Just a quick note to let everyone know that our internet is being disconnected tomorrow morning.  Our big adventure is almost over!  Now that we’ve said most of our good-byes, I’m excited about heading for Hong Kong the day after tomorrow and then back to Canada next week.  Once there, we’ll be visiting family in Vancouver for almost two weeks before finally making our way back to Alberta.  I’ll try to update the blog from time to time but it will probably be hit and miss for the next few weeks until we’re home and our internet service there is reconnected.  I’m sure by then I’ll have much to write about and many photos to share so please don’t go away!

If you were to visit Japan as a tourist and your only contact with the people was in public settings, you might easily come away with the impression that they are aloof or even unfriendly. On the street and on the trains they tend to be very reserved but we have been privileged to see beyond that outward appearance and have found them to be incredibly warm and generous. Never has that been more obvious than this, our final week here.

We knew that most of our students, especially the adults, were very appreciative of the job that we did as their teachers but the outpouring of gratitude that we experienced this week was overwhelming. For example, I taught a small class of older ladies for 85 minutes every Tuesday afternoon. When I arrived for class this week, they had planned a surprise farewell party for me. I was told to put away the textbook and relax. They provided cake and beverages, presented me with a beautiful gift and we spent the entire time in delightful conversation. Throughout the week many other students presented us with gifts and notes of appreciation.

Yesterday was our final day of teaching. I knew that saying good-bye to my playgroup would be particularly difficult. These are adorable preschoolers who attend class with a parent. They have been such fun to teach. At the end of every class we sing the Good-bye Song. I knew I’d have a very hard time getting through “good-bye dear friends, I’ll see you again”. When class came to a close, one little girl proudly presented me with a drawing, clearly meant to be me, and another student gave me a basket of flowers, one of several arrangements that now brighten the apartment. I was totally blown away, however, a few minutes later when a dear little boy stood in the corner of the reception area which was crowded with parents, students and staff and sang the first verse of Amazing Grace for me in perfect English! One of the other teacher’s commented afterward, “I dare you not to remember that for the rest of your life!”

My last class yesterday was another adult class. They asked a couple of weeks ago if they could take me out for dinner after our last class together. They actually ended up taking both Richard and I to a beautiful restaurant for a very traditional Japanese dinner. During class they each gave a short talk about what they appreciated about having me as their teacher this year and at dinner, they each presented me with a gift. Such amazing generosity!

Then there was church this morning. Unbelievable! Though many knew that today was our last Sunday, Pastor Steve announced it from the pulpit and had us come to the front for a special time of prayer. When service was over, we were surrounded by people thanking us and wishing us well. Many have become close friends over the past year, of course, but there were also some that we hardly know who came to shake our hands and say good-bye. Once again, we were showered with gifts!

We’ve been careful throughout the year not to buy too many mementos as we have limited space to carry things back but we weren’t counting on all the wonderful gifts! Fortunately, we came to Japan with less luggage than we were allowed and some of what we brought has worn out or been used up. Tomorrow, I begin packing and hope that I can fit everything in. If not, we’ll be shipping some things. One young couple in the church were wise enough to realize that we would have a lot to carry with us and told us that they would be mailing a gift to our home in Canada. Imagine our surprise and delight when she offered to take the things that we received today and mail them along with the gift that she was already planning to send! I gladly handed over all but the fragile ones. Again, such generosity! Is it any wonder that we’re having such a hard time saying good-bye?

Japan has a reputation for being very advanced technologically but we were surprised to discover that, in terms of actual application, it really isn’t. Everyone has the latest cell phones and the tiniest digital cameras but we live in an older building with no high speed internet. It still astonishes me that we had better internet service in the middle of rural Alberta than we have an hour outside one of the biggest cities in the world. On the other hand, I guess we should be happy to have internet at all considering the fact that they’re only just putting cable TV into the building this week.

Perhaps most amazing to us, however, has been the lack of technology at our workplace. MIL has nine small schools spread throughout the northern part of Chiba Prefecture, about an hour east of Tokyo.  Teachers have no access to computers at school and all interoffice communication is done by fax instead of email!  The photocopiers and some of the CD players in our schools must be amongst the oldest on the planet.   I’m sure that there are workplaces in Japan that are much more technologically advanced than ours but from what we’ve heard, MIL is definitely not alone in it’s failure to join the world of modern technology.

We’ve never been ones to simply attend church on Sunday.  We’ve always been fully involved but when we started attending Hope Church last March, we wondered how we’d be able to serve in a church where we didn’t speak the language of the majority of the people.  Not a problem, responded our very big God!   As it turned out, Smoky, a young American living and working in Japan and newly married to a Japanese wife, was at that very time, considering starting a monthly beginners English class that would meet after church once a month.  He welcomed our help with open arms.

Though we teach English five days a week, the beginners class at church quickly became one of the highlights of our month.  It has been so much fun!  Unlike school, where we’re required to use textbooks and teach the technicalities of English grammar, we focus entirely on pronunciation and basic conversational skills at church.   We eat lunch together and then have a simple lesson that allows the students to practice what they’re learning.  We make sure that there’s one English speaker at each table to help them and some of them are bilingual and can translate when necessary.  When the class first began last summer, many of the students were terribly nervous but Richard and a few of the young men in the class soon put them to ease with their crazy antics.  The class’s reputation quickly grew and it has continued to grow in number.

Yesterday the beginners English class held a farewell party for us.   As part of the lesson, Smoky included a number of useful phrases for saying good-bye and wishing someone well then each student got up and said a few words for us.  A couple of them had even prepared short speeches in advance.  We were totally overwhelmed!  Not only were their words so very kind and the feelings they expressed so genuine but we knew how difficult a task it was for most of them and we were so proud of how well they did.

Though the gift of their words was the most meaningful to us, they also had a beautiful farewell cake for us and showered us with flowers and gifts including Hope Church t-shirts.  We are so blessed!

When Richard and I were hired to come to Japan to teach English, I started this blog to share our experience with family and friends. I also welcome anyone else who comes across it. Some people stop by once while others have become regular readers. One such person is tokyo5.

I’ve occasionally been asked who this person is. “Sometimes it seems like he’s trying keep tabs on what you say,” said one regular reader. “Doesn’t this annoy you?” she asked.

Tokyo5 is actually an American whose job brought him to Japan 18 years ago at the age of 20. He ended up marrying a Japanese girl and staying. They live in Tokyo and have three children, hence the pen name, tokyo5. Apparently, he rarely returns to the States. Though his comments often do come across as somewhat critical, I give him the benefit of the doubt. I don’t think he intends to be rude. In fact, he may not even realize that his comments sometimes sound that way. He’s just incredibly proud of his knowledge of the Japanese language and culture and very defensive about anything Japanese. He actually keeps me on my toes. I know that if I slip up and get my information wrong, he’ll be sure to let me know! His own blog is an interesting source of information about many things Japanese. You can find it at tokyo5.wordpress.com.

I am able to remove comments from my blog if I choose to do so but I’ve never done that. WordPress does a good job of weeding out spam so I’ve never had to deal with anything offensive and if a comment appears that seems somewhat suspicious, I’m notified and can accept or delete it before it’s published. A few of tokyo5’s comments have gone that route but I’ve never deleted any of them. The only time I was tempted to do so was when a negative sounding comment was directed toward another regular reader.  Even in that case, however, I decided not to interfere.  I welcome all legitimate comments including those that disagree with me. In fact, I wish more people would comment. Much of what I share here is my opinion or my own interpretation or reflection on what I’m experiencing so it may be different from someone else’s. That doesn’t make either one of us wrong but it does open the door to interesting discussion.

When I first started writing the blog, I thought that it would be a one year project but now that our time here is drawing to a close, I’ve decided to keep it going indefinitely. Not only does it fulfill my desire to continue writing but now that some of my Japanese friends are reading it, perhaps it will allow me to share life in Canada with them!