Oyako Eigo (Mommy-Baby English)

Timing is a funny thing. Often when something doesn't work out, it's as much to do with the timing as the idea itself. When I tried to start an English class for moms and babies at our church two years ago it fell flat on its face. I was beyond bummed. I put so much effort into planning and advertising, yet no one came. I didn't have the connections into the mom-community to get it off the ground. In fact, that's why I wanted to start it: to make mom-friends. At the time I was pregnant and trying to find other moms in my neighborhood. (I didn't yet know about the importance of routine in making friends in Japan.)

This year, however, after months and months of slowly building relationships in a variety of contexts, I felt it was time to dust off my curriculum and get back in to the teaching game.

The moms I met through swim class and the neighborhood park were eager to join. I was blown away when at out first class, two weeks ago, 4 mom's showed up with their children: two park moms; two swim moms. Woot Woot!

The lesson for the day was colors. We sang songs, played games, made a craft all using our new English words for the colors of the rainbow.

Practicing our new color words while we draw together

Today was the second Oyako Eigo class. 6 Moms came: 3 park moms; 3 swim moms. The new "park-mom" hadn't yet met the other "park-moms," so I had the pleasure of introducing them. They live less than a block away from each other and they met for the first time at church while singing silly songs. The moms are slowly gelling. You can definitely see the two group from how they sit on different side of the circle. But, as with all relationships in Japan, slowly but surely, they'll get to know each other and soon this new group will be a common connection point. Not only that, but these 6 moms have now been inside of a Christian church. Twice! That's huge!




Today's lesson was body parts. We sang the ubiquitous "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and played Simon Says. The craft for today was making Funny Felt Faces.

For fun, I thought I'd write out instructions for today's craft, incase any of you want to play along at home. :)

For the record: it's not too clear from the picture, but
I used tan felt for the faces, not white,since the kids are Japanese. 

Felt Funny Faces
Materials:
Felt (various colors)

Prep:
Cut out large-ish circles for heads out of felt.
Draw and cut out a set of
-hair
-eyes
-nose
-mouth
-ears
in different colors. (I made a variety of shapes as well. Ears were a bit of a pain. Mine all looked like kidney beans.)
Seperate parts by kind.

Class:
Pass out faces
Let kids/ parents choose one of each for their face. They can mix and match colors or go monochomatic.
The beauty of felt is the kids can reposition and change out the parts as they wish. After a bit it all starts looking like a Picasso, but that's fine. ;)

*** Pro-Tip: to get the felt to stick to itself, scratch it up with your nails. The rougher the felt is, the better.

Operation Old-Faithful

I've had to reevaluate my methods for starting and building relationships since moving to Japan. In the States, as with everything, we use a more direct method to starting friendships. "Hey, we have something in common, let's hang out some time." It's not always quite THAT simple, but at its root, befriending people in the States can be done relatively simply. Not so in Japan. Here it's all about taking it slow, building trust, establishing routine. It's taken me a while to get this new model through my head. It's still hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that meeting someone once at the mall then asking them to come to English class just doesn't work. My American gut tells me if you want to make friends, just get out there. Go. Do. Win. But like I've said, that just doesn't work here. In fact, trying to make friends that way is more likely to alienate people that endear them to me.


This past summer, during a training session on cross-cultural communication, it clicked for me: consistency and routine. I could meet a lot of people by doing different activities each week, but in order to turn those relationships into friendships, I was going to need to see them on a regular basis.
Enter, Operation Old-Faithful:

Stage one:
Join a mommy-baby swim class at the gym near the mall. See the same moms and babies two to three times, every week.
--Success! Not only have we had a really fun time swimming (splashing and playing with rubber duckies, more like) but I would now consider us officially in the group (Being in the group is HUGE in Japan. Once you're in, you are in! It's when people begin to open up and trust you). Moms from the class have started coming to Oyako Eigo (Parent-Child English) at our church and wanting to spend time with us outside of swimming as well.

Stage two:
Follow up swim class with lunch and grocery shopping Aeon (the mall).  Go to the same shops. Make sure to go the the same Onigiri shop every time.
--Success! We are a fixture at Aeon now. Shop ladies poke their heads out when they hear Jill's squeaky shoes coming down the road. The Onigiri (rice ball) ladies know our order by heart and all come to the register to hand us our lunch.
Bonus: We've befriended a gaggle of Obaachans (Old Grannies) who congregate outside the food court. After we eat, and walk out to do our grocery shopping, they call and wave to "Chiyo-chan" (Jillian) and she shows off the new words she has learned or gives them all high-fives.


Stage three:
Same old park, every single day(-ish). The park across the street from our apartment isn't the most exciting park I've every been to. Just a patch of grass with swings and monkey bars. But, it's where the moms gather, so it's where we go.
--Success! We've had a few really interesting conversations with the neighborhood moms. A few have joined the swim class moms at Oyako Eigo.
Bonus: Jillian LOVES  the swings.

The part of me that wants to explore the other shopping centers and parks around town has been slowly quieted by the response we're receiving.

World Travelers: Wrap-up

I just want to start off by thanking all the families who participated in the homestay trip for my English class. It's something we always talk about over tea time these days and I cherish the memories that we got to build during this experience.

The English trip was an amazing combination of English practice, learning about culture, and experiencing Christian family.

The trip was definitely a whirlwind experience as we only had about 7 days. All were jammed packed with field trips and conversation practice, and fun! I wanted to be sure that they not only experienced the popular sights and sounds of California but that they also experience the more subtle things of American culture.

We were ale to visit the hot spots like Yosemite, Pismo beach, and Pier 39 in San francisco, but we also did some little American things like mini golfing, shopping at target, and dinner at home with the host families.

The host families did a phenomenal job of letting my students get a taste of American culture. Some of my students were able to go to a baseball game, ride in a fire truck, and enjoy the simple pleasure of root beer floats. The host families also coordinated a trip to a wild life preserve on their free day.

I think however, the most important thing that the students took back with them was not necessarily the English practice they recieved, or the fun places they went to, but the personal time with their families.

Each family member was a member of SOMA Christian Church and they really outdid themselves in serving their students. My students talked nonstop on the plane ride home about how loving the families were, and how surprised they were a about how gentle the husbands were especially. One student in particular, "Michi" as her host family nicknamed her, was in tears over how nice her family was.

To be honest my first expectations of the trip was really low. I felt overwhelmed by the responsibility and was very stressed that maybe the students wouldn't like it, or that something would go wrong. But God totally blew my expectations away, He totally amazed me. I have to give Him the credit.

World Travelers

With an increasingly active one year-old, time to blog has a way of slipping away from you. When you offer to organize your church's US home-stay/ English language program, any and all time to blog goes flying out the window. All that to say, I've been a bit busy over the last months to get much of any writing done. Sorry.

I've been so focused on this program because I am genuinely excited to be assisting in it's creation. Our church, Sapporo EV Free, has done short term US trips in the past, but this will be the first, to my limited knowledge, that will be home-stay and language based. Tourism will definitely play it's part. But if I've learned anything from teaching, it's the power of integration. I want our students to get first hand language experiences in America and to have a great time while doing it. The home-stay component as well excites me. I'm so excited to hear stories of new relationships that develop!

The trip is coming up faster than I realize. The group, lead by my dear hubs and the Pastor's wife, Y, will leave Japan on the 29th and stay until August 5th. While they're in California they'll be staying with members of Soma Christian Church and taking daily trips to see not only touristy places like Yosemite or the beach, but also daily life things like the grocery store and mall.

I'm almost done with the daily lesson plans, but I have a few questions for you before I press "print."

If you were traveling to a foreign country, what would you like to see? What questions would you like to ask? 

If you have traveled to a foreign country, or hosted an international student, what are some tips you'd like to share with our Japanese English-students? Any blunders?

Leave a comment below.

Silly-Jilly: Lost in Translation

Anyone who has ever typed something into Google Translate can tell you, the word you want to use doesn't always convey the meaning you hope it does. Some rare words translate perfectly; conveying the precise meaning from first language to second. Others... well, not so much. "Silly" is one such word.

Sunday at church as a friend, Y, and I bowed to pray Jillian took the opportunity to pet Y's hair and stick her, Jillian's, foot into Y's praying hands. When we said our "Amen"s I told my friend. "Jillian is such a silly girl" in English and gave Jilly a kiss on the head. I asked Y, who speaks fluent English, if there is a  word that translated well for silly. The closest I've been able to think of don't really convey the right shade of meaning. "Tannoshii" is more like fun or enjoyable. "Omoshiroii" is like interesting or enjoyable. "Kawaii" is cute. But silly is more like a combo of the three with a little bit of "Henna" (weird) thrown in.
The word she gave me I didn't even commit to memory because when I asked her if it was a good or bad image, she said bad. Her word translated to something like foolish.

I was mortified. This woman, and how many other English-speaking Japanese people, think I've been calling my daughter foolish! I quickly explained that silly has a positive image. Perhaps in the past it was negative, but now it's "Wee Sing in Sillyville"; it's "Silly Songs with Larry"; it's our own Silly-Jilly. Definitely not negative.

Someone needs to warn Larry that he might not translate well into Japanese.
Image credit 

The whole encounter got me thinking about how many other words, or actions I've been using that are COMPLETELY misinterpreted. Probably a lot. I recently found out that when Jillian waved "hello" to people, even in response to "Konnichiwa" people think she's waving "bye-bye". Poor baby has been inviting people to come play and they've been thinking she wants them to leave. We should probably practice bowing rather than waving, but I hesitate because the waving is so darn cute!

I know I'm bound to make, or discover, more mistakes in my word choice. I just hope none of them give the impression I'm speaking ill of my daughter, or other people for that matter.

Unexpected Blessings

This past weekend was the annual A2 Spring Retreat. Each year our time as a mission family is much anticipated. There is nothing like joining with friends I only see once or twice a year for fellowship and renewal. This year, especially, I felt God's tender care for me and my family as we gathered with our mission.



From the get-go our plans got thrown out the window. Stephen came down with a major virus that had spread quickly into his lung the day before the retreat. Jillian and I went on ahead and prayed Stephen would recover fully by the weekend, so he could join the retreat. Traveling on my own with a squirmy one-year-old went better than I could have expected, even if Stephen had been with me. Once at the retreat, everyone was so helpful with Jillian I didn't feel like I had to miss out on everything because I didn't have my partner in crime to pass her off to from time to time.

A picnic lunch with some of our mission family before Stephen arrived.

By Friday, Stephen had been given the ok to travel and make his way to the retreat site. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see him! Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder.

While I was waiting for Stephen to arrive, though, Jillian decided it was her turn to be sick. Poor little baby spiked a fever and wanted nothing more than to sleep. By God's grace our friends had some baby fever medicine for us to use. Go figure, the time I decided to pack light, something major would happen.  Because I was still solo at this point, the child care team took great care of me by helping watch Jillian in a separate corner of the kids' room. Because she was such a cuddly lump while sick, it worked well.
Thank you King's Harbor Church for your excellent service! You saved my behind!
(I should also add that I received a couple other unexpected blessings from the team from King's Harbor: a hair cut and neck massage. If anyone wants to bless a missionary-wife here are three simple ways: make them feel beautiful, let them relax, and love their kids!)

By the time Stephen arrived, Jillian was on her third day of fever and had begun throwing up. With the help of two other moms I took Jillian to the urgent care at the hospital near by. Thank you so much Yuko and Rhonda for translating, driving, and just being with me. Without them and the prayers from the A2 family back at the retreat site, the doctor would have just given Jillian an not yet needed IV and sent us on our way. He changed his mind suddenly and gave us some fever reducer and decongestant to help her ride out the virus.
By the next day Jill was feeling much better.

The retreat itself was fantastic. I was blessed by the message on prayer and the team from Evergreen Church who prayed with us over the course of the retreat. I walked away from the retreat feeling refreshed and so loved. It's tough some times to be a little speck of light in a dark land. Times like spring retreat are so necessary for my spirit.
I feel like this particular retreat could have gone a lot differently with all the challenges that were thrown at us, but even in the midst of chaos, God's tender care showed through.

Skinny Santa Visits the Play Group.

Today, Santa came to Nishioka (our little corner of Sapporo, Japan). Not the fat jolly guy you'd expect, though. This Santa was a skinny Japanese man. It didn't matter too much though. The Nishioka play group was filled with joyous squeals as Santa danced, sang, and passed out presents.

Even my little one, only 8 months old, was quite taken with this Svelt St. Nick.

That is until it was time to take a picture with him.

We managed in the end to get her calm enough to snap a pic.

Santa was sure a treat today. The main fun, though, was getting to spend time with Jilly's new friends (and their mothers).

Jillian and her friend M-Chan, born only 2 days apart. 

Being part of this weekly play group has been a great experience for me. It's nice to be connecting with neighborhood women in the same stage of life as me. I think we've even made a breakthrough. They've stopped referring to me as Chiyo's mom, and instead use my real name. I, in turn, get to use their given names too! Such a silly thing to be excited about, but I feel like it means I've made it to the inside of this group, rather than just being a foreigner watching from the outside.

Providence and the Play Group

As I look back over the events of the past day and months, I can't help be amazed at God's hand of providence.

Jill woke up earlier than usual from her first nap. After she ate, I tried to Skype my mom. Since she was in a meeting, I thought we should take a walk since the weather is finally turning nice again. I usually only take a purse with a diaper, travel wipes, and a burp cloth rather than my whole diaper bag when I take a walk to the park. Today, I decided to bring the whole bag, even though I only planned on being gone 10-15 minutes. My plan was to go to the park across the street and let her feel the grass, but when we got there I realized the ground was too wet from yesterday's rain. I changed tack and headed to the park a little further down the road where there is more sunshine to dry the ground.

As we neared the 2nd park a women and her 8 month old daughter rushed to catch up to us. 

I met this mom 2 months ago at the park near my house. I was there on a whim and she and her daughter sat with us to chat for a few minutes. 

She recognized me as I was walking. She even remembered my daughter's name and was excited to see Chiyo-chan (Jillian). After chatting our way down the road, past the park, I discovered she wanted to invite me to the neighborhood play group she was walking to. 

I knew this play group existed, I just didn't know where it was, or when it met. I learned the Japanese name for it on Wednesday and was actually looking it up online when Jill woke from her nap this morning. 

As we were walking, the mom told me about how she moved here last year and really wanted to make friends. This was going to be her first day at the kids' club and she was embarrassed to go alone. She was happy she saw me and that I wanted to come too. 

At the kids' club there were dozens of other moms with there kids. Babies and toddlers filled the rooms.  It was wonderful watching Jilli interact with the other babies. I sometimes worry she doesn't get enough time with other little ones since she's the only person under 13 years old at our church. Jill was gentle and sweet as she touched there other babies' faces and hands. She even showed off her giggles and rolling. 

Offering your hand to be chewed on is the international sign of friendship among babies

Before we left to get home for her nap, another mom came up to me to ask if I lived in the building named "LaForce."  I do, and it turns out, so does she. She and her 1 year old son live two floors down and have the parking space next to ours. Go figure. 

The play group meets ever Friday, a 4 minute walk from my apartment. I am so excited to go back again. I feel like a genuine connection is being made, and to think, if Jill had slept for her whole nap, or my mom was free to Skype, or the grass was dry enough to sit on, I never would have gone. 

Gift time

Christmas time is the time for giving and today I was able to give some gifts to a friend and a brand new friend today.

The first friend is a Ramen chef who I've known since the beginning of my time in Japan. My first bowl of Japanese ramen was from his store, and after tasting ramen from other places his ramen is still my favorite. I eventually became a regular at his store :). I get to practice my Japanese with him and He also advertises for my Church's English Class.

We took a picture together when my mom came to visit

The new friend I made this week is the owner of the barber shop right next to my apartment. We became friends when he helped me dig my car out when it was stuck in the snow. I thank the Lord that he provided me with that help (being a California kid I don't know anything about snow). When I went to give him a gift to show my appreciation for his help today, in the conversation he asked if "the the phone made it to me safely". So ... it turns out that his family has helped us twice.

Two weeks ago, Kathryn dropped her phone and lost it somewhere near the apartment, when I was home a Japanese woman came to my door and gave me Kathryn's phone. I was very thankful but I didn't know who it was at the time.

Like most Japanese, since I gave him a gift he immediately returned the favor and gave me something. I have no idea of what it is. I didn't understand when he told me what it was. I think he said that it was for my ear.

If any one know what it is, please tell me. :)

'Tis the season...

...to be really busy!

after hearing about all that is planned for Christmas a friend from America commented, "well I guess being in a different country doesn't make you any less hectic at the holidays." No, it really doesn't. :)

But, you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.

I hope to be back to the blog to share snippets and updates from Christmas time in Japan. There is, and has been, a lot going on this month that I'd love to share. But as is usually the case, when we have to most to write about, I have the least amount of time to sit and write. :P

So for today, I'll leave you with some pictures and commentary from last weekend's Friends Christmas party.

A simple dinner of soup, salad, and make-you-own-sandwich was a hit.

Some American soda was an extra treat!

And of course, no Christmas party would be complete with out way too many sweats!

We played "Pin the nose on the snowman"

I think we underestimated how hard it would be!

Luckily, there was plenty of participation from the peanut-gallery.

We're so happy to have been able to invite our friends over for Christmas fun!

10 days with "Living Hope"

Short term teams are a breath of fresh air: they give everyone new life, energy, and motivation.

Our short term team from Living Hope Community Church was no exception.

Before they said their good-byes today, I was able to interview a few team members to get their perspective on the 10 days they spent serving in Japan.

It was great for me to hear what things impacted them as they ministered this week. I was surprised to hear that many of their answers were the same. I guess it just goes to show their unity and how God was working in their team this week.

Q: What was a highlight in ministry this week?

-"Seeing the example set by Akita Sensei, the associate pastor ofthe Chitose Church. Even though, he is gentle and reserved, he never missed an opportunity to share the Gospel."

-"Watching the interactions of this very international church in Sapporo. It reminded me that God's grace is not limited to one people group. We are all one in Christ. Language doesn't separate us from God's grace."

-"Seeing God's plans overtake our own. For example, when we went to Hokkaido university's campus, I was hoping to meet non-christians. Instead, we met a young Christian man who came to our evening event and was the life of the party. Him being there was important for developing relationships that night. "

Q: What surprised you the most?

-"Separating the trash was a big surprise."

-"I didn't expect to give my testimony, until an hour before church on Sunday. I was glad I did though, because after, many people came up and told me that my story is similar to theirs."

-"Before I came here I was only superficially interested in Japan. I liked how cute and effiecient everything was. I was surprised that God has opened up my heart to love Japan spiritually."

-"I was talking to a girl on campus about if she knew God, and she said, 'What's a god?" That surprised me: that here, so many people have never even heard about God."

Q: What was the best food you tried this week?

-"Ramen!"

-"Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet). It melted in my mouth!"

-"Soft creme (soft serve ice cream) from a dairy in Chitose. I can never go back to eating McDonald's soft serve again."

-"The sukiyaki that Akita sensei made for us our last night in Chitose. You could tell he put a lot of work into it."

Q: What was your biggest cultural misstep or most embarrassing moment?

-"Speaking in limited Japanese. I kept messing up my vowels can calling Sapporo, 'Sopparo'."

-"Putting trash in the wrong bin"

-"Jet lag induced delirium while playing Taboo one evening. I had a really hard time paying attention and everyone had a good chance to poke fun at me."

-"I told two people "Hajimemashite" (a greeting which means 'nice to meet you') when we were saying good bye."

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If you are interested in serving for a week or two as a short termer in Japan, send me an email (kborba@asianaccess.org), can I can put you in touch with the right people to talk to.

We would love to have you come and share in ministry here in Japan!

Friends all over

This last week we received training through Asian Access, during the fall conference at a seminar house in Kobe. Great training but also it was great to see more of the Asian Access family again who live in different parts of Japan. Not only that but I also got to reunite with some other friends and make some new ones.




Nakano-san




Everyone says its a small world and it is. One of my supporters, Harry, had a close business partner from Japan 20 or 30 years ago. They remain friends till this day but Harry lives in California and Nakano-san lives in Osaka. I had the chance to meet Nakano-san and have lunch with him. He told me he was so indebted to Harry that he wanted to honor him by treating us to lunch. He also took me and Kathryn around to some famous sites in Osaka. Something that I will remember is that he mentioned that after all these years, he still remembers that on business trips with Harry that he would see him pray before going to bed. Nakano-san is 87 or so and still remembers that. Our prayers can touch people in ways we don't always know :) .

Keisuke



If you remember from a couple months ago, Keisuke was the Japanese highschool student who stayed with us for 4 days as a part of his summer vacation. I was able to give him a tour of Sapporo and invite him to our church's prayer time. It was a a very good time. Well, when his family heard we were coming to a part of Japan near them they invited us over to lunch at their house. The lunch was delicious and for desert they took us up to the hill country to a 400 year old house for tea.



Eri




"What kind of picture is that?" you might ask. Its "puri kura" the Japanese photo booths that make you look like a 13 year old girl even if you are a 26 year old man. When we were near Osaka we were also able to meet up with our friend Eri who we hadn't seen since she came to California. . When she came to California one year she did a home-stay with me and Kathryn for a week. Eri was my first Japanese friend and I feel that God used that friendship as a way to confirm Japan in my heart.


It is good for me to recount what God has done and where he has brought me. How he has brought people into my life. It brings me a lot of encouragement.

Thanks y'all.

A Slice of Life in Pictures: Evening Service

Every Sunday night, between 7 and 9, our church meets downtown, near Hokkaido University, for evening service.

We hang out

We make dinner

We share a fantastic meal

and we study God's word is small groups.

If you're in the area, come on by and join us.

If you're not, please join us in spirit. :)

Sandi's Visit (With Pictures)

We were honored to have Stephen's mom, Sandi, come visit us for 9 days at the end of June/beginning of July. We decided not to take vacation time, but rather to bring Sandi with us to teach English and use our time between classes and meetings to show her a bit of our new home in Hokkaido.

After traveling for 2 days( darn that international date line), She arrived in Hokkaido, Japan!

We had been talking about her visit in our English classes for a few weeks now. I think our students were as excited to have her here as we were! 2 women from our Thursday class in Chitose even dressed up in kimono for her to see!

Stephen was very excited to take his mom to his favorite ramen shop, Kiwami.

On Saturday, we took Sandi down town to see the big city! It's not Tokyo, but Sapporo still has lots to do and see.

Here's one view from the top of the famous TV Tower. If you could zoom in enough, you could see our house towards the hills in the back.

No trip to Sapporo would be complete without a picture in front of the Clock Tower.

Sunday, we brought her to our church to meet our friends.

then, Monday, we trecked out to Otaru to see the ocean.

little did we know, the ocean is not as accessable as we thought. After wandering for a few hours we found it!

We came home that evening to find that an English student left a gift for Sandi on our front door.

Before she left, the associate pastor, Akita Sensei, gave her a cake to thank her for visiting and taking part in English classes with us.

We are so glad we were able to share what we do with Stephen's mom in person!