Originally published on 29 May 2006. This blog post is part of a larger series about my first ever trip abroad to Japan!

Kon-nitchiwa once again! I have a big week ahead of me, and I thought of some things to tell y’all before I start in on the big travels.
First of all, I love getting questions, so please, ask away! I’d love to answer any questions you may have. I thought of a couple more things about school. We all know the game “Telephone,” right? Well, for one of the classes the first week, we were supposed to play this game called “Chinese Whisper.” The girls I work with looked at me kinda funny when I asked what it was, and when they explained it, I said, “Oh, Telephone.” They looked at me funny again, and I explained that it’s the same thing, we just call it something different.

It was the same thing with “Jankin,” which for Americans is Rock, Paper, Scissors! Only they say “Rock, Scissors, Paper.” It’s played a little different, and it’s too complicated to explain on e-mail. Here’s an explanation.

Some of my duties besides preparing lessons, teaching, and reception include cutting out papers, making square edges round (for safety’s sake?), putting double-sided tape on various things, coloring, making copies, etc. I have to say I think I like that stuff better than the teaching and lesson planning. It’s organization, which most of you know is my favorite thing!

Oh, one plus of the job is the free food! Sometimes the students bring “souveniers” if they’ve been on a trip somewhere. It’s usually just junk food stuff, but the other day a lady who owns a catering business brought samples of new things she was trying. It was pretty good! And Mrs. Koda brings some kind of treat once a week from one of the many bakeries around here. We had huge cream puffs with pudding one week, assorted cakes once, and last week we got “Jellees,” which are basically fancy jell-o.

The Kodas have been so wonderful to us. They’re in their 50s or 60s, I think, and they sort of see us as temporary grandkids. That’s fine with me! They call to check on us every once in a while, too, which I appreciate, especially with riding back to the apartment on the bike at night.

Yesterday, Yuri, Anna, Mami, and I went to this place called “Sushi Lo.” (Lo is a common boy’s name, so I think the equivalent of this would be “Burger Bob’s” in America!) Anyway, I tried shellfish, salmon eggs, flatfish (wich I think is flounder), eggso fish (?), purple shrimp, sea urchin (the only one I didn’t care for), yellowtail, a sweet potato dessert (which had the consistency of cake, actually), and a few other things I’ve had before. Yes, I overate, but we don’t have this stuff back home! We should deinitely invest in a Sushi Bob’s over there, though!

Well, I think that’s it for now. One of these days I’ll give you an inside look at a day in the life over here, but probably not for a little while. I’ll be going to Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo this week, so I’m sure I’ll have several adventures to tell you about! I don’t know if any of you are getting tired of the enormous e-mails, but I’m really having fun writing them. I got a digital camera yesterday, so hopefully there will be more pictures soon!

Thanks so much for the e-mails and prayers. Especially the prayers. I’ll need them with my travels this week. I’ve never taken a train by myself, and I’m just a little nervous about it since I can’t read any signs! God is so good. He’s providing more than I knew I needed. He’s so good about that. I love y’all! Quick Whit