With four Christmas parties, numerous English classes, baking cookies, cleaning the house, finishing school, celebrating my birthday, and preparing for Josh and Mara coming it has been a busy December!
Throughout the month I taught quite a few English classes, but perhaps the most significant one was teaching at the large preschool near us. I taught there once before in November, so I had some idea of what to expect. But there were a lot of times where I had to spontaneously create lessons or try to figure out how to do what the lady I was helping wanted. My favorite part was when we had them all stand up to sing a song. They giggled and laughed as we danced. Normally the kids have to sit down, be silent, and pay attention. So it was fun to see those tiny kids enjoying themselves and laughing. I will be teaching there one more time next year and I hope I will be able to bless some more kids and release God's presence and grace.
Tiffy and I worked at FBC and went to their annual Thanksgiving/Christmas party. It was really fun to talk with everyone there. I was glad to work one more time to help wrap that up. This fall was my fourth season to work with FBC. I have grown and learned so much during the time I've been there. It was kind of sad to say goodbye to everyone as I realize that I may not work there for awhile (of course you never know - so I tried not to be too sad =]).
On the 18th we had a Christmas a party for our English classes. A friend, Nobuko, came and really helped us with it. She was able to read a little Christmas story in Japanese and interact with both the kids and their moms. Tiffy, Dad, and I were really busy for the first 45 minutes organizing games and activities. We started with two Christmas songs, then Nobuko read the story. After that Dad gave a short talk about how God created the earth and the first thing He made was light. The light is like love which God gave to us and which we give to others. We had several lasers which we used to make a miniature light show as he talked. Then Dad lighted one candle and from that candle we lighted everyone else's candles. The room lit up with candle light and we all sat or stood in a moment of silent contemplation before we turned on the lights and had everyone blow out the candles.
From that we went into several fun games. We were kept busy as we organized and directed the games. We had one game where we blindfolded one of the kids and gave them a fruit or vegetable. Without looking they tried to tell us what it was. Another game they speared a marshmallow with a toothpick and had to walk to a table without dropping it. From there they had two options of games. One was a game where they tried to slide poker chips into a box with holes cut out of it. If they got it in they received a chocolate coin. The other game was a box with holes in the top. The kids would take little fishing poles and catch a candy from the bottom of the box. We continued playing games until we stopped to have cake and presents. I felt that our Christmas party may have been one of our best ones so far. It was fun to get to enjoy the kids and play games, but I felt that we were able to introduce the real meaning of Christmas too.
On Thursday we celebrated my birthday since my real birthday was going to busy. On Friday we went to our last Christmas party for the year. I enjoyed seeing everyone and talking to different people. We were also able to get a few pictures which was fun. After the party we went to USJ to see their special Christmas performance. Since it started raining they had to simplify it a lot, but thankfully they didn't cancel it completely. They did a good job with lights and singing.
The day after Christmas we were all busy cleaning the house and getting ready for Josh and Mara. They arrived on Thursday just before noon! Mom and we girls went window shopping with Mara while Josh and Dad filled out legal papers to renew his re-entry permit (and who knows what else). Since then I have been having so much fun! Mara is really nice and fits in with our family perfectly. We have been playing lots of games, opening presents, and talking. Yesterday Josh and Mara went sightseeing in Kyoto. We girls declared it a Lego day and built several space stations, spacecrafts, and a variety of people. I haven't actually played Legos in a long time! It was fun!
Happy New Year!! =P
