4/27
Imaimaimabaaaari!
It's really a good feeling to still be called "saiko" (which means #1,
basically. Not to be confused with the English "psycho"). This week,
we are slowly and steadily (as in, fast enough to get whiplash) easing
(diving) into electronic records! What this means is that we have to take
all of our paper records, type them by hand, and edit them for privacy.
This means that we cannot include any--ANY--direct references to ethic,
religious, financial, sexual, or health background. I understand and appreciate
the reason for this. Once the records are electronic, everyone in the bishopric
will be able to see the dirty details of the lives of our investigators (not that
any of them have any dirty details—thank heavens). Some things are just
for the missionaries and the missionaries only. Each record takes about an
hour to do. Sooo... between our records (which are many), cleaning the very
dirty apartment, and allergy season, things have been very exciting in Imabari.
F. Shimai's been a little stressed (as the nihonjin companion,
she's had to bear the brunt of everything--contract signing, apartment
closing, updating the records of the Before Sands Shimai era), but
she's handling it really well.
By the way, I'm very sad to say that F. Shimai
has a, like, 99.9% probability of transferring next transfer. TT_TT
She's been here for four transfers. As I've been looking through the
records, I noticed that not a single sister for the past year or so,
has managed to stay in Imabari for more than two transfers. Few have
stayed in Imabari for more than one. That should tell you what kind of
an amazing missionary F. Shimai is.
We've been eating out a lot to get out of the apartment (and now I can
recognize a lot more menu kanji ;D) but we've slowly started to ease
our way back in. (Eating a lot of rice, bread and miso soup. Me:
*about to get in the shower* ... *steps on scale* ...-_-||| (Not
really mom, I've done a really good job of maintaining my pre-mission
weight. Don't worry.) But we really have been eating a lot of rice,
bread, and miso soup.) And we haven't had much time to dendo (Not
having the apartment clean makes my douryou/companion stressed. Not
dendoing/sharing the gospel makes me stressed.), but we've had a very
exciting Sunday to make up for the week.
It began in our English Old Testament class (that I and Sister W.
teach :D).Then I got to play with K-C, who is the most ADORABLE Asian
baby that I have ever seen. I've seen a good deal of adorable babies during
my stay in Japan. This one takes the cake. I have a picture, but the picture
does not do her justice. She was being held by H-C, and decided she
wanted to be held by the blond onee-san who was making faces at her
(yours truly). But missionaries cannot hold children, which is probably
the most resented rule in any Asian mission, so H-C put her on
the floor. Then she stands up on her little pudgy legs and fists my
skirt at my knees and just stares at me. (She's a very well-tempered
child because she knows that if she stares at someone long enough,
she'll get literally anything she wants. It's a little like Kaa the
snake from the Jungle Book.)
Me: I want to. I REALLY want to, but I can't.
Her: *staaaare*
Heart: *shrivelling*
Her: *staaaaaaaare*
Me: *voice of pain* Here. Take my keys. *hands keys*
Her: *takes keys* *placated* *sits down and begins shaking the keys*
So that was really fun. And we had a whole day outside the apartment
scheduled with a lot of biking. We have to bike a lot more in Imabari
than Okayama, but it feels shorter in Imabari. Anyways, we hopped on
our bikes and began our trip to the first destination. Once or twice
we chatted with people when we were stopped at intersections, be it in
the city or on the dirt roads, and that was fun. Then, as we got more
toward the city area, "Konnichiwa"ing (“Hello-ing”) every passerby
Us: biking along, “Konnichiwa!”
*to the flowers, the cars, the obaasan, the corporate buildings, the flowers,
some guy on a bike*
The guy on a bike: *has just dismounted and looks at us as we're riding
away* Kirisutokkyo? (Christians?)
Us: *SCREEEEEEECH* *turn to look at him*
Him: *walks over to us* “Are you Christians? Where's your church?”
FS: “Our church is a little far. It's about twenty minutes—“
Him: “I'm a little busy right now, so I can't talk but,” looks at the
map on the back of the chirashi, “I'll be there next time.” *walks off*
Us: still not entirely sure what's going on, but very normally, “Okay,
bye”. *push off* ... ... *whirrs and clicks as the "Rationality" sector
of our brains tries to process what happened*
Later, we were waiting for a light, and I saw a pair of elderly people.
Me: Konnichiwa!
FS: Konnichiwa :)
Them: *keep walking*
Me: “Ii tenki, desu ne.” :D
Woman: *stops* *rushes over to me* *practically seizes upon me* *in
Japanese* “Oh my gosh, you're so good at Japanese! That's incredible! I
took English in highschool and a little in college--
Me: *lost*
FS: *smiling and nodding* "We teach a free eikaiwa." (English class)
Me: *smiles and nods*
Her:" Oh, no, I live in *insert place here*"
FS: "We have one there, too." *hands chirashi*
Her: "What? No way!" *looks us square in the face* “Ikou.” (I'll
go--pretty strong decisional word.) *walks off*
Us: "Okay, bye." *push off* ... *more whirrs and clicks*
Later, we were coming back from somewhere, and we were stopped at a light.
Guy on the motorcycle behind me: "Mormon?"
Me: "!Hai, Morumon desu. Have you heard of us before?"
Him:" Yeah, I have." *light turns* "Good luck/Work hard/See you later." *goes off*
Us: "Okay, bye." *push off*
Me: ... ... ... WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!
And I was bestowed a gift by a legitimate tsundere. It's used to describe someone who's really cold on the outside and acts like they hate the world and the people in it, but on the inside they really just want friends and a warm hug. I seriously just thought they were in manga.
They are not just in manga. She's really funny--shouts her Japanese really slowly when I don't understand her. It's really helpful. I kind of wish everyone did it.
So, Sunday was very exciting. I'm still trying to understand what
happened. Well, please pray for these people, and that we'll keep
having exciting days.
Earlier in the week, we got a sales guy at our apartment, which was
hilarious, because he was trying to sell a tv? Cable service?
Something like that, and F. Shimai, who really sympathizes with
those people, had a nice conversation with him.
Him: *gives his pitch*
FS: I'm sorry, I don't think we need it. We don't have a tv.
Him: Oh, you just moved in/Do you have space for a tv/something like that.
FS: We don't watch tv.
Him: ... *a little confused and surprised* *says something like "Oh,
it works with a computer."
FS: We don't have WiFi.
Him: (something about installation services?)
FS: I'm sorry, we don't use the internet. We don't have a computer.
Him: ... *visibly torn between surprise, shock, and disbelief* *says
goodbye* *leaves*
Me: *busts up laughing*
FS: ?! Nani? Nani?
Oh, and I cut my hair. Actually, N. Shimai did it for me. I
really, really like it. I feel liberated. The only downside is that
there is this singular lock of hair that keeps flipping the opposite
way. The rest of my hair stays put when I go to sleep, but that one
piece...
But not to worry, the Fantastic F.-shimai's got my back ;D She's
really the best thing since sliced bread.
She's really amazing. I really, REALLY love her.
Wow, two weeks, then I get to speak with the fam (for Mother’s Day) again.
Crazy.
She's been here for four transfers. As I've been looking through the
records, I noticed that not a single sister for the past year or so,
has managed to stay in Imabari for more than two transfers. Few have
stayed in Imabari for more than one. That should tell you what kind of
an amazing missionary F. Shimai is.
We've been eating out a lot to get out of the apartment (and now I can
recognize a lot more menu kanji ;D) but we've slowly started to ease
our way back in. (Eating a lot of rice, bread and miso soup. Me:
*about to get in the shower* ... *steps on scale* ...-_-||| (Not
really mom, I've done a really good job of maintaining my pre-mission
weight. Don't worry.) But we really have been eating a lot of rice,
bread, and miso soup.) And we haven't had much time to dendo (Not
having the apartment clean makes my douryou/companion stressed. Not
dendoing/sharing the gospel makes me stressed.), but we've had a very
exciting Sunday to make up for the week.
It began in our English Old Testament class (that I and Sister W.
teach :D).Then I got to play with K-C, who is the most ADORABLE Asian
baby that I have ever seen. I've seen a good deal of adorable babies during
my stay in Japan. This one takes the cake. I have a picture, but the picture
does not do her justice. She was being held by H-C, and decided she
wanted to be held by the blond onee-san who was making faces at her
(yours truly). But missionaries cannot hold children, which is probably
the most resented rule in any Asian mission, so H-C put her on
the floor. Then she stands up on her little pudgy legs and fists my
skirt at my knees and just stares at me. (She's a very well-tempered
child because she knows that if she stares at someone long enough,
she'll get literally anything she wants. It's a little like Kaa the
snake from the Jungle Book.)
Me: I want to. I REALLY want to, but I can't.
Her: *staaaare*
Heart: *shrivelling*
Her: *staaaaaaaare*
Me: *voice of pain* Here. Take my keys. *hands keys*
Her: *takes keys* *placated* *sits down and begins shaking the keys*
So that was really fun. And we had a whole day outside the apartment
scheduled with a lot of biking. We have to bike a lot more in Imabari
than Okayama, but it feels shorter in Imabari. Anyways, we hopped on
our bikes and began our trip to the first destination. Once or twice
we chatted with people when we were stopped at intersections, be it in
the city or on the dirt roads, and that was fun. Then, as we got more
toward the city area, "Konnichiwa"ing (“Hello-ing”) every passerby
Us: biking along, “Konnichiwa!”
*to the flowers, the cars, the obaasan, the corporate buildings, the flowers,
some guy on a bike*
The guy on a bike: *has just dismounted and looks at us as we're riding
away* Kirisutokkyo? (Christians?)
Us: *SCREEEEEEECH* *turn to look at him*
Him: *walks over to us* “Are you Christians? Where's your church?”
FS: “Our church is a little far. It's about twenty minutes—“
Him: “I'm a little busy right now, so I can't talk but,” looks at the
map on the back of the chirashi, “I'll be there next time.” *walks off*
Us: still not entirely sure what's going on, but very normally, “Okay,
bye”. *push off* ... ... *whirrs and clicks as the "Rationality" sector
of our brains tries to process what happened*
Later, we were waiting for a light, and I saw a pair of elderly people.
Me: Konnichiwa!
FS: Konnichiwa :)
Them: *keep walking*
Me: “Ii tenki, desu ne.” :D
Woman: *stops* *rushes over to me* *practically seizes upon me* *in
Japanese* “Oh my gosh, you're so good at Japanese! That's incredible! I
took English in highschool and a little in college--
Me: *lost*
FS: *smiling and nodding* "We teach a free eikaiwa." (English class)
Me: *smiles and nods*
Her:" Oh, no, I live in *insert place here*"
FS: "We have one there, too." *hands chirashi*
Her: "What? No way!" *looks us square in the face* “Ikou.” (I'll
go--pretty strong decisional word.) *walks off*
Us: "Okay, bye." *push off* ... *more whirrs and clicks*
Later, we were coming back from somewhere, and we were stopped at a light.
Guy on the motorcycle behind me: "Mormon?"
Me: "!Hai, Morumon desu. Have you heard of us before?"
Him:" Yeah, I have." *light turns* "Good luck/Work hard/See you later." *goes off*
Us: "Okay, bye." *push off*
Me: ... ... ... WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!
And I was bestowed a gift by a legitimate tsundere. It's used to describe someone who's really cold on the outside and acts like they hate the world and the people in it, but on the inside they really just want friends and a warm hug. I seriously just thought they were in manga.
They are not just in manga. She's really funny--shouts her Japanese really slowly when I don't understand her. It's really helpful. I kind of wish everyone did it.
So, Sunday was very exciting. I'm still trying to understand what
happened. Well, please pray for these people, and that we'll keep
having exciting days.
Earlier in the week, we got a sales guy at our apartment, which was
hilarious, because he was trying to sell a tv? Cable service?
Something like that, and F. Shimai, who really sympathizes with
those people, had a nice conversation with him.
Him: *gives his pitch*
FS: I'm sorry, I don't think we need it. We don't have a tv.
Him: Oh, you just moved in/Do you have space for a tv/something like that.
FS: We don't watch tv.
Him: ... *a little confused and surprised* *says something like "Oh,
it works with a computer."
FS: We don't have WiFi.
Him: (something about installation services?)
FS: I'm sorry, we don't use the internet. We don't have a computer.
Him: ... *visibly torn between surprise, shock, and disbelief* *says
goodbye* *leaves*
Me: *busts up laughing*
FS: ?! Nani? Nani?
Oh, and I cut my hair. Actually, N. Shimai did it for me. I
really, really like it. I feel liberated. The only downside is that
there is this singular lock of hair that keeps flipping the opposite
way. The rest of my hair stays put when I go to sleep, but that one
piece...
But not to worry, the Fantastic F.-shimai's got my back ;D She's
really the best thing since sliced bread.
She's really amazing. I really, REALLY love her.
Wow, two weeks, then I get to speak with the fam (for Mother’s Day) again.
Crazy.
Can't wait ;D
Shidonii Sanzu Shimai
Shidonii Sanzu Shimai
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