rain rain i love you!

Well, the rainy season is here in full force! I'm learning a lot, especially today. I learned that I only have one "good" pair of shoes to wear in the rain, and they just soak up the water within the first 5 minutes so at least I'm expecting it. I learned I'm no good with umbrellas; I kept dumping the water on me. I think I get bored with holding it. I also learned that my umbrella has a hole in it... oh well. Good thing I like the rain! I also learned that rain is amazing and makes things very beautiful. It must be why Japan is so green! It is also amazing because it cools everything down. 2 days ago it was SO hot that we just wanted to go hangout in the cafeteria because it was air-conditioned, and now I just want to go outside instead of being in our apartment! It's funny how things workout. Guess the grass is always greener, aye?

Yesterday Rob and Kyle (my American teammates from Kansas) were invited to go bowling with their friend from the pizza place, Bunsho. He wanted to bring his girlfriend, Misato, so we were invited as well. SO fun!!! Misato prefers to walk than ride bikes, so I had a walking friend :) We bowled 3 games and it was really fun! Bunsho's 2 friends came, and they were just a hoot. One was rather shy, and the other guy kept calling him "serious". I think the translation is derogatory, because he would crack up and point and laugh whenever he called him serious. Finally we got him to say he wasn't serious, just warming up and practicing. After the games, we went in this big booth thing for fun pictures! I forget what they called it, but it was sort of like a carnival picture booth- all 8 of us crammed in and would rotate places, making different faces, with different backgrounds for each picture. Afterwards, you could draw and write on the pictures before they printed them. I'll have to show you once I get back to the States :) Then, we all went to an AMAZING Japanese bbq place! It was traditional-style seating (which means we 3 long-legged creatures were changing positions every 2 minutes). There were little grills in the middle of each table, and they would bring out places of raw chicken and pork, and you cook it yourself. You dip it in sauce before you eat it... oh my word, it was SO good! The 4 of them usually work part-time jobs on the weekends and Bunsho and his lady work Thursday nights, but hopefully we'll get to see more of them. Misato emailed me this morning inviting me to her apartment, so that's really exciting! I'm hoping she can find some time for me, but she is very busy, going to school full-time AND working 2 part-time jobs. That's how they do here in Japan. They're either crazy or just REALLY hardworking! Maybe both.
Anyway, did I mention that I rode a bike last week? Yeah, once. For those of you who don't know, I don't actually know how to ride a bicycle... I was a broken child who turned into a pre-teen with bad knees, then a teenagers post-knee surgery. I rode once when I was in Japan in 2005, but that was out in the mountain countryside (and I almost died the death of a sign, but that's another story). It scares me to ride here because it is so crowded, it is busy, and I have seen 4 accidents now! No one gets hurt, miraculously enough, but still! Knowing me, I would be the one person to get hurt. Haha anyway, I feel kind of left out because I still haven't been to the guys' apartment, and I can't go anywhere quickly. The walks are nice because I can work on memorizing my verses (we're doing one a day from the TMS, yayy), but I know Meg is getting frustrated with me for not knowing. Please pray that we would have wisdom, that I would have safety and courage (and knowledge of how to ride a bike!) but especially balance-- something I seem to be severely lacking. BEST club tonight, and Kazu and ChiHiro (the girl pictured above) are coming. Please pray for the discussion and their hearts!