Friday, March 23, 2007

Shi-to-the-uoka!

Amy and I took off Tuesday-Friday for Shizuoka. It was a lot of fun... kind of sad as we visited our SIJ 2003 friends. It was graduation time for the students we had grown so close to that summer. I teared up but didn't cry... I managed to keep it together. But I was a little sad to see their time together as students come to an end.... sabeshiine!

Kanako
It's always good to reconnect with friends... Aileen and I
In Joyhouse; Mizuki, Yumiko, Yukari, Jo, Kanako, Keiko, and Nami....
I have so many funny memories and sweet thoughts of these girls... my first Japanese friends.
Junpei
Shige and I
Homemade sushi
Friends... friends...
Nami, Koshi, Keiko, Yukari, Kanako, Nozomi, Amy, Atsushi and below Shige and Jo
Amy getting ready for our sleepover. We stayed with Keigo two nights and Nami one night... we threw futons down on the floor and got to sleep; camping style. It was fun.
Our new favorite picture.
Modeling is just something I do for some fun money... (with Reiko)
The best part of graduation was seeing everyone dressed up. Mai, Keiko, Marie, Yone, and Koshi.
Jo, Aileen, and Amy
The guys made a circle and as the graduates came outside they would pick them up and throw them in the air. Isn't that crazy?
Jo, Reiko, and Amy
Aileen, Junpei, Amy, Yumi, Marifu, Shigeo, Reiko, Kanako, Mizuki, Sonomi, Yasuko
I've always had a little difficulty with changing seasons... *sniff, sniff* but God is good.
*All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant* Psalm 25:10

1 comment:

Kelli B said...

okay, what the heck is happening to me?? We MUST be connected in spirit!

i just read this post and want to cry..and am tearing up a bit. Like somewhere deep down inside of me, there is pain. pain over the loss of your close friends as they graduate, pain over being homesick, and pain from the loneliness.

i feel what you feel.

but then there is deep joy. A deeper joy than the deep pain. like a joy in knowing these will ALWAYS be your first Japanese friends. In knowing that Amy will always share your Japan experience with you to the core - she's been there. And joy in knowing that your loneliness allows you into the depths of the Japanese people around you...they feel so much loneliness in their culture, their lives, and their country. And it's so suprising, with so many people around, that we can feel so alone, yet there is deeper joy still to be found in the Lord Jesus who never ever leaves or forsakes you. With you. In you. Near you.

Thanks for this post. I need to grab a kleenex.