The Chronicles of Narnia

I just finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. It has taken me about two months to read all seven of them (because they weren't always available and I didn't always have the time) and they have been some pretty blessed months. Before I graduated college, I was not able to read anything I wanted except for the books I had to read for classes and what not. But now, I'm not really studying anything (except Japanese, but I don't study it as much as I need too), so I've pretty much been reading anything that I could get my hands on: all of The Lord of the Rings, almost all of Jane Austen's books, A Wrinkle in Time and a few of its sequels, all of the Harry Potter's again, plus the new one, and so many others I can't really remember. But they were all good. As you've noticed, these are all mostly fiction books. Unfortunately, I haven't read many non-fiction books - though I am in the process of reading several different books on Japanese culture. I regret that I am not reading more non-fiction books, such as some of C.S. Lewis' other great books, Passion and Purity again, books on the lives of missionaries, and what I like to call "Thinkers" - books that make me really think about my life and my relationship to our Glorious creator because they more often than not point me to God (my whole reason for living, by the way).
But The Chronicles of Narnia are not only wonderfully written, highly imaginative and descriptive fantasy books, they are "Thinkers". No matter what anybody says, these books are oozing God. These books not only kept my full interest because they are adventurous, but they made me think really hard about my life and how God is a part of it. Most importantly, they greatly increased the longing I have to follow Christ because they somehow managed to increase my love for him (that Aslan is just so lovable).
I don't know how to describe it. In fact, I'm going to pull a C.S. Lewis. Quite often in TCoN, Lewis says "It's difficult to describe...." how this fruit tastes or what it is like at the end of the world in Aslan's country or what it is like in the new Narnia past the Shadow Lands, but then Lewis goes on and tries to describe things that really puts many great, sometimes horrid, but mostly glorious pictures in your head. But then he will say "If you ever come to this land and taste it yourself, you will know what I mean." or "If you ever get there, you will know what I mean." I'm sorry, most of you know that I don't have a knack for getting things out in words very well, so you are just going to have to read the books and go through those wonderful adventures yourselves. For those of you who have already read them, you know what I mean.
After I read good books, I always like to talk to other people about them. If you have read TCoN, please leave a comment and tell me what you thought about them, your favorite part/book or whatever. It would help me to relive them again.

Dangerous "Hachi"

One day last Spring when I was teaching one of my Elementary classes in the gym instead of in the classroom, a huge bug flew in through the open door. It looked like a really big bee to me. Since most of the students had their backs to its meandering in the back of the gym, they couldn’t see it. But one student heard it, turned around and saw it, and then yelled in a terror filled voice, “Hachi!!” Immediately, everyone broke into a panic as they ran as far away from the bug as possible. Of course, I just stood where I was amazed that everyone, including the teacher, was running away from a bug like it was the Black Death. The teacher shouted some command at the students (probably something like, “Don’t go near it! It will kill you!” by the way they stayed away from it) while he ran out of the gym. He came back not even 30 seconds later with a can of bug spray and a broom. When the bug stopped on the gym floor, he ran up to it and sprayed it until it didn’t move and then he smashed it with the broom. After the mess was cleaned up, class resumed.
I remember how amazed I was on that day at their reaction to what I thought was just a big bee. They acted like it would kill them. It turns out that it is a very dangerous and painful bee. I don’t know if it can kill you, but I do know that it can give you a lot of pain if it stings you. After that incident in the gym, I asked the teacher of that class why everyone was so afraid of that bug. He showed me a round scar on his arm about the size of a penny and said, “Because this is what they do to you and it hurts a lot.” He said that when he was a child, he was stung by a hachi and it was incredibly painful. They had to cut the stinger out of him at the hospital.
I tried to do some research on these things and amazingly, the only thing I found about them is that they are dangerous. Maybe I’m not doing a very good google for them, but I really can’t find anything more about them. But ever since the day that my teacher showed me his scar, I do like everyone else when I hear the word “hachi” and I run like it’s the most painful thing in the world. Also, when I see a flying insect in the room and it looks anything like a bee, I go to the nearest teacher and ask if it’s a “hachi”. Over the past year and a half, I’ve seen many battles with hachi, but the most interesting one happened several days ago.
I was in the teacher’s room at one of my Elementary schools preparing for the next days classes when I saw a huge bug flying around on the ceiling. I quickly went to a teacher, pointed at the bug, and said in Japanese “Is that dangerous?” Several teachers inched a little towards it and immediately said “Hai!” As we all started running for our lives to the other side of the room, manly Oshima sensei went and got the bug spray. The hachi landed near one of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling, so he turned off the lights in case some of the spray got on the electrical stuff, he took his stand, and started spraying. When he took his stand to spray, I thought that he wasn’t close enough to reach the sucker with the spray because he was on the floor and that thing was on the ceiling. But all doubts were taken away when he sprayed. I’ve never seen such a stream of bug spray come out of a can in such an abundance and with such power that it not only reached the bug on the ceiling, but it sprayed within a whole 1 foot radius of the bug. It sprayed the light and started raining down onto the floor and lunch table. Then I understood why he stood at such a distance from the bug. I wish I could explain how manly and brave he looked spraying the high-powered can of bug spray at a dangerous (deadly?) bee. It was also quite surreal and humorous because I never expected to see a stream of liquid that looks like it’s coming out of a fire hose come out of a regular-sized can.
So, if any of you who read this blog know anything about the Japanese “hachi”, please feel free to comment some info or a link about it. I’m awfully curious. I should probably just ask a Japanese person….

Stupid Spam

How irritating is blog spam. That's not a question, it's a comment. It is so stupid and if I even take the time to read the stupid spam they put on my blog or somebody else's, I will make a point NEVER to click on their links or buy their products or whatever. I encourage everybody else to also. Stupid spam. I don't know why it makes me so angry. Maybe because I get all excited because someone cares enough to leave a comment and then it is just stupid spam.
Stupid spam.
Well, now there will be no more stupid spam on my blog, because I just turned on the stupid spam blocker thingy. So there! No more stupid spam!

Asoubimasho (Let's play!)

A couple of Sundays ago, after evening worship time, a little 6 year old by the name of Mitsuki came up and put a note in my back pocket while I was talking to some people. Then, as she always does, she proceeded to use me as a human jungle gym and we played together until she had to leave. Later that evening, I remembered the note in my pocket (luckily considering how forgetful I seem to be about things in my pockets) and the above picture is what I pulled out. It says, "To Jessica: Thank you for always playing with me. Mitsuki."
Mitsuki and I always play together after evening worship (and sometimes during it). I can't explain to you how much love I feel for this little girl. Everytime she sees me, she yells "Jeshika!" and runs and jumps into my arms. Then we play and she laughs and laughs and laughs. I love her laugh and will do whatever I can to make her do it, which doesn't take much.
Her young mother, Satomi, was just baptized a couple of months ago (praise be to God!). Her father is not a Christian, but he comes to church with his wife and daughter when he can and regularly studies the Bible (pray that he will become a child of God soon). I thank God that this beautiful little girl will at the very least be raised by a Christian mother. She has so much love in her and I know that God will use it to impact so many lives in His Name.

Such as these.....

Rina and Kento
Last weekend was a three day weekend, and Mito Church had their church camp at the church. Near the end of it, Rina and her brother Kento were taking their daily nap on the pews in the back. Look how little Rina is holding the hand of her little brother.
Matthew 19:14:
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

How God changes my sucky attitudes:

Today was a great day at school! Of course, when I got up this morning, I really didn’t want to go to work (I go through these phases where I don’t want to work at all). But when I got there, God blessed me all over again with my students. In all of my fifth and sixth grade classes, we have been learning school supplies, the grammar “Do you have a pen? Do you have a ~?”, and transitioning into learning body parts. Today we played the same game we played last week one more time because it is good practice for them. The game is essentially a spin-off of “Go Fish” and has been used to teach different English conversations within the AET circle long before my time here. The students make groups of six and then each student gets six cards, each with a different school supply on it. They must go around the group and each person asks another “Do you have a ~?”. The other person answers “Yes, I do.” and gives them the card(s) or “No, I don’t.” and the asking student has to draw a card from the pile. The whole goal of the game is to get as many sets of four as possible. The prize for every winner is a big sticker.
I knew they liked this game, but when the students of my first class actually started clapping and saying “Yatta!” (All right!) when I told them we were going to play the game, I felt tingly all over. My students liked this game and they were more than happy to play it. What’s better, most of them really tried to speak the English. They even begged me to allow them to play longer when I told them that time was up! I can’t tell you how good it is to a teacher’s soul when students are excited about something that you want them to be excited about.”
After we stopped the games (much to their disappointment), we started learning/reviewing body parts. Of course, the perfect song to go with teaching body parts is Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. This particular version sings it over and over 6 times, but each time, it gets faster and faster. The students loved it! They tried to sing with it and to keep up with it when it got incredibly fast. Even the students who never pay much attention really were trying. I can’t tell you how amazing it is when 6th graders respond well to anything. Generally, since it is their last year in elementary school, they are now the cool sempei’s (upperclassmen), and they are transitioning from immature elementary students to cool jr. high students, it is hard to find something to snare their interest. But this magical, once irritating-to-me song has done it, and I couldn’t be more blessed. The topper of the day was when one of the 6th grade classes actually asked to borrow the CD so they could sing the song before lunch. I couldn’t teach them today because I had to take a business trip during their class, but they had already learned it the week before. They heard the other class doing it, so they wanted to do it to. How wonderful is that!
God is so good. He blesses me like this even though I don’t deserve it because of the sucky attitudes I can take on sometimes. God is so good!