Some closing events

Nao and I after our dive.

Exploring underwater Japan.

I find myself with only a short time left in Japan. As the school year was coming to an end I thought I'd take the following months, before returning to the states, to do some traveling, see the things I've been too busy to see. Considering I don't know the next time I'll be in Japan I wanted to take advantage of my remaining time here, traveling companions or not, and see the sights. Well, it's been about three weeks since school ended and I've found that my ideas have changed. Maybe if I had come to Japan with big hopes of seeing certain things, or maybe if I had come with the mindset of a tourist, but that was not the case, this is simply home, and just like when you leave any home, the thing you miss the most are people. I haven't filled my days with big trips, or really any trips at all, instead I find myself just wanting to be with my friends, and around what is familiar and what will soon be distant. This is not to say I'm sitting around doing nothing. Last Saturday I spent a lovely day at the river with my friends Isaac, Josh, and Satsuki. My intention was to go swimming no matter how cold, but my body was not able to numb fast enough for me to enjoy the icy river water, so instead I sat with Satsuki and watched Josh and Isaac. I love living so close to such a nice river and mountains. We took a nice walk along the river bed and it was so beautiful.A couple weeks before this I got see my dear friend Drew get married to his now wife Megumi. The ceremony was beautiful, and their lives are and will be a sweet testimony to a loving God.

My finally events of Japan include it's heights and depths. Last Monday Nao and I went to the depths. After a year of thinking to myself that I needed to plan a scuba trip before returning to the states, I finally did. It was particularly fun because my friend Nao came also and tried diving for the first time. We went to Izu Oshima island (very near Tokyo proper) and had a fantastic time diving and experiencing rural Japanese island life. Absolutely everyone we encountered was extremely kind. I had expected the island to be rather touristy, but was pleasantly surprised to find that other than the omiyage (souvenir) shops, the island was not so much touristy as it was country. It's hard to find a place in Japan, any where near where I live, where you can't find a conbini (convenient store), but there weren't any on this island. We were picked up by the dive company, Global Sports Club, from the ferry and driven up a narrow windy road with maybe one traffic light, to the shop where we were fitted with our rental equipment. While the day had started out looking gray, the sun was breaking through for us. I filled out a paper, put on my bathing suit and was quickly put into the van with two dive guides and a 60-something year old man that is a regular. Nao had a briefing while I went on the first dive. The water was incredibly clear and there was all sorts of sea life to be seen. Some sort of small sand shark, some eels, nemo fish, box fish, what looked like a sea spider, and tons and tons of other fish and sea creatures that were pointed out to me as we swam along. After the first dive we headed back for lunch and a rest. The second dive was with Nao. I must say that I was very impressed by her courageous spirit. When I first went diving I was super nervous, and even this time I was a bit nervous at first. Nao was mostly just excited. Anyway we spent some more time seeing underwater Japan. There was even a tree that had been arranged underwater for some sort of Japanese festival that happens in July.

The rest of our Izu Oshima trip was great. Nao was a great traveling companion. We had dinner with some people from the dive company and were given added little extras from the restaurant owner, a free bowl of soup and some Japanese snacks, in addition to our meal which included various local dishes made from fish caught near by and seaweed harvested from where we dove. This was followed by a guided night hike with someone from Global Sports Club, and we got to see glow in the dark mushrooms. We then headed back to our tiny inn, laid out our futons on the tatami floors and went to bed. The second day was meant for local sight seeing, but we quickly discovered that there weren't many sights to see. We headed for a gate and ruins on the tourist map and found a gate and grass. We had tea at a bed and breakfast and we were served tea in the large cups (so we could sit a while and enjoy the lady told us) with a complimentary piece of cake. Everyone was so nice. We took the 45 bus to the lookout sight only to ushered back onto the bus we'd gotten off of when the man about to serve us lunch realized the next bus we planned to take wasn't running anytime soon (thankfully the driver didn't charge us for the return ride because we'd been confused). We then headed for the port and meandered around the beach there. The trip was wonderful.

My next stop is the heights of Japan, Fuji-san. While I often just jump on board with things like this without proper preparation, I am learning. I think my 100km bike ride taught me a lesson. So Ashley and I, and a few others have been doing some training and getting equipment for Fuji. I've discovered that certain activities are made significantly more enjoyable with the proper equipment. Like that bike ride...sure would have been nice to have padded biking shorts. So for Fuji I have made some purchases and am doing some training. Today we took practice hike number four. I now have pretty much all the equipment I plan to buy and we have been trying to get more in shape. I was very pleased to discover that our 900meter mountain hike (about 1/4 of Fuji) was not so bad and went much better than the first time I did it a few weeks ago. My feet were happy in my hiking boots and socks (hadn't expected proper socks to mean so much, but they are amazing), my sweaty legs were cool in my moisture wicking tights, my body was hydrated with my convenient hydration pack, and the hike was made slightly easier with my nifty trekking poles (they also have great engrish on them that makes them that much nifty-er). I know Fuji will be a challenge but I'm feeling good about it and am pleased with how the preparation is going.

After Fuji this Friday I will have a little over a week left here. I still can't believe how quickly time has passed, but I also feel like God has done a lot in me and through me during my time in Japan and am very grateful. I think my biggest fear is just that the people here won't realize how much they've meant to me when I leave them for the states. People ask why I'm leaving, if I like Japan, and it is difficult to explain that I love Japan and I love them, that isn't it at all, I just have to follow what I think God has shown me and that is to return to CA. It's not a matter of which place I like more, I love both places and the people in both places, but right now I need to head back. I guess I will just have to leave them in God's hands and trust they will know they are loved.

As for California, I'm getting very excited to be returning and being able to spend time with my friends there. There are still a lot of unknowns, but I have such a faithful and gracious God that I'm really not very worried. I trust He is doing the necessary work as He calls me back. So now I will soak up the time I have left, and pray that God will continue to prepare my way back.