Aaaaaaaaaaaand, the rainy season (tsu yu) started today!  Yippee!  🙂  Aren’t you excited?  I’m sooooooo not excited!  I had to travel to Kawanaka for my classes today, and so being in the train was alright, but walking to and from the train stations were no fun.  The rainy season will continue from now until the end of July, so this will be wonderful.  There are a lot of great books here and I have things to paint (legitimate things to paint) and a craft store somewhat close-by, so I can get some more cross-stitching.

  Other than that, this week has been pretty eventful.  My uncle Tom finally went home to be with Jesus on Monday (4:30a EST).  I don’t know all the circumstances, but I am much relieved that he is no longer suffering.  I hurt for his absence from our family, but he’s in a much better place.  It was nice the way someone put it on the blogsite they had set up for him, “In 56 short years, Tom finished everything that God had set before him.”  He really ran his race, and he ran it well.  I can only hope that just a portion of that could be said of me too when my time comes.  Every now and then I get an image in my mind of uncle Tom sitting at Jesus’ feet with his big smile on his face, just listening to Him.  It’s comforting.  Pray for the family as the arrangements are made, and through the ceremony, and then the weeks/months to come without him there.  It’s almost surreal, considering I’m so far away, but I also think I’ve been going through my grief for him throughout the last two months, and so I’m at a different stage at this moment. 

  Besides this, the week has and will be, pretty much, all in preparation for my birthday on Saturday.  Last night, Tues, Mika gave me a yellow rose (sooooo wonderful.  I don’t care for roses a ton, but yellow ones make up for it!), a fan, and a cheesecake! 🙂  Also, her mom sent some photo albums, they are step-by-step photos of how to put on a yukata, just in case I forget…now I have a flip-book, almost.  🙂  It is sweet.  I can’t wait to finish this cross-stitch for her.  I want her to know how much I appreciate everything that she has done for me.  Tonight, my students brought a ton of treats…too many, I had to leave some in the church frig because we couldn’t eat them all…and Miwa (the woman I painted the shelf for) gave me a Japanese handbag.  Ok, it’s actually a piece of finished fabric that you fold certain ways and then tie the corners together to make a carrier for whatever kind of item you want.  You can tie books, small boxes, a watermelon, and even two wine bottles inside of it.  She was so excited about it, and wanted me to know that she can’t make anything with her hands, but this was almost as good.  Hah.  There’s something about receiving gifts and then being obligated to give back something about 60% the value of the first gift.  I’m not completely sure on the percentage, but that obligation is real, and I’ll have to keep that in mind with the birthday gifts I give.  Misa, my 8pm student, gave me a small pot with three different kinds of cacti…I’m going to call them Larry, Bob, and Alfred…because they look a lot like the Veggietales characters. 🙂 

I think that’s about it.  On another note (literally), I found this CD that is probably the epitome of amazing.  One, it is the Cincy Symphony.  Two, it is conducted by Paavo Jarvi.  And three, it is all PROKOFIEV!  My fave composer.  And not JUST Prokofiev, but Symphony No.5 AND the Lieutenant Kije Suite, with the wonderful “Romance” and “Troika”.  I want it, I want it badly.  I’m waiting to decide if I reeeeeally need it.  It is great.  Here’s a link to it.  Enjoy. 🙂  Goodnight.

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