Japan: Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches

Day 5: Thursday

Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches
Chris and I watched Olivia, Annabella, and Calvin while Sarah and Jon went to their mission team's planning meeting. We had a great time coloring, playing games, and braiding hair with our nieces and nephew who we get to see so seldomly. The highlight of the day was our excursion to Jusco (the Japanese supermarket a couple blocks away from the Pfeil home). We bought several varieties of waffle ice cream sandwiches and each shared. I had the one with sweet bean-paste filling... yum!!

Mall Play Place

After watching the kids in the morning and playing some more settlers in the afternoon, Chris, Sarah, the kids, and I headed to the mall---Unimo---to let the kids get out some energy at the play place. We all had a “ball” …pun intended :-)

Food Court

After the play place we had dinner at the mall food court… yum!!

Pepper Steak

Ramen

Japan: Concert of Prayer

Day 4: Wednesday

Concert of Prayer
Coming to Japan has been great...no question about that. The best part about being here is debatable--- time with family, fun food, new experiences--- but their is no question about the most impactful: seeing the Pfeil's ministry. We got to participate in their team's once-a-month prayer meeting during which we got a better glimpse of the great need for Christian churches in Japan. Most Japanese don't know anything about Christ. Often, they think "Jesus" is an American curse word because the only time they have heard it used is in American movies when they use it as such. Christian churches? -- maybe one for every 80,000 people in an area or one for every 120,000 people or even none in other areas. Sarah and Jon work with college students to build relationships to bring them Christ, but their team as a whole is focused on church planting throughout Japan. It is so humbling to think about how many Christian churches are in our little town of Twinsburg and yet how few are in this heavily populated country of Japan. There are a lot of souls who need to hear about Christ.

The Onsen
Hmmm... how do I begin to describe the Japanese bath house? Scary? Crazy?-- I would have definitely used these words to describe my anticipation of being naked in a public place with my sister-in-law. HOWEVER, my new words after experiencing the Onsen would be... wonderful, relaxing, magnificent. You don't even realize that you and everyone around you is naked!!! Who would have thought? In Japan an evening at the onsen is like and evening at the spa. Upon entering the female-only section of the bath house, you wash yourself thoroughly with the spa-quality soaps which are provided. Then you choose one of the many different types of pools (or hot tubs) to soak in. One of my favorites was the tea cups...you actually soak in your own gigantic cup of tea!!!

Our Trip to Japan: Tamago Double Mac

Day 3: Tuesday

McDonald's
McDonald's is whole new experience in Japan. Yes, there are a few alternative items, such as a shrimp patty sandwich, but the real surprise is the QUALITY of food! It's warm, fresh, and beautiful! The buns are perfect! Who would have thought anyone could describe McDonald's using those adjectives?!? Chris and Jon had a Tamago Double Mac, a Big Mac with egg, bacon, and a pepper sauce. The ratings were 4 stars.

Gymnastics
In the afternoon we took the girls to their gymnastics class which was in a mall. Chris, Sarah, the babies and I used the hour to look around a Japanese mall. The styles in the stores are very European. I'm a big fan of their women's styles until it gets wild and crazy...which it defintely can get!! Guys' styles are very different than those in America....
Hair - the more volume the better...highlights a must!
Pants - lots of zippers and words make them cooler; bermuda shorts and capris are legitimate options
We spent the majority of our time in Uniqlo, a store similar to Old Navy.

Calvin picked the the right way to tour the mall!

Calvin liked to hold Mark's had on our excursions :-)

Keisuke
Keisuke is a college-aged friend of Sarah and Jon. He came over Tuesday night to play Settlers (of course). We shared many laughs, playing until midnight!!

Fun things learned:
1) Tamago means egg
2) upon entering a dressing room, you must take off your shoes

Japan: Waterpark and 100yen Store

Day 2: Monday

Our first night sleeping in Japan with a 5 month old and jet lag was not as bad as I anticipated. We were all exhausted (which I'm sure helped quite a bit). Mark woke up a couple times, but not for long and he went right back to sleep.

Waterpark
The morning was spent getting ready for an outing to a water park. We stopped at a convenience store (a 7 eleven....who would of thought 7 elevens were in Japan!!) to choose our lunches. Chris and I picked out our first Japanese food with the help of Jon, then we were on our way.

I must describe the water park (especially since I will probably not be able to add pics until we get home). It was a park (trees, grass, etc) that had a section paved with pebbles. This area had
flowing water at various shallow depths. At some points it was just coating the ground and at others it was maybe a foot deep. It was great fun for young kids and it was free!!! Olivia, Annabella, Calvin, and Mark all had a great time splashing around in the water.

We stopped to eat our lunches from the convenience store half way though the excursion...
Chris was a bit more brave than I was in his choice of food... onigiri (salmon surrounded with rice wrapped in seaweed). I had a noodle bowl with chicken, cucumbers, egg (tomego), and sesame dressing. Both were great! -- and I'd like to add... I did pretty well with chopsticks!!

The park also had a building to color and make origami. I'm pretty proud of the origami I made.... but I'll have to wait to show you after I post pics.

100 yen Store
Jusco is couple blocks away from Sarah and Jon. It's building about 7 stories tall that has many stores and resaurants in it, including a supermarket, McDonald's, 100 yen store, and a Claire's Picture a mall but without walls between the stores--- pretty cool. After the water park we went to the 100yen store in Jusco... 100 yen store = $1 store in America.

Settlers of Catan
We are a family who loves the game Settlers of Catan. If you haven't played it... you should! We have played many a Settler's game already, and I'm sure there are many more to follow. Sarah and Jon each won a settlers game on Monday---their wedding 7th anniversary!

Fun things learned:
1) there are MANY convenience stores and vending machines for drinks in Japan
2) "soo-mee-maw-sen" means I'm sorry or pardon me --- a perfect "first phrase" to learn

Our Trip to Japan: Traveling

Day 1: Traveling

We woke up at 2:45am to leave for the airport at 4:00am to pick up our beloved friend Jen Fraher (who was our ride) at 4:25am in order to make it to the airport at 5:00am. (And make it we did!) We even had time to stop at Dunkin Donuts for coffee and some doughnut holes along the way.

We flew to Dallas-Ft. Worth first. Mark was a champ...praise the Lord!! The layover in Dallas was uneventful-- Popeye's for lunch, Starbuck's white mocha for caffeine-- ready to board.

The 13hour flight to Japan- The plane was magnificent! As Chris said, our seats made us feels as if we were in first class. Headrests that conform to your head, lots of legroom, a tv (with movies, tv shows, and games) for each of us, complimentary headphones, pillow, and blanket, our own personal overhead compartment... What more could you ask for? How about 3 empty seats next to us?? That's right-- we had our own row of 5 seats when we only paid for 2!! Mark was able to lay down and take a good 5 hour nap after his hyper-ness wore off.

Arriving in Japan- Customs was a breeze. Having a baby with us sent us directly to the priority line (no wait!)....Thanks Mark! Sarah was eagerly waiting for our arrival and to meet her nephew. Upon first introduction Mark snuggled right into her chest. It was so sweet!!

Arriving a the Pfeil home- Olivia, Annabella, Calvin, and Jon greeted us with squeals of excitement as we pulled up to their house. For the rest of the day we settled into our room, ate waffles, chatted, and fought sleepiness. Great times!!

Fun facts about Japan learned on day 1:
(1) Most Japanese vehicles are either black, gray, or white. The culture is very group oriented so most people don't venture outside of those colors.

(2) Everyone backs into parking spots.

(I will edit this shortly with pictures.)

Visiting Great Poppie

One of the perks of living in Ohio is being near my Poppie (or Mark's great- Poppie). These pics document Mark's second time getting to hang out with his Great-Poppie---(the first time being when he was 1 day old!). I cherish the memories of watching them together. It was so sweet!!

Loie, Poppie, Mark, and Me

Chris's 25th and Papa's 50th Birthday

I haven't updated our blog in almost a month and quite a bit has happened. We have lots of fun pictures, so I'll let them do most of the talking....

Chris's 25th Birthday:

The festivities for the day began with German pancakes for breakfast. Chris woke Mark up for the occasion. Chris's gift was money for a grill. Both sides of the family contributed to the grill fund. ---He will get to shop for one when we move into a house--- fun, fun!! The evening ended with dinner and (of course) cheesecake....yum!!

Papa's 50th Birthday:

We had a wonderful time celebrating Papa's 50th birthday. It was good to reflect on the godly example and leader he is for our family. Our weekend filled with lots of love and laughter. We certainly missed Aunt Molly, but it was good that Mark's cousins (Olivia, Annabella, and Calvin) got to spend time with her!