the land of the small, the land of the cute

Hello, Jill here,
Today I took a bike ride and explored Yokohama- beyond the train tracks (or train station really). This was not an easy task- because beyond the train tracks was another set of train tracks, followed by a canal, followed by a bridge, followed by a highway with a set of stairs over it but no elevator to put your bike in to get up and over. So it was an adventure. Along the way I popped in a neighborhood Shinto shrine which was surprisingly large. I continued to ride around some urban neighborhoods and the smell of Japan that I remember from my childhood came wafting back. It was a clear, sunny, balmy day of 50 degrees and the smell was so good. More a smell of memories than food or anything else. On my way home I stopped in front of a dance school with big windows and watched five year old girls hula dance. When I'm in foreign countries I like to interact with and watch the children because I feel like I can actually understand and communicate with them. They were so cute- running and jumping all over the place and then hugging their teacher at the end of the lesson. The mothers sat in the back watching and clapping- a scene familiar from my own childhood of ballet, gymnastics and yes, "Jazz Dance"!

All in all it was a productive trip because every day that I don't go exploring I feel like I'm missing out on something, but really, in the few miles beyond our apartment it is just more people and more city and more concrete. I'm satisfied for now. My next goal is to find my favorite park so that I can be prepared to go there during the cherry blossom festival when crowds of people gather for days in Japan's parks to watch the sakura trees bloom. There is a canal by the church were are going to, Tokyo Baptist Church (which I have been to several times before, growing up) and along the entire canal are sakura trees on either side. A friend of ours said that it is an unbelievable site when they bloom. Just wait for those photos!

Lastly, this weekend we found GOSPEL IN TOKYO! We were so excited when a great singer got up front at church on Sunday and started belting out Gospel music. It was incredibly refreshing to hear joy that way.

After the service we met a super nice American girl that told me about a ministry another church has, making onigiri (rice balls/the pb+j of Japan) for homeless people, six days a week. Stephen and I hope to participate this Sunday after church and I plan to help out during the weekdays, making them and then handing them out in Shibuya and Yoyogi park (major district of Tokyo). Another thing BBC news has taught me is that there has been a huge increase as of late in homelessness due to the economic downturn affecting Japan. As my friend Sayo said regarding the Japanese economy, "We're all just waiting to see what happens with America." Many of the homeless were in housing provided by their employers and Sayo has informed me that homeless shelters do not exist in Japan, as we passed a man setting up for the night on a park bench. I hope I can be of service while here.

-Jill
p.s. Photos to come of our Valentine's weekend- seeing Death Cab for Cutie (one of our favorite Seattle bands) on Saturday night in Tokyo!!!
p.p.s. Apparently the V-day custom here is that women give chocolate to all of their male friends and an extra special gift to their romantic partner (the kiosks selling EXpensive chocolate are everywhere!). Then a few weeks later on another holiday (forget the name) that romantic partner gives the woman a gift twice as expensive as the one she gave him. I got Stephen something very Japanese...a fanny pack-esque thing that men wear here. We'll see how he likes it. ;)