Day: February 7, 2011

The house that Richard helped build

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When we came to Japan to teach English, helping build a house was the farthest thing from Richard’s mind but when the call went out for volunteers to work on the house that was about to be built for our pastors, Steve and Shelley, he jumped at the opportunity. Because we taught during the afternoon and evening, he was able to spend several mornings at the building site working with other fellows from our church as well as teams of volunteers who came from the US. Truth be told, he enjoyed the experience so much that he would have preferred to continue working there instead of having to teach!

When we left Japan, the house was a long way from being finished. The last time Richard worked on it, they were erecting the second storey walls. Now, I’m sitting in the livingroom! Though we’ll be spending short periods of time with other friends in the area, we are very privileged to call Steve and Shelley’s beautiful house our home base while we’re here.

Much bigger than most Japanese homes, this house was designed not only for family living but also as a place where various groups from the church could gather. Here’s a tour of the main floor:

the window to the left of the front door is our room

our beautiful room

the livingroom

the kitchen with Richard at the coffee maker, of course!

the formal dining room

the great room which also boasts a large flat screen TV, a full sized pool table & a kids' corner

There are several bedrooms, an office and a laundry room on the second floor.

The construction materials, cupboards and even the appliances were all shipped to Japan from the US. Apparently, that was less expensive than buying locally. That does have some disadvantages, however. The dishwasher has never worked and the dryer isn’t functioning well but the people who know how to service them are an ocean away! When our dryer isn’t working well, Richard takes the back off and cleans out the lint that inevitably accumulates. He tried to do that with this one but it didn’t help.

Unlike most Japanese houses, this one is well insulated but like the rest of the homes in this country, it doesn’t have central heating. They could have brought in a furnace along with the rest of the building materials but they realized that without the availability of service and parts, that would be foolhardy. Instead, like most Japanese homes, each room has a small heater. Rooms that are not in use are kept closed and only those that are being used are kept warm. Each night before we go to bed, we turn on the heat and warm up our room.

Also, unlike most Japanese homes, there is space in front of the house to park several vehicles. I’m sure the neighbours appreciate that when groups gather here! All in all, this house is a blessing from God. Richard was blessed by the opportunity to work on it’s construction and we are truly blessed to be able to stay in it!

Communicating Drew’s way

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When our grandson, Drew, was diagnosed with a severe phonological disorder last month, it was suggested that Melaina make a picture book for him so that when he wanted to ask for something, he could point to the appropriate picture. Being the diligent and creative mom that she is, she went to work on Drew’s picture book the very next day. When she gave it to him, he began to use it right away and was so excited that he carried it around with him for the rest of the day.

I had to communicate in a similar manner today. A couple of days ago, I was hit by a stomach ailment of unknown origin. If I was in many parts of the world, I’d attribute this to drinking the water but Japan’s water is perfectly safe and no, it wasn’t the raw chicken because too much time had passed for that to be the cause. We’re not sure if this thing is viral, bacterial or stress related but I ended up spending most of Saturday in bed. Fortunately, by yesterday I felt much better and my strength had returned but I’ve been left with a nasty case of diarrhea. By this morning I’d decided that a visit to the pharmacy might be a good idea but how would I explain what I was looking for? No problem! Out came my trusty Japanese phrase book. I simply looked up diarrhea and pointed to the Japanese script for Do you have any medicine for diarrhea? Through gestures, the lady behind the counter was able to ask me if I was also vomiting or suffering from headaches which, thankfully, I’m not. She quickly produced a package of pills that even have English instructions on the packaging.

During all the time we lived in Japan, we seldom had to use our phrase book but it sure did come in handy today! Now, if only the pills will work. They are little black spheres and have the most vile odor and aftertaste imaginable but if they do the job, they’ll be totally worth it.