very wealthy family. The home and property was modeled after the homes built in Kyoto, so when we were walking through, our friends kept on saying, "Oh, it's just like Kyoto!" The house and property has since been donated to the city because the family all lives in Tokyo. The pit in the middle of the floor was litterally the kitchen stove. The room on the bottom right was really interesting, it was used as a birthing room for women. The doors were made out of stone, so no one could hear anything. Crazy! And the picture on the bottom right was the staircase that went to the second floor. The staircase had drawers in it. Cool idea!

The last thing we did was get lunch at this great family owned resturant. The women who owns it is a great fan of Yumiko's paintings (the lady in pink). These three people have become really good friends of ours.

Successful Pot Roast

This is for you newlywed wives (under 5 years). Tonight I decided to be daring and tried making a pot roast. The last time I attempted it, it turned out horrible. Well, tonight, I made it again and it was awesome! It's actually possible to make something Betty Crocker wrote without burning it. I had to take a picture because I was so happy! So, for those of you that are newlyweds, don't be afraid to try something again that you burnt the first time. It usually comes out good the second time....if you actually follow a reciepe (very carefully, in my case!)



P.S Another good way to make a good dinner is to get the reciepe from your mother, they always seem to know everything!