A few names and a few games
Just returned from big swanky party, curtesy of very amazing invite, and I feel like name dropping, so I'll get it over with quickly before writing some proper stuff.
The name is RICHARD BRANSON.
Well i didn't meet him, it must be said, but I was asked how he was doing tonight, by someone that has had dinner with him twice, and who owns the shopping mall in Kyoto where the Virgin store is located (hence the dinners). Of course being English, and therefore sharing Richard's nationality (and indeed his city for the past four years), I felt able to speak for him, and could vouch that he was 'doing alright'. Phew!
It was my friend Yuki's dad's gym's New Years Party (they don't do Christmas parties here, just New year), and lucky for me his gym is in one of the nicest hotels in Kyoto, and even better, I was invited. We dined in style, and enjoyed American-influenced entertainment of a cheer-leading dance show style, by the gym's fitness intsructors during pudding. Very enjoyable. I even took a video with my camera which i'll put on YouTube on Saturday if I can!
Yuki actually deserves a bigger name drop than 'Richard'. She might not be famous outside of the world of compartive studies of Scandanvian, Japanese and American care systems, and feminism conferences in Tokyo and Osaka.. .... and maybe some certain drinking establishments in Kyoto and Oxford and Stockholm... but that's pretty cool to me and I'm very proud of her. I have only featured in the latter one so its all good :-) Plus her and her family are very kind to me which always is a winner!
Now...
I did well in my tests: Grammer 89%; Reading 82%; Vocabulary 81%, Listening 64%; and Kanji, urgh, 43%. I therefore failed the last one. After christmas we have another test of 300 kanji (the little chinese characters).
My plans for 'fuyui yasumi' (christmas hols from my language school, although not from homework, got tonnes of it!) are holding up remarkably well. Simon and I are praying about whether he could visit me in January for a week or so. It depends on a cheque coming through. But before then, I have a bus ticket booked to Tokyo for Monday, leaving here 10am and arriving there 6pm (a long ride, but cheaper than the train and i'd like to enjoy the scenery en route). Hanae, an old friend, has offered to host me in her room, plus I have lots of dinner arrangements with loads of students I worked with the last two summers, plus some other special individual friends from Oxford days (Japanese friends).
I am off to Shiga ken for christmas day (Yuki has asked to come to our church christmas party on chrstmas eve too, fantastic, and surprising; trying to think whether to invite Rika and/or/neither Mirabelle to join us). Hopefully I'll enjoy a few days away with Hong Yun, a Korean Christian worker here, after that, before New Year. School starts back on 9 January. My birthday has landed on a national holiday here (8 Jan). It is also the day when all the 20 year-olds in Japan celebrate their 'turning of age' by getting together with all their high school friends for parties! therefore all the restaurants will be very busy. my birthday is party day this year!!
God is doing good work in me at the moment. I am being really blessed by now attending a church prayer time on wednesday nights, with Chang Kyu and In Sook. Our Sunday sermons are on being in touch with the Holy Spirit, and this last sunday was on 'silent prayer' (Forrester book esp). God spoke to me, and He is being just great. I am looking forward to walking with him over the next few months, and I am not there yet, but want him to be my very best friend.
Tonight, before I got to the hotel, a lady in a drink shop shoo-ed me off her pavement outside like I was a stray dog. I was sheltering there from the rain, with my bike, unsure which way to go, trying to study my map. If I hadn't been made aware of God's view of me it would have upset me. As it was, I wished she wouldn't have that attitude, however I still felt joyful inside. I am grateful for people like Debi Bartlotti (yeh, I had an email from her today!) and Naomi Gray who have helped to show me that God views us as special and that being 'in him' in this way affects our whole attitude. Long may it grow.
Just returned from big swanky party, curtesy of very amazing invite, and I feel like name dropping, so I'll get it over with quickly before writing some proper stuff.
The name is RICHARD BRANSON.
Well i didn't meet him, it must be said, but I was asked how he was doing tonight, by someone that has had dinner with him twice, and who owns the shopping mall in Kyoto where the Virgin store is located (hence the dinners). Of course being English, and therefore sharing Richard's nationality (and indeed his city for the past four years), I felt able to speak for him, and could vouch that he was 'doing alright'. Phew!
It was my friend Yuki's dad's gym's New Years Party (they don't do Christmas parties here, just New year), and lucky for me his gym is in one of the nicest hotels in Kyoto, and even better, I was invited. We dined in style, and enjoyed American-influenced entertainment of a cheer-leading dance show style, by the gym's fitness intsructors during pudding. Very enjoyable. I even took a video with my camera which i'll put on YouTube on Saturday if I can!
Yuki actually deserves a bigger name drop than 'Richard'. She might not be famous outside of the world of compartive studies of Scandanvian, Japanese and American care systems, and feminism conferences in Tokyo and Osaka.. .... and maybe some certain drinking establishments in Kyoto and Oxford and Stockholm... but that's pretty cool to me and I'm very proud of her. I have only featured in the latter one so its all good :-) Plus her and her family are very kind to me which always is a winner!
Now...
I did well in my tests: Grammer 89%; Reading 82%; Vocabulary 81%, Listening 64%; and Kanji, urgh, 43%. I therefore failed the last one. After christmas we have another test of 300 kanji (the little chinese characters).
My plans for 'fuyui yasumi' (christmas hols from my language school, although not from homework, got tonnes of it!) are holding up remarkably well. Simon and I are praying about whether he could visit me in January for a week or so. It depends on a cheque coming through. But before then, I have a bus ticket booked to Tokyo for Monday, leaving here 10am and arriving there 6pm (a long ride, but cheaper than the train and i'd like to enjoy the scenery en route). Hanae, an old friend, has offered to host me in her room, plus I have lots of dinner arrangements with loads of students I worked with the last two summers, plus some other special individual friends from Oxford days (Japanese friends).
I am off to Shiga ken for christmas day (Yuki has asked to come to our church christmas party on chrstmas eve too, fantastic, and surprising; trying to think whether to invite Rika and/or/neither Mirabelle to join us). Hopefully I'll enjoy a few days away with Hong Yun, a Korean Christian worker here, after that, before New Year. School starts back on 9 January. My birthday has landed on a national holiday here (8 Jan). It is also the day when all the 20 year-olds in Japan celebrate their 'turning of age' by getting together with all their high school friends for parties! therefore all the restaurants will be very busy. my birthday is party day this year!!
God is doing good work in me at the moment. I am being really blessed by now attending a church prayer time on wednesday nights, with Chang Kyu and In Sook. Our Sunday sermons are on being in touch with the Holy Spirit, and this last sunday was on 'silent prayer' (Forrester book esp). God spoke to me, and He is being just great. I am looking forward to walking with him over the next few months, and I am not there yet, but want him to be my very best friend.
Tonight, before I got to the hotel, a lady in a drink shop shoo-ed me off her pavement outside like I was a stray dog. I was sheltering there from the rain, with my bike, unsure which way to go, trying to study my map. If I hadn't been made aware of God's view of me it would have upset me. As it was, I wished she wouldn't have that attitude, however I still felt joyful inside. I am grateful for people like Debi Bartlotti (yeh, I had an email from her today!) and Naomi Gray who have helped to show me that God views us as special and that being 'in him' in this way affects our whole attitude. Long may it grow.
posted by Henrietta at
11:46 pm
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