Japanese Drivers License, Check

This isn't going to be the longest of posts but because it's a milestone I thought it'd be good to do so.

So...

WE GOT OUR JAPANESE DRIVERS LICENSE!!!!

I wish I knew what it said!

Before we moved here Carmon and I had the sense to go and get an international drivers permit at our local tag agency. It's good for up to a year in a ton of different countries and it only costs us $15 each. Come to find out, that permit was only good for foreigners without residency in Japan, and after three months it became invalid.

Well, you all know how much we love riding our bikes through frigid Japanese winters or scorching 100 degree summers wearing that good ol' breathable suit and tie, but we went ahead and decided to make our future travel endeavors a bit more comfortable.

Gonna miss that fresh air. 

The process for foreigners getting a Japanese license might sound overwhelming (and it can be). However, we've had a very fortunate experience. For Japanese people, they get their license after a very long, exhaustive and expansive process that can end up costing three months time and easily over a thousand dollars. Yikes!

Thankfully for us, the process is much less taxing. 

First we had to get our Oklahoma License translated into Japanese. That took the better half of the morning waiting at the Japanese equivalent to a DMV. This was only possible for us to manage because we had a good friend (Sasha) from Mito Church help with the whole ordeal. 

Thank You Sasha!

Once finished with that we had to go to a separate place to get proof of our residency in Mito. Again, only possible with Sasha's help.

Thank You Sasha!

One week later, after the paper work had been processed, Carmon and I made our way to the place where we actually would take three tests - A written test (in English), the actual driving exam (not so much English), and then the super difficult eye exam where I struggle to recall the Japanese words for green, blue, red and yellow. Once more, all this was possible with the help of our super-awesome, servant-hearted, bilingual friend. 

Thank You Sasha!

It was an all day process but we got all the paper work turned in in the morning, took the written test, ate a bento, then took the drivers exam. I don't know how it was for you but in Oklahoma we take the actual driving exam on actual roads. In Mito, there's a meticulous course that is already made up and you must memorize it. Here's the layout:

Jyu & Ni!

Thankfully for us, we had spent a good amount of time practicing on Japan roads prior to the test.
First off, you drive on the complete opposite side of the street and on the opposite side of the car as well. I'd always wondered how difficult that would be to do, but really once you spend some time in the car and on the roads the switch comes naturally. Three of our friends took Carmon and I out to get some experience with driving and practice for the test. (Thank you Seth, Mary Margaret, & Annalisa!!!) Apparently, most AET's have to take the test two or three times before they pass so we were fortunate to get it on our first try.

Now that the hard part is out of the way we can look forward to buying a car!

Choices, choices, choices...

More adventures to come...

5 days with the Chancey's.

Like Carmon's previous post said, It's summer right now and unlike the States- teachers in Japan are required to come to school year round. So as of lately, I've been busy trying to find ways to get busy.

My desk in the teachers room. 

Keeping busy isn't all I've been doing though. Last week, Carmon and I took some time off to travel a bit. To be honest, I kind of had a crappy attitude about the whole thing at first. You see, right now, all of our fellow AET's are returning back from their summer getaways. They've all gone to places like Cambodia, Thailand, Bali, Hong Kong, Hawaii and Germany, while the two of us settled on Tokyo, because some friends were coming to Japan. Tokyo in and of itself is awesome, right? But when everybody else is getting out of Nippon then Tokyo becomes just Tokyo. So I pouted.

"Agh, there's NOTHING to do here!" 

Eventually I put things into perspective and thought,
"How awesome is life when trips to Tokyo seem casual?" 
I mean, I'm an Okie... Tokyo to me is as exotic as Oprah to a Best Western. It's just an odd pairing ya know?
Anyway, my point is, Tokyo is awesome. It's the largest city in the world and there's no way I could ever exhaust what it has to offer. Once I made up my mind we'd just go have fun and explore, we found out that our friends didn't want to stay in Tokyo, but travel around a bit! So here is a summary of our vacation with Dudley and Vicki Chancey.

Meet the Chanceys. 

Dudley Chancey was one of our Bible professors at OC. I had him once for Intro to Ministry my freshman year and Carmon had him for a Gerontology class. If you're an avid follower of the blog (you are) then you'll recall this post where I talk a bit more about the man. 

I can't tell you as much about Vicki. This past week was the first time we ever really spent together but she's a wonderful woman and Carmon and I had fun hanging out with her. 

And sleeping, too.

First on our agenda was Japanese baseball at the Tokyo Dome. 

(Quick FYI, the Tokyo Dome, aka the "Big Egg," is the largest roofed baseball stadium in the world.) 

Now, I knew from college that Dudley was a sports fan, but to stop there would be an injustice. This guy has been to every pro baseball stadium in the States and this wasn't his first time to see Japan League Ball either (He and Vicki have visited Japan multiple times).  The night's game was coincidentally Japan's biggest rivalry matchup - the Tokyo Giants vs the Hanshin Tigers. 

I never did find out which team was which.

The downside of big rivalries is that sometimes you're forced to get less than ideal seats- like standing room only. Even so, we had a good time, and I got to witness the most hostile confrontation between two Japanese people yet! It consisted of a Giants fan telling a Tigers fan to go stand on his side of the stadium.
And that was that.

The Tigers won it 6-0 and before we left Carmon and I bought some sweet merchandise. 

After the game none of us really had any plans, so Carmon and I suggested going to Shibuya Station to show the Chancey's the world's largest intersection. It's quite the sight to see. Neither of them had ever been. 

     CLICK ME

With only 13 "likes" it's not my best instavideo.
But seriously, 13?
It should've at least broken 18.
I'd even say 20.
But 13?
The camera panning to the right was SO smooth.
Please follow me. 

Next, we decided to go check out Takeshita Street, which supposedly hosts a ton of weird Japanese fashions, but ended up being a bit underwhelming. Maybe it's too hot for them to dress up in their weird outfits. Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure Vicki found her new favorite shopping place.

Since the Chancey's have been here several times already they're over the "We must eat authentic Japanese" phase, which was fine with us. So, soon after Takeshita Street we stopped by some random pizza place called Shakey's. 

Days with earthquakes are buy one get one free. 

My experience in Japan thus far has been a relatively pizza-less one. To my dismay, finding a hand tossed (dare I say deep dish) style pizza that resembles something I'd find back home is a difficult and frustrating task. Sure, if I want to pony up $30 I can get something delivered to me that's pretty close to "American style" pizza. But for somebody who ordered Dominoes 3-4 times a month it's just not the same. (On the bright side, I can't help but think there's a correlation between my lack of pizza now and the 20 pounds I've lost since I've been here.)

 Anyway, I say all that to draw this final point: Shakeys was awesome! We had a good ol' Pepperoni Pizza and it was big enough to feed all four of us! The drinks were huge, which, in a place like Japan where refills don't exist, was delightful. Probably the best pizza I've had since, oh... I don't know. 

April 9, 2013

The final stop for the evening was at Sensoji Temple. We got there around 7:30 so there wasn't much of a crowd and most of the vendors selling knick knacks and what-nots were closed for the night. Turns out, I had been here before on my Pacrim study abroad trip in 2010 which led me to sulk in past glories for a while.

Sensoji is Tokyo's oldest and most significant ancient Buddhist temple.  

And this is a very large lantern that I don't understand.

The next morning Carmon and I checked out of our hotel, ate a delicious bakery and then taxi'd to the Chancey's hotel. There was nothing on our agenda for the day so we didn't have any idea what or where we might be going. 

To Sendai!

I've never been, I heard it's beautiful, and there's a festival going on right now. Lets go.

In case you didn't know, Sendai is about 2 hours North of Tokyo by the bullet train. More notably, it's coast was the worst hit area of the 2011 Earthquake/Tsunami. We were too far inland to see any of the devestated area though. I plan on going to do some relief work there eventually. 

The four of us took a bullet train from Tokyo. OC starts back up on the 23rd (I think) and so Dudley would periodically work on next semesters reading assignments during the ride, Carmon and Vicki napped, and I would read or play games on my iPad after booking our hotel for the next two nights, courtesy our handy dandy iphone hotspots. 

I spy ...me! 

Sendai has a professional baseball team- the Rakuten Eagles. So after we arrived, I conjured up all my Japanese language powers to attempt buying us four tickets. This entailed going to the nearest 7/11- because in Japan you can do everything at a 7/11: from ordering professional baseball tickets to paying your utility bills to buying lunch to ice cream. I managed to get the tickets and it was a success. Kind of. Eventually, we had to get other tickets for a sooner game (think 'earlier', not OU) but the Chanceys graciously gave the first set of tickets away to some Japanese people we befriended.  

After dropping off our stuff at the hotel we shopped around and explored a bit. 

Luckily for us, that evening was the beginning of one of Japans largest festivals. The Tanabata (or Star) Festial. It's a tradition of the festival to write wishes on Taneaku paper and hang them around the area.

Check out this J-pop(?) girls group we came across. You might have heard of them, "HAPPY LITTLE DORTHY".  

_NOT AVAILABLE_

And I have to bring up the Octopus Balls. Fried balls with bits of Octopus in them, that is. Maybe not Dudleys favorite quisine. 

TAKOYAKI

The main attraction of the festival was the gianormous firework display. It was an hour and a half long and one of the better firework shows I've seen. Fireworks- "hanabi" in Japan, are really uncomparable to those in the States. They're just ...better. Initially I'd think otherwise. I mean, it's America. Not only do we love seeing things blow up, there's just no better way to showcase our power and pride than a tightly wrapped collection of gunpowder and nitrate streaming through the skies with a dazzling red white and blue burst of glory. Accompanied by it's delayed boom echoing off the rooftops throughout the night.

But the fact is... Japan's fireworks are better. It makes sense when you think about it. America does fireworks twice a year (generally). Japan has some kind of festival or celbration or holiday every month. Not only are fireworks more frequent, they're available anywhere... like at 7/11. Or at the grocery store, or at the family mart or anywhere else lighters are sold. Plus, since the Japanese don't really have a military force they can focus more on making insanely large fireworks in stead. Like this 930lb Godzilla blinker...

"Jim, what did I tell you about cigarrettes?" 

Like I said, the fireworks that night were awesome. It rained for about an hour before the show but cleared up just in time for us to enjoy the sights. 

The next day we spent mostly shopping and walking around Sendai's station.

That evening we had scheduled to go to the Rakuten Eagles game but it was rained out.

Still a fun experience none the less. 

So, in it's stead we went to go grab a Mos Burger, but after having Shakey's none of us were impressed. That night Carmon and Vicki treated themselves to foot massages. No picture necessary. 

Probably the most fun sporadic decision of our trip was to go to Tokyo Disney Land! The Chancey's were leaving soon and they suggested spending the last day at the park. Fine by us! I hadn't ever been to any of the Disney-themed parks before. I've done Universal and Six-flags and Cedar Point (is Frontier City worth mentioning?) but never Disney. 

Today was the day. 

It was Magical. 

 The whole day went smoothly with the exception of a little hiccup waiting in line for our first ride - Space Mountain. We had spent about 50 minutes in line when the ride shut down. They didn't give us any idea when they thought it might be back up and running so we were in that weird place where you've already committed an hour to the line but you risk wasting that time, plus however long you stay, if it doesn't start back up again. We stayed, and in the meantime made small-talk with, Hey, a you're not-Japanese person, too! 

Out of all the lines and rides and places to get stuck in, the four of us landed right by a fellow Okie. Well, he at least went to school in Norman. I gave him the "Boomer Sooner" and he accepted so that's Okie-enough for me. He's been here the past month (I think) traveling Japan and working on his Japanese. I think he was doing international business or something. It was cool running into him, and here of all places. In the course of our conversations he mentioned his dad lived in Minneapolis AND his last name was Piper.  

I slowly began to recall that my beloved theologian/pastor had a son named A-something-Piper... And, John Piper lives is Minneapolis! This guy's name was Alex! 

I thought,
"Could this be? Is this God's sovereign hand guiding the son of John Piper to none other than mine self? Are we gonna become best friends and will I get to hang out with he and his father on the weekends and maybe we could write books together and swing merrily discussing C.S. Lewis and the apostasy of Rob Bell?"

I was nervous. What do I say? "Excuse me, are you John Piper's son?" 

So stupid. I'd feel like an idiot.

Then Dudley asked, "Hey, are you related to 'John Piper'?" 

I Looked at Dudley... Scared. 

I looked at Alex...

I waited for his response...

His reply, able to dictate the fate of my life from then on out...

"No, I don't know him."

I felt like my heart had just been rick-rolled. 

...

Well, Alex was a cool guy anyway. If you're reading this buddy you're free to chill in Mito with us for however long my wife and I are in Japan, even though you're not related to John Piper.   

The ride eventually started back up and I finally got to experience Space Mountain -with shattered dreams of course. 

But seriously, it was awesome. And the rest of the day was just a blast. Super thankful for the Chancey's friendship. 

After space mountain we packed in as much other stuff as possible:

Pirates of the Carribbean

The Jungle Boat Ride and Runaway Mountain

Saw the Castle

Ate some appropriately themed food.

Sat down for the Light parade

Tried to shop- it was a mad house. 

Ya, no thanks!

After the festivities, the four of us took an hour and half train ride towards Narita. We had gotten a hotel near the airport so there wasn't any rush the next morning. Even without lugging kids around, you're kinda pooped after spending a day at any theme park so we hit the hay as soon as we got to our room. 

The next morning was good bye time. :(

The Chancey's had ended this year's journey in Japan and we we're fortunate to be a part of it. Even though we're the one's living here they were the ones treating us that week. Aside from all the general fun things that come from traveling to new places, Carmon and I really got a lot out of just spending time with a Godly couple. We were certainly encouraged and I feel like I've been spurred on to pursue more evangelism. They have that effect on people. We had breakfast that morning, said our goodbyes, and asked God to continue the work that he started. 

And that was that. 

Summer thus far...

Summer began July 23rd. My junior high students did not seem as thrilled as I had expected, but the teachers were relieved to have a change in pace for a few weeks. Summer vacation in Japan isn't at all like summer in the U.S. The teachers still work Monday through Saturday with an exception of 6 days they're given to use as holiday (unless they choose to take nenkyu). The students come to school for half of the day to participate in club activities, and are expected to study when they are not at school. Even so, I think that they still prefer summer over the regular school season.

End of the semester enkai. Nishiwaki Sensei and Otake Sensei.

Since summer began, us AETs have had five days of training at Souken. The training was fun and interesting. A couple days were spent with lectures that have both humbled me and inspired me. I have a new attitude and understanding towards my students. The other days of training were spent outside of Souken to experience Japan culture and get to know each other better. This month, we will make Japanese pottery and also work an English summer camp. I'm looking forward to it.

The few days I have been at school have been a mix of fun and boring, depending on the hour. None of the teachers have anything for me to work on right now, so there are a number of hours where I have nothing to do with my time. I've been spending my time studying the Japanese language and the Japanese drivers license test.

Since we don't have so much work going on at school, a bunch of us teachers were able to spend the day watching our softball team play in the championship games. Our girls kicked butt! They lost the final game, but they played well.

It was cool to be with the teachers in a setting outside of the school without the formality of an enkai. We were cheering for our team and laughing together. (And they laughed at me as I gawked at the big ugly bugs).

Me: "OH MY GOSH! Is that dangerous?"  Him: "No. Beautiful."
(NANI?!!!!!!!!!!)

On other occasions, I've been able to have fresh conversations with teachers that have never spoken to me before. My conversations with the English teachers that I have already befriended have grown more personal and interesting as well. So all in all, summer at school has been fun. Nishiwaki Sensei approached me last week and asked me to help her improve her English. So we took a college English textbook of hers, found an air-conditioned room, and studied for a couple hours. Then we spent the last hour chatting. It was refreshing. I really feel like I'm forming a friendship with her. I hope she feels that way too. I worry that what I see as friendship with my Japanese colleagues is really Japanese hospitality at its best. We will see in time.

Nishiwaki Sensei & I getting that ¥1000 McDonald Burgers
(two Saturdays in a row in July)

After moving to Japan, I had a tough time getting adjusted. In the first few weeks, it didn't seem like the culture shock was ever going to set in. The truth is that it never did. It was culture stress that got me after about a month in. God taught me some wonderful things during that time. I learned about how much weight I put in how others perceive me and that weight caused me to be hesitant in pronouncing my beliefs. God spoke to me about how ministry isn't easy and that it is foolish for me to wallow when my purpose isn't to be liked or 100% accepted, but to share the Gospel. It sounds harsh, but it was sweet to me. It gave me release from all the pressure I was feeling and it gave me hope and faith in God to perform His good works.

Thankfully, Nishiwaki Sensei, Konno Sensei, Mori Sensei, Kominami Sensei, Otake Sensei and Kyoto Sensei have all given me confidence that I can establish some level of relationships among my teachers. And, Interactive Forum showed me how I can connect with my students. This summer, Nishiwaki Sensei told me that a student said the following to her: "Carmon Sensei came here and now my grade is getting better. She practices with me during cleaning time." This was the most encouraging news. To hear that my casual conversations with a student in the hallway has motivated him to practice English and even tell the head English teacher of the school that he grants me the credit for his improved grade.. Wow. It's a good feeling.

 (Left) Mori Sensei (Right) Kyoto Sensei, the vice principle

Overall, I don't know how to truly explain how I have been feeling recently. Everyone was so right in saying that the first three months are the toughest to get through. I was sure that I wouldn't make it here and had severe doubts that I could stay more than a year. But now I have a love for Japan, a love for my teachers and students, and a hope for what connections God can create between us. I have a warmth and contentment resting within my chest. It's so difficult to describe. I am truly happy, and I know it is only by the grace of God. Please continue to pray for the people of Japan. I believe God has so much for them, and I hope that Mason and I can be purposefully minded while we're here.