Juggling June

June has come and gone with it's typical blur. It's a big month for schools on the American calendar, as well as for our little family, with two birthdays and an anniversary.

One of my favorite images from the close of the year at Christian Academy was watching my friend (fellow Covenant College graduate and second generation missionary kid turned missionary mom) watch her husband, current HS English teacher, (and also a Covenant College graduate) give the graduation address. It's a privilege to celebrate with this class, and we wish them well as they move toward adulthood. You can watch the celebration here!

For our kids, like for most of Japan, the school year continues through the end of July, so we're still mid-swing, with daily school lunches, pick up and drop off and homework, although thankfully, P.E. class includes swimming and water games for this month! 

This month emphasizes how much we bridge between worlds. All of our expat friends are off on eagerly anticipated summer travels and easing into their summer relaxation, while our Japanese community continues on. Bridging for us means that we will take our kids out of school for two weeks: once to take a quick trip to the ocean in northern Japan, and once to connect with our home church and attend a cousin's wedding in Tennessee. Because CAJ follows the American calendar, throughout the year, Ryan often has work on days that the kids have Japanese national holidays, so when he's off for the long American summer holiday, we sometimes take a family holiday too. It's all a balance! Friends on both "sides" are surprised: "What, your husband has 10 weeks off?! Are you sure he didn't get fired?" and "Wow! Your kids are still in school through JULY?"

Doing our best foreign imitation of a Japanese hospitality tradition, after that brief trip to Sendai last week, I visited each of our neighbors with a small memento from our trip. The area is famous for a particular samurai (Date Matsumune), for soy bean flavored things, for handmade senbe and for beef tongue. In the days after we came back, I brought beef tongue jerky to our mechanic and good friend; for neighborhood kids, soy bean flavored desserts and for the surrounding houses, cookies made in the shape of Matsumune's helmet. Silly, but its the thought that counts. As I walked from house to house and chatted and did the required greetings ("I'm sorry to always be a bother; hope you are all healthy; let's continue to have a good relationship"), I realized that when I first heard of this, I thought of it as more of an obligation - if you don't bring a small gift and a greeting, people will be offended. But as I've lived for more years in the same place, I realize it's a way to build community. It's a bid, an opportunity to connect and to clear the air of any needed conversation. It's also a chance to demonstrate that we're here for the long haul, and interested in the long term relationships.

We're so looking forward to seeing some of you next week! Will be so good to catch up in person!