Chapter 4 Play and Work

6/30/98 Tuesday – On this day, I had another reading lesson with Gerald Buchanan. I’m trying to get him to always associate the right sound with each letter. One helpful item from Miss Susan was a set of alphabet flashcards. Each card has four easy words on the back, so I would read a word and tell Gerald to point to the word I’d said. That way, he can practice recognizing words until he can read them himself.

7/3/98 Friday – This day, I went to Hanna’s house to help revise more of her book. She asked me to correct her errors right in the computer, instead of on paper. I went through one whole chapter and part of another – 32 pages – in four hours. She gave me 3,000 yen (about $30) in payment.

Hanna made some lunch for me while I was there. I had remarked in the car on the way that I don’t care for Japanese food. (Technically, in any given meal of Japanese food, there is something that I really like, and something I find really disgusting.) So Hanna fixed something more to North American tastes – salad. Now, unfortunately, as it happens, I don’t like lettuce or salad dressing either! 

I’m a dreadfully picky eater. Once, a lady at Bible camp observed me turning down seaweed, tofu, radishes, and miso soup, asked wonderingly, “What DOES she eat?”

I felt rather offended and quite sorry for the lady, whom I supposed never to have tasted mashed potatoes, applesauce, or peanut butter. Not included, however, in what I consider “delectable dishes” is the crisp, wholesome vegetable, lettuce. For this one long-nurtured distaste, I have at least a slight excuse, which is as follows:

One bright autumn day, my conscientious mother took her lively little daughter Sharon Rose for a walk through the fallen leaves. She brought to my attention the brilliant colors, the crackling underfoot, the points and curves of the thrilling and wonderful leaves.

Determined to plant in my impressionable young mind just one final bit of information, she told me in an excited tone these fatal words: “And do you know what? We EAT leaves too! Lettuce is a leaf!” 

From that day forward, I have shunned lettuce almost entirely.

Getting back to the present . . . I did eat Hanna’s salad politely. It’s really not half so bad as seaweed. It’s just that I’m not used to the flavor. I think that when we’re visiting people in the States, I’ll try to eat a small portion of salad when it is offered. In that way, hopefully, I’ll overcome my aversion to that horrid leaf known as lettuce.

7/4/98 Saturday – This afternoon, Kanako came over to my house. We made boards covered with cloth and with ribbons criss-crossing them to hang photos on. It’s Mama’s latest craft idea. I made mine with pink fabric, with red and purple flowers spread evenly across its checks.

I explained to Kanako how to be saved using my gospel bracelet. Actually, I had copied out a verse in both English and Japanese to correspond with each colored bead. I told Kanako the meaning of each color and showed her the verse that went with it. I could have just recited most of the verses, but I didn’t trust my memory, and I’m sure Kanako could understand it better by seeing the kanji (written words that convey meaning). 

Kanako said that she would think about what I told her, and that she thought she should learn more about Jesus before believing in Him. I really hope she will become a Christian soon. It’s extremely seldom that I have a chance to give the gospel to someone who will understand me, and who hasn’t already heard it from grown-ups.

I knew that Kanako would listen to me, as a friend her own age (most likely her only friend who knows the gospel), even though she isn’t coming to church. I’m so grateful to God for His giving me the opportunity to tell the wonderful story of His love, although I would have been infinitely more glad if she had accepted His love right away. I do wish the Japanese would be quicker about getting saved once they know how.

Kanako stayed for dinner – cheese steak sandwiches – and then she and Mama and I played some games. We taught Kanako how to play Dutch Blitz, and she did really well at it, staying only one or two cards behind me in most of the rounds. We also played Guesstures (a take-off on charades), which is always fun when you have more than two people to play. It was good practice for Kanako’s English.

7/8/98 Wednesday – This afternoon, I drew my face, looking in a small mirror as I drew. The art teacher at the local Japanese middle school suggested it to me, but I didn’t have time to finish while I was there on Monday. Though it’s only in pencil, the picture looks quite a lot like me. There’s a braid coming over my shoulder, and my head is tilted to the side and slightly down, so that my eyebrows can be seen above my glasses. 

When I compared this recent drawing to one of Mama that I drew a year and a half ago, I think that my drawing has improved. That seems odd, because I’ve hardly drawn at all in that year and a half.

7/12/98 Sunday – I guess I haven’t written anything yet about the new operetta we’re preparing in Pikkoro Drama Club. It’s going to be Jack and the Beanstalk. This afternoon, I went to a rehearsal at the Satogaoka Community Hall. We’ve gotten so everybody knows their lines pretty well for Part One. Now we have to work on the gestures more.  

I have the part of a dairy farmer who lives next door to Jack’s family. He invites Jack’s mother to come work on his farm, but she won’t. The farmer’s wife brags about all the cows that they have and rubs it in that Jack’s family has only one cow that has stopped giving milk. (At least, that’s my impression of the dialogue, but I haven’t yet looked up the words I don’t know on the script.) Yuki (age 15) plays the cow. She’s really funny dancing around and singing, “Moo~~~~~!”

We also practiced two songs with dancing motions that are separate from the play. The songs are: "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" and "Let’s Get in a Circle and Dance." The second song is longer, but there’s a lot of “Oh~~~~~ la, la, la, la, la,” so it wasn’t too hard to memorize all of it.

This time, we’re using striped tubes from Saran-Wrap containers to add interest to the motions. Mrs. T. got everybody to wrap shiny tape around their tubes in three different colors. Let’s Get in a Circle and Dance is hard, because we really do dance in a circle, holding onto the tube of the girl on our left, which is not easy to coordinate when we’re also singing.

7/15/98 Wednesday – The only halfway interesting thing today was when I sorted and put in albums three months’ worth of photos. We got this outdoor-only disposable camera from the States, and its pictures spread from April to June, because we mostly took pictures INSIDE, with other cameras. How annoying. I kept wanting to put away all these great pictures, but first we had to finish up the roll on the stupid little no-flash camera.

7/20/98 Monday – Last night, Christine Tajima came over to stay with us for four days. The reason is for her to practice English with us. She understands a lot, because her mom mostly talks to her in English, but she’s not so good at speaking. (I experience the same situation, with the languages reversed.) Christine is planning to go to high school in the States, so it’s essential for her to improve her English skills.

This day, Mama and I got out the rope from the shed and taught Christine to hop Double Dutch style. It’s pretty fun, and she catches on quickly. Mama likes Double Dutch so much that she’s taught it to at least seven people in Japan already – including me!

Mama also suggested that if Christine and I washed the windows of our house, she would pay towards the Bible camp’s chapel fund, 200 yen per window pair, and 100 yen for taking down and putting up curtains to be washed. So we tackled the job, cleaning most of the downstairs windows this evening. If we can finish the rest of the windows later this week, we’ll earn 2000 yen for the camp. The work was more pleasant for me than work is apt to be because: I had a friend to do it with, I would get money from it to give to a good cause, and I could tell the windows were dirty and truly needed cleaning.

This evening, we girls sat in the living room, playing cards and watching TV. Mama suddenly got the urge to watch Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, because she’d heard Christine practicing "Tale as Old as Time" on the piano. While we were watching the movie, Mama kept laughing at jokes that she hadn’t caught before.

7/21/98 Tuesday – This morning, Christine and I made a picnic lunch of egg salad sandwiches. Then we all drove out to the Marine Tower in Iwaki. Papa, Christine, and I threw a Nerf football back and forth on the grassy area around the tower. Christine and I took off our shoes and socks in order to better feel the spiky-soft grass.

We climbed up a hill and down again, across a little twisting bridge over a ditch which contained more weeds than water. Then we all settled at a picnic table to eat. After all this, when we strolled up to the Marine Tower, we were disappointed to find that it was closed. Out of all the days in the month, we had to choose the third Tuesday!

We did go to a shorter platform not far away, and from it viewed the ocean. It was an orange, oval structure, from the top of which we gazed straight down at the white foaming waves, churning and slapping against pock-marked boulders which crouched below the surface. And from the steep cliff above the water, pine trees outstretched their porcupine branches, as though bestowing a blessing on fin and feather which passed below.

7/22/98 Wednesday – On this day, Mama took Christine and me to Hawaiians Spa Resort. It was so crowded! The Japanese finally are having their short summer vacation, and business is booming for resorts. 

Christine likes the big outdoor hot springs bath. It was just built within the past year. Actually, I don’t think it’s all that big, but it’s supposed to be the biggest one in Japan. It’s very relaxing, with wooden dipper buckets to pour hot water over yourself, a narrow waterfall to sit under, and a dimly lit cedar steam room. Small, gently swaying trees and a wooden rowboat with no oars add to the atmosphere.

7/25/98 Saturday – Since Thursday, we’ve had Vacation Bible School at church. Our special guest is Mr. Sam, an old friend from Karuizawa (where my parents went to language school). He came to tell stories from the Bible. The theme is: “Jesus Christ Is All.”

On this day, the largest number of kids came – five, including myself. We memorized a verse about Jesus being the Bread of Life. We saw a slideshow and sang a few songs. Then we had a “mini worship service” The children got up, one at a time, and read from a script. One would pray, one would lead a song, and one would give a message. I thought that was a neat idea.

The funniest part of VBS this day was the donut-eating contest. The donuts were tied with string and hung at mouth level of the contestants. They had to bite and swallow the dangling donuts as fast as possible. I don’t think this game was Mama’s idea!

7/28/98 Tuesday – This day, we departed for elementary school camp, but we had an unexpected delay. Mari-san had a slight accident by her car bumping into a boy on a bicycle. Papa drove me over to the scene of the “crime,” to support poor unnerved Mari-san. 

I don’t think I was much comfort, because I just kept grinning and snickering at the two policemen as they investigated. They looked exactly alike in their blue uniforms and white helmets, except that one wore glasses. 

They kept asking questions of the young man, who had only a long scratch on his arm. Then they questioned Mari-san, who felt dreadful about it, even though it hadn’t been her fault. 

The policemen made chalk marks on the blacktop when their questions were answered, and then measured distances with a little black barrel on the end of a long stick. 

Finally, it was over, and we got on the road toward Bible camp.

7/29/98 Wednesday – Elementary school camp is underway. Mama & Papa are once again directing crafts and games. The craft is the same photo board that Kanako and I made a few weeks ago. I made myself available to help prepare for the craft session and also to supervise. When everything seemed under control and progressing smoothly, I went into the kitchen and was put to work opening packages of noodles.

I think the relay race that the kids liked best was: “Wash sin out of your heart.” We had played it at VBS too. It went like this: Each kid had to get a dipper labeled “God’s Word,” full of water, run to a bucket labeled “Heart,” and dump the water in until all the plastic balls in the bucket floated or were washed out. The colored balls were labeled with all kinds of sins, and so, through the game, the kids learned that God’s Word is what cleanses our hearts from sin. They did that game three times, and it was pretty funny to watch them.

Well, Christine and I did wash enough windows to earn 2,000 yen (about $20) for Bible camp.

Also, I taught five reading lessons with Gerald before we both got busy with summer activities. So I won’t get to teach him any letter combination phonics. I figured out that’s what he need to learn before he can read straight from a book.