2004-03-23

Got an unexpected help today. Turns out that a friend of mine from Loma Linda is working here at the college! Rutsuko Kinjo, who was attending the Loma Linda Japanese Church when I was working there, is here (I think) in the Nursing dept. Not only that, she lives in the apartment right next door! She brought over a box of fruits for me this evening, which I really appreciated. Check that--a box of fruit was EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED. It's good to know that someone else I know is here. I enjoyed seeing the Yamajis on Sabbath, and now Rutsuko is my neighbor. Things are looking up for my stay here already...

Of course, this was balanced out by me thinking about the upcoming challenges and wondering just how I'll make it. I was checking out some websites having to do with teaching ESL, and only made myself feel really inadequate. I know NOTHING about any of this stuff! I somewhat countered this by reading the book of Philippians in my evening devotionals. I centered the talk I gave at WWC on this book, and 4:13 is the text that's been running through my mind all month whenever I'd feel overwhelmed by the pressures of moving. I like the translation "I can face all things through him who gives me strength" and that's what I'm clinging to right now. So far, it's been cold, I feel very much like a stranger in a strange land, and food is just hugely expensive. Now I have to start thinking about this upcoming school year and what I'm going to be doing and I have no idea what I'm doing. But check it out--Paul said he knew the secret to being well-fed or going hungry, of having plenty or being in need. And I know that secret too. It's the same thing that will allow me to persevere in good times and bad, whether I'm loved or hated here, whether my students do well or fail. I can face anything through the one who gives me strength. He's done some things for me in the past few months that are nothing short of miraculous--obstacles and problems and annoyances pop up and I wonder how I'm going to get through them, and one by one, just in time, those things have all gotten knocked down and I've just walked through a big hole right here to Japan. As long as he's going in front of me, knocking down those obstacles in due time, I can face anything. Bring it on.

Oh man. I just saw the WEIRDEST COMMERCIAL I'VE EVER SEEN. I think it was for a car body-repair shop. Anyway, this super-attractive Japanese woman comes out of a mall and heads back to her car, where a woodpecker (!) is perched on the side pounding away at her door. It's already left a huge dent and is still working on it. She screams something in Japanese and the woodpecker looks up, and THE WOODPECKER HAS A MAN'S HEAD. I am so not kidding about that. A man's head with a goofy beak on his mouth. The woodpecker-man flies away and the woman stomps her foot. Thankfully, she takes the car to whatever car-body shop is advertised, they work their magic, and she's shown at the end of the commerical doing this happy dance. The woodpecker-man flies overhead, dejected.

Don't you wish you were here too?