A Review of 2008 and Our Christmas Celebrations

2008 has been quite a year for us. In it we have been given many opportunities to trust the Lord, and in all of them, He has been faithful.

This year saw the passing of Yoko's grandfather, in January, and her grandmother, in November. In both cases, she was by her grandparent's side as they passed away. After the passing of her grandfather, it became clear to us that the Lord was leading us to Japan. So started an 8 month process of praying that the Lord would work things out for us to come here, and as always, He did. It was amazing to see how He provided a way for Yoko to finish her Graphic Design degree, renters for our house, and a visa for Erik.

We came to Japan to be close to Yoko's family and share the Good News with them. Yoko's mother, Hisako, has welcomed us into her home with open arms. Since she is a Christian, it has been wonderful to encourage each other. Yoko's dad lives 5 minutes away by train. We have enjoyed our weekly dinners with him and are encouraged by his openness to us sharing about Jesus. Please remember him in your prayers.

Here are a few events that happened this past year:

• -January- We started the year in Ohio visiting Erik's adopted Grandparents.
• -January- Erik's parents were in Costa Rica when his mom had a heart attack. She received excellent care there and has since fully recovered. The Lord gave Erik great peace during this time (this was the same time Yoko was in Japan with her grandfather).
• -February- A friend in Washington passed away.
• -May- We celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary. Being married to your best friend is a wonderful thing.
• -June- Yoko completed her graphic design internship at Yavapai College and received her degree.
• -May- We visited friends in San Diego.
• -July- We visited friends in Oregon.
• -August- Erik left Yavapai College after 7 and a half years of working there.
• -September- We came to Japan
• -September to now is in past entries in our blog.

This year had it's fair share of sad moments and joyful moments. No matter the situation, one thing remain the same and that was the Lord's love. We are so thankful we serve a God that does not change. Our verse of the year was James 4:8a and 10: "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." As these verses promise, so God has done. We look forward to what He has for us in the coming year, and sharing our journey with you.

Christmas this year was very enjoyable. It stared on the 23rd with a Couple's Christmas Dinner. We had great food and fun entertainment.
On Christmas Eve we had dinner with Yoko's mom and her mom's friend. Her friend had never heard the Christmas story before, so it was a joy to share that with her. Below is the Christmas cake we enjoyed. Christmas night we had dinner with Yoko's father and again were able to share the Christmas story.
Saturday, Yoko's brother and his family came our apartment for pizza, cake (below) and presents. We had a fun time playing with our two nieces (below). They are quite shy and have not completely warmed up to us yet.
Here is Yoko's mom, Hisako, our sister-in-law, Yumiko, and our 2 nieces, Mao who is 3 and Riko who is 5. They are watching the movie Chicken Little.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas for us will be celebrated a little differently this year as Yoko has to work Christmas day. On the 23rd, we will be joining some friends for a couple's Christmas dinner. On the 24th, we will have a small party with Yoko's mom and a couple of her coworkers. Then on the 27th, we will be with Yoko's dad, brother and his family. We are not sure what we will be doing Christmas Day.
The Japanese Christmas tradition is KFC, Christmas cake, and a few presents on Christmas Eve. We will be having Christmas cake (we will provide pictures) but no KFC. Christmas day doesn't hold any real significance in the true reason for the day. It is instead a reminder that New Year's Day, the time when Japanese families get together, is a week away. We look forward to sharing the true reason for Christmas with those we will be celebrating with.
Other than Christmas, Erik is currently on winter break from school. Yoko is working during the day as students are also on winter break. Yoko spent Saturday morning at a kimono class that her mom attends. Yoko has never worn a kimono and will finally do so New Year's Day. Normally when a girl turns 20, she wears a kimono to a "coming of age" ceremony that is held in January. When Yoko turned 20, she was in the U.S. at school and missed out, so she will get to relive being 20 all over again.

Benkyosuru, Hataraku & Kaimonosuru

For those of you who don't understand romanized Japanese, the title to today's post is: Study, Work, and Shop. That's what this week has consited of so far. Shopping and preparing for Christmas, working at the cram school, and studying Japanese for end of term tests.
We added more pictures to our Fall Colors album. We have enjoyed taking pictures and sharing them with you. Fall in Japan has been beautiful.

Glad We Had a Camera

How often does it happend where you see something that is picture worthy, and you don't have a camera. We might have had that moment the other day, but we happend to have a camera with us. Isn't this picture something. They look so innocent, but if they had opposable thumbs, who knows what kind of mischief they would be getting into.
Our past week was a rather "normal' one. We still are using Japanese 95% of the time, but our conversations are not that deep at times.
We are thankful for the fitness club (the site is only in Japanese, but you can still see what is available to us) we belong to as this week was rainy at times.
We got out an took some more Fall pictures. Check back in a few days for those to be added to the existing ones. We have enjoyed Fall a lot as the weather has been good, and the colors were great.

Shocking! Oh so very shocking!

Sunday morning Yoko decided that she would only speak Japanese with Erik. This sudden inspiration came about after she had gotten together with a Japanese friend of hers who helped her American husband learn Japanese by not speaking English with him. This is good for Erik, however, it came as a great shock to his system. It was so sudden and without warning. As a result he came down with a headache (don't you feel sorry for him, or maybe you should feel sorry for Yoko having to put up with Erik). A half an hour before going to bed and a half an hour in the morning is reserved for English; this is to make sure we know what the other really needs to communicate.
At church on Sunday we were blessed to have Linda McCrary visiting. She is a singer from California who has a wonderful voice and a tremendous story. Recently we have had several guests musicians visit and touch our hearts with their music. Kirk Whalum, who plays the sax, and Airick Arqese, a rapper in the group Chrstiside Souljahs were here a few weeks ago. The church/cafe has been celebrating its 4 year anniversary at the current location with guest musicians.
The church/cafe is hosting a couples' Christmas dinner on the 23rd. We will be attending it with some friends from church. Christmas here is a time for couples. The couple aspect is so strong that single people often say that they will be doing something with a "date" when they are not.

We're All Out of Wisdom

For most people, with age comes wisdom. However, in our case, we are becoming less wise as we become older. Saturday, Yoko had the last of her wisdom teeth pulled. Erik's were taken out some time ago. Now don't go jumping to any conclusions : ) Thankfully the Bible tells us that we can ask for wisdom, and the Lord will give it to us. Now, either Yoko is the toughest woman ever or she found the best dentist ever, because she had anesthetic and teeth pulled in a half an hour without swelling or pain. She even had lunch right after the operation. If only all our trips to the dentist could go this well.
We are glad that you have been enjoying the pictures of the fall colors. We added some more, so be sure to check those out.
We are trying to get in the Christmas mood, but it is taking some time. Around where we live there are Christmas lights, but not like what we are used to. If we were planning on staying here a while, we would buy decorations to put up, but we don't want to leave Yoko's mom a bunch of stuff to store. We did bring our Christmas music which starting to sound throughout our apartment. Nothing like Mannheim Steamroller and Trans Siberian Orchestra to get one in the Christmas spirit.

Fall Colors

Here's the link to see bigger versions of the Fall Colors slideshow

What, no turkey?

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the U.S. No turkey for us this year. One of Yoko's relatives is married to an American, and they had a Thanksgiving party on Sunday, but we weren't able to go. That will be the closest we get to turkey.
All is going well. Things have been pretty quiet since our last posting. Yoko is back on the job search since a big source of income, taking care of Grandma, is now gone. We sure miss having her around. She was a joy to be with, and a good source of Japanese practice for Erik.
The last posting had a link to sumo. If you weren't able to watch the matches, we have provided a link to the last bout of the most recent tournament. It was a winner-take-all match and quite a match it was. The Grand Champion vs an up-and-comer. Earlier in the tournament the up-and-comer beat the Grand Champion.
Check out what and were we have eaten recently (to the right). We are blessed with a variety of good food. Needless to say, we are not going hungry.

A Hard Week

Since our last blog post Yoko's grandma passed away. Last Wednesday morning , 11/12, she had a heart attack around 6:30 am and passed away around 8:00 am. She was 88. We are thankful that she did not have a time of prolonged suffering, but we are sad that we only had one week with her living with us. Since her death we have been helping Yoko's mom with all that surrounds a person's death here in Japan. The funeral was yesterday.
This was Erik's first funeral in Japan, and it was quite a cultural experience for him. Upon grandma dying, she was taken to her home where she remained until Tuesday afternoon. She was at home so friends and family could come by and see her. Tuesday she was taken to the funeral home, and there was a ceremony and dinner that evening. Wednesday morning, there was another ceremony. After the ceremony, she was taken to a crematorium. While she was being cremated, all those in attendance had lunch. Once the cremation was finished, in pairs using long chopsticks, we picked up a bone fragment and placed it in a ceramic jar. The jar was then filled with the remaining bones and ashes. It is kept for 49 days, at that time another ceremony will take place where the jar is placed in the grave site.
The ceremonies Tuesday night and Wednesday morning were basically the same. A Buddhist priest chanted for about 40 minutes. While he chanted, those in attendance came forward and burned incense for Grandma. Instead of burning incense, we placed white flowers demonstrating that we are not Buddhist. At Wednesday's ceremony, Yoko's mom talked about Grandma, but she was the only one who got to say anything. It is definitely a solemn time. The only funerals Erik has been to were for family in the States, and they had an element of joy to them knowing that the family member was with the Lord. In all, it was quite an experience for Erik.

"You look cute today. What happened?"

The title of today's blog entry are loving words from Yoko to Erik. Good thing her love for him is not based on his looks or else he still would be single.

We have settled into life with Grandma living with us. At times, Erik is the only one at home with her. Needless to say, communication is a real challenge. Yoko is doing a great job in caring for Grandma. Her biggest challenge is cooking "right" in Grandma's eyes. Since Erik will eat just about anything, Yoko hasn't had to worry about getting things "right".

Right now a sumo tournament is taking place. If you are interested you can watch it on-line. It starts at 4:00 pm Japan time; that's 11 pm PST, 12 am in AZ and 2 am EST.

We have enjoyed hearing from many of you recently. Keep in touch.

Name this fruit and win a prize.

Chchchchchchanges

Job changes, living arrangement changes, and hair style changes, all we can say is that the Lord thankfully remains the same. The last week saw an assortment of changes for us. Yoko no longer works at the photo development shop. She dropped that job in order to teach English at a cram school and to work the front desk at a conversational English school. Both of these jobs are part time and in the evening which gives her the time she needs to take care of her grandma during the day.
Grandma is now living with us. She moved in with us yesterday because her home is cold during the winter, and we will not have to travel in the winter weather to see her.
Erik has a new hair style; this is the forth is his adult life. While in the U.S., Yoko wanted Erik to change his hair; however, he politely refused and instead, agreed that Yoko could choose how his hair is cut while in Japan. So, if you would like to see how stylish Erik is now, click on the link above.
On top of all these changes, we also meet some relatives of Yoko's for the first time. We met Yoko's dad's two sisters and some of their family at a ceremony for Yoko's dad's aunt who passed away a year ago. This is a special ceremony conducted at the one year anniversary of some one's death. The aunt who died did not have any children, so her nieces and nephew took it upon themselves to take care of her arrangements once she died. It was great to meet some more of the family. We had a real nice time with them. One of the highlights is that we ate fugu and lived.

A Week in Review

Great fall weather here, we are looking forward to the trees changing color. Yoko's grandma is moving in this coming weekend and once that happens, Yoko will be able to firm up her work schedule. Erik continues to enjoy class and is learning a lot. Look for a video clip of him speaking Japanese soon. Last Wednesday we celebrated Yoko's dad's 60th birthday with him, a very special day for Japanese people. We took him to dinner and had a real nice evening with him. Recently the Lord has given us many opportunities to share the Good News with him. It has been very exciting; please keep him in your prayers. Yoko's mom is doing well and keeps busy with teaching and making sure grandma is being taken care of. Look for more to come as we have a family event this coming weekend.

Can anyone help this seemingly lost tourist?

Something to eat and work for Yoko

The other day we went to Mos Burger (click for the web site) and Erik had the Kinpira Rice Burger. Yes, instead of a bread, you see rice. The inside is burdock and carrot, a combination Erik really likes (I know what you are thinking Peter). As you can see, compared to a cell phone, it isn't all that big, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in taste.
Yoko is set with employment. She has a part time job at a photo development shop right next to our appartment, and she will be taking care of her grandma starting in November. Grandma will be moving from her home to stay with us durning the winter. All of this is answered prayer. Thank you for praying for us.

Taiku no hi (Sports Day)

Monday was a holiday, so we went a little road trip to Ibaragi prefecture (just north of where we live) to see a friend of Yoko's mom. It was a perfect fall day with clear skies and a gentle breeze. After visting with Yoko's mom's friend, we stopped by Osugi Jinja (click for larger slide show), a Shinto shrine. This site is around 800 years old, but has been recently refurbished. Being a nice day, it was a great place to snap a few pictures.
We went to a driving range the other night. You might never guess this was only Yoko's second time golfing..

Job, Japanese (food, people, language) & Jumping

We had hoped to get a post on earlier than this, but the past week turned out to be pretty busy.
~On Wednesday we were able to join a friend from Tsuyama (the city Erik lived in 10 years ago) for dinner who was in our area on business. It was great to catch up since the last time we had seem him was at our wedding.
~Yoko got a part time job at a photo development store right next to where we live. She picked up the paperwork on Saturday and will be starting soon after a training session in Tokyo. Because this is a part time job, she is still looking for more work.
~Erik completed his first week of Japanese language school. He is really enjoying it and has learned the days of the week, the months, 15-20 new vocabulary, how to count and how to write in Hiragana to name a few things. ~We joined a fitness club very near where we live (did we mention that this is a very convenient location) and went there 5 times last week. There are a wide variety of classes offered along with the full assortment of exercise equipment and a pool. One of the classes that we really enjoy is Body Combat. We box, kick and jump around. In 45 minutes we work up quite a sweat.
~We are staying healthy and not going hungry. Currently there is an issue with food coming from China so shopping takes longer as we are checking where each product comes from. This is a little hard for Erik, because he is frugal and would rather take the risk than spend more money. Yoko is patient and helping him through this.
Look of a new post and for new foods in the next few days as we are going on a little trip today (Monday).

Shopping, 1st Class, Job Searching & Public Speaking

-Since our last posting, we went shopping at Lalaport (for those of you in the U.S., if you have time to kill, have a look at the mall map and see how many shops you recognize.)

-Sunday we did some public speaking at church. On the first Sunday on the month, after the regular service, the monthly financial report of the church and cafe are shared. After that, there is a time of personal sharing. The pastor calls on individuals to share what the Lord is doing in their life. This Sunday we were called on. Erik spoke and Yoko translated. We were able to share why we are here and how the Lord has been leading and providing for us.

-Yoko is still hard at work looking for a job. Thank you for your prayers. We are trusting in the Lord daily for this.

-Today, Monday, was the first day of school for Erik. There are 12 students in his class: 3 from Thailand, 3 from Taiwan, 3 from China, 1 from South Korea, and 1 from Pakistan. Today he learned how to say はじめまして。わたしはエリック　ベントレーです。エリックとよんでください。　アメリカのアリゾナからきました。　2008ねん９がつ３みかにほんにきました。　おやこどんがすきです。どぞよろしくおねがいします。　This is a self introduction with name, where he is from, when he came to Japan and something he likes.

The half way point on the ride with Yoko's dad a couple weeks ago.

Sunday at Committed Japan

Our Sundays are spent in an area of Tokyo called Sengawa. There we attend church, Committed Japan (click for the website), which is held in a cafe called "Kick Back Cafe" . The church started the cafe as a ministry, but they operate independently with the church renting the space on Sunday mornings. Sunday mornings have around 125 adults in attendance, more than the space can hold, resulting in people standing. Sunday morning service starts at 11:00 am and consists of worship (see the below videos, actually they are more for listening), introductions of first time visitors, individual prayer and pair prayer, announcements and Bible teaching. During the Bible teaching, when the Scripture passage of the message is read, everyone stands and reads it together. The service ends, around 2 pm, with an invitation for anyone to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. After church many people stay around for fellowship and lunch at the cafe. The cafe opens at 5 pm for normal operation. Since Yoko has been attending Committed Japan for the past 8 years, whenever she is in Japan, she knows quite a few people. Erik is getting to know people gradually. There are two other English speaking foreign men, who are married to Japanese women, who attend the church, so Erik is getting to know them. The message is translated into English, so Erik is able to listen to it. In spite of the 2 hour trip to get to church, we really enjoy our time at church getting fed on God's word and fellowshiping with other Christians.

A One Day Job, A Bike Ride, and Misc

Yoko got a job. Well, a least a one day job. She worked on an assembly line making salads for grocery stores. She got to stand in one place for 8 hours, listen to the supervisor yell instructions for 8 hours, and she has to go to another city to get paid. Not the best way to kick off working. On the bright side, she has two interviews coming up, one is as a website manager, and the other is doing graphic design. Either of these would be great, but we know the Lord has the right job for her.
Yesterday was the first day of fall, so we went to Yoko's grandpa's grave to clean it and leave flowers. This is common practice on this day. We did this primarily for Yoko's grandma since she is not able to get out and do this. After clean the grave site in the morning, we spent the rest of the day with Yoko's dad riding bikes. When we started out our goal was Tokyo Bay, and we made it. In the end, we ended up riding 106 kilometers (around 65 miles), and it was all done on a paved bike path. Here is a link to a map of where we are, and you can see where we road. http://www.worldmapfinder.com/Map_OpenStreetMap.php?ID=/En/Asia/Japan/Chiba You want your map to be at the scale of 5km/2 miles to start, then you can zoom in and follow the bike path (1000 meters/5000 feet) to the end at Tokyo Bay. The bike path is designated by blue dots. If you start just to the left of Narita International Airport, at the number 51, that is where we live. We road from there to Shisui (southwest) where we met Yoko's dad, from Shisui to Inba Lake (northwest) where we picked up the bike path. We really enjoyed the ride but are a bit sore today. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed the time with her dad.
Today we signed Erik up for school. He will begin October 6th and will be attending 5 days a week, 9 am to 12:20 pm. He is looking forward to formal instruction.

This week we...

had our first earthquake. It was this (Sunday) morning about 7:30 am and measured around 3 on the Richter Scale. We also had our first typhoon (the 13th of the season) come through Japan. Thankfully it went south of where we live. We have been having moments of sunshine but mostly clouds and rain recently. One thing we can count on is humidity. The other day we were out running and Erik's shins were sweating. No need to use lotion to keep our skin from drying out.

Yoko is doesn't have a job yet; she has resumes at several job agencies. We are waiting for something to open up. Erik had his first private English lesson on Thursday. Today (Sunday) he picked up another private lesson. If he gets enough students, Yoko won't have to worry about working.

In our free time (actually, all we have is free time right now) we exercise, listen to church services on the internet, read the Bible, watch sumo (Erik does that), ride our bikes around town, eat out with Yoko's mom, visit Yoko's grandma, and surf the internet.

Where we live

The "mansion" where we live. Large apartment complexes with apartments that have 2+ bedrooms are called mansions. We live on the 9th floor. We park our bikes in assigned spots. When you have a lot of bikes, you get creative on how to park them.
A few pictures from our floor. Around us there are other apartments, the train station, and a shopping center with a grocery store in the basement. This is a very convenient locaton. Check out the video for a tour of where we live.

Today is Grandparent's Day

Today is a national holiday, it is Grandparent's' Day. Yoko had dinner with her grandmother tonight. Erik did not go because he taught his first English lesson.
The big event of the day was that Yoko had a job interview. It turned out to be a very different job interview from what we are used to. First of all, there were 2 people being interviewed for the job at the same time. Secondly, Yoko had to do a psyche evaluation. Thirdly, this whole process took 2.5 hours. This job is as a reflexologist, and if she gets hired, she has to go through a month of training with no pay. We will know in a few days if she gets it or not. The are positives and negatives that we are weighing.

Sightseeing at Narita Temple

Today (Saturday) we did a little sightseeing. We rode our bikes over to Narita Temple which is about 2.75 miles from where we are living. It is considered one of the top 3 temples in Japan. This video gives you a little look at the grounds, and this is just one part of the expansive grounds.

One Week Update

Welcome to Erik and Yoko's blog. It is in the very early stages of development, so don't be surprised to see it's appearance change regularly.
We have been here in Japan a little over a week now, and we are getting settled in. The days since our arrival have been busy. We haven't necessarily done a lot of things; it's just that things take longer to do. Since Yoko has not lived in Japan for over 8 years, most things are a learning process for her too. What have we done since we arrived? (These are not in order of occurrence.) We have registered Erik with the city of Narita, set up insurance for both of us, bought bikes, found a Japanese school for Erik to attend, gone to church in Tokyo, visited Yoko's grandma, unpacked, exercised, Yoko's gone to a sauna several times with her mom, got cell phones, explored the area, looked for a job for Yoko, set up a private English lesson for Erik, had lunch with friends, and wandered around several malls looking for things for our room.

Yoko's mom has been great. She has opened her home to us, taken us places, let us use her car, and cooked for us. She is currently not working because she is recovering from a fractured pelvis, so we have had time with her. She will be going back to work the end of this month. Since Erik's Japanese and her English abilities are similar, they have short conversations when Yoko is not around to translate.

We are blessed to be here and so honored that the Lord has given us this opportunity. He has had His hand on so many things that it reassures us that we are to be here.

That is all for right now. Check back regularly, as we will be updating and adding to this blog.