The Heat is Just Getting Started!

July has begun!
The swiftness with which June passed away is startling. It is almost as if it all happened in one night!

Of course, I lived out every one of those 30 days. If I think about it then I'll remember all the long train rides I spent with my nose in Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. I remember that I cleaned Nishiachi school with Yoshiko and Tim; then I went karaoke with Yumiko. I remember that I went to see X-men: The First Generation with Laura, and how we had to trek 3km at the midnight hour to her apartment because we didn't know how to call for a taxi. Seeing fireflies with Sumika was also memorable and it was lovely how they seemed to gather as we sang to them. Of course, I remember sing in the Gospel Festival on Father's Day! I recall going to karaoke with Yoko, my student. Last Saturday I went to a birthday party. Sunday I spent the whole day with Tim and Sumika: going to church at Crossroads Church in Okayama, eating the Ben & Jerry's 31 "3 scoops for 2 scoops" deal, stopping in at the Lupicia Darjeeling Tea Festival and tasting 60 different teas, going to AEON for shopping and supper, and finally attending the English Bible Study at the Okas' home.

This past Wednesday, I visited Matsue with my Japanese instructor and her husband. It was a hot and sunny day. We dined on Japanese food and took a boat ride tour of the city center. There's an Anglican Church right along the moat. It's in a great location to attract visitors, which is important for a Christian church in Japan. We also visited the Lafcadio Hearn (or Koizumi Yakumo) Memorial Museum and former residence. Hearn was a writer from Europe who married a Japanese woman. He wrote lots of ghost stories and is a well-known horror writer in Japan.

To kick off July: on Sunday, Agape is having a Fourth of July Picnic. I'm excited!!!