We leave tomorrow for our first trip "home." Feeling a mixture of emotions, I emailed some of the dear believers who have been in similar shoes as I am. God is amazing--within a few hours I had many encouraging emails and one phone call. I feel like I have three homes here on God's Earth, but I find more and more, that I long for the Heavenly Home where we can be free of trials, saddness, parting, etc. I guess the only emotions we will feel there is love and joy! We will be perfect in His Love! Anyway, we would appreciate prayers for a safe and blessed trip! We have many things to do in the 10 days--find a new house sitter, pack up the rest of our belongings (50 pounds in a suitcase doesn't seem like very much when you are moving!), attend many Thanksgivings and family functions, and host Akihiro's parents who will be joining us for part of the time. It will be great to see my family--how quickly the little ones change!
I took my camera with me to Yamanashi this time and took a few pictures. The crisp cool mornings allow for great views of the Japan Alps and even Mt. Fuji at times. The leaves are just starting to get pretty, but I am afraid we will miss most of the beauty as we will be in the States. Lord willing, we will enjoy it next year! Many of the streets are lined with the same kinds of trees--one street has yellow ginko, another red maples, another graceful weeping willows!
You will see pictures of our second home--the Tokiwa Hotel--where we have been staying 1-3 nights a week. We feel quite at home there, actually. We are making friends with the very friendly staff there. A few of them speak a little English! I told Akihiro the other day that I could get paid for being entertainment in the onsen. Especially the little old ladies like to look at my blond hair when I am drying it. I can tell they don't want to stare, so I try to look away so they can get a good look. Then when I stand up, they can't get over how tall I am. I try to talk a little bit of Japanese to them--"My husband is Japanese...I am American.... I don't speak Japanese well.... Do you speak English?" that's about all I can say. They try a little more Japanese to me, but it doesn't work, so we bow to eachother and say Oyasumi Na Sai (Not sure on that spelling--but "Good night") and go on our way. There is also a picture of the boardwalk lining a small stream that we can walk/jog on each day. They say it will be beautiful in the spring as the trees on each side are cherry trees! I will hopefully get more pictures next time--our room was a mess when I got the camera out and I had a dead battery at breakfast!
Akihiro had his first challenge with Japanese standards of medicine at the nursing home this week. It is amazing to see how much they use the specialist and the family doctor doesn't get a lot of opportunity for treatment. Please pray for him that he would handle these situations wisely! You will see the picture of him in his office and picture of the nursing home.
I've enjoyed spending time with Lois and Willis (when he's not teaching) after I drop Akihiro off at work. We both enjoy working in the yard and garden and have nice visits! Yesterday she went with me to pick up my Rules of the Road book. I need to take my driving test soon--yikes! We also got my Japanese book so I can study on the plane. I will be starting lessons the first week in December-- an hour and a half each Monday. She showed me two grocery stores and I hit the jackpot--bags of nuts, cornmeal, coconut that contain more than a handful! (My store only sells tiny packages of these things!) As Willis says, "I had never seen such a great day in all my born life!" (They both are a great encouragement and example to us!)
Oh no, there's the dreaded doorbell! That most likely means someone who can speak very little English.....
Well, this time it was a man with a map. I can't figure out what he wants, so thankfully I could get Akihiro on his phone and it got all taken care of! Wheww!