Annual First and Last Ever English Club Olympics

Today we had the Annual First and Last Ever English Club Olympics!! It was an hour of frenzied battling of English questions, trivia and spelling for Gold and Silver "medals." The day was full of spoils and splendor as the two nations (teams, that is), Japan and America, dueled for the championship of the Annual First and Last Ever English Club Olympics.




Here's a member from the Japan team as he humbly accepts the Gold "medal" in the Basketball Trivia Competition winning the medal with a last minute two-point shot into the trash can. The Basketball Trivia Competition was followed by the Spelling Bee which was then followed by the Baseball Questionaire Competition.




Team USA couldn't hold up to the fierce combat issued out from Team Japan. Here is the US Team in their defeat as they eye the Japanese Team and the championship prize!

So, the Gold "medal" champion was Team Japan pulling out a stunning and overwhelming victory over Team USA. These "Big Leaguers" know how to fight to the finish.

A special Gold "medal" and an "honorary" American one dollar bill was given to the MVP of the Annual First and Last Ever English Club Olympics who managed to sweep the boards earning a total of three "medals": two gold and one silver.

A round of applause for all who fought valiantly in todays Annual First and Last Ever English Club Olympics!!!

Fabulous Fall!

Last Saturday we ventured to the top of the Hakkoda Mountains for the last time. Last weekend was the peak for the fall colors so we decided to make our last trek in Japan a memorable one. And it was quite a sight to see. We both agreed it was refreshing to be out of man's creation and into God's creation. We ascended the slopes with the sound of the wind rustling in the multi-colored trees and the smell of the crisp and cool fall, mountain air. This is opposed to the sound of cars zooming, smell of garbage and gas, and the sight of claustrophobic concrete.

Words don't do justice for how great it was to be in the Creation that the Lord breathed into life...

World Wonders

Since the beginning of time, our time in Japan that is, we have witnessed an incredible sight. Every morning for about a year on our walk to the train station, we saw a true rarity--

SHOVEL TRUCK!

This is a jeep with a detachable shovel of various shapes and sizes instead of a spare tire. The uses of this special tool are entirely innumerable. A regular truck is just a worthless pile of metal next to the magnificience of SHOVEL TRUCK. ("it can't be helped" but to write the name in capital letters it is so powerful!) What would a regular truck do if a difficult situation arose? How would a regular truck move a pile of rocks blocking its path? Or how about an avalanche of snow? How would it dig a hole if the need came?

But a time came when we saw SHOVEL TRUCK no more...and many days passed without a sighting...until one day, last Saturday, while riding bikes....





There it was, in all its greatness!! Not the original, but SHOVEL TRUCK nonetheless!! Tucked deep within the gravel side-streets of Hirosaki, it lay waiting...waiting for the time of action...waiting to dig a hole!


But wait, the story is not finished!!

Last night, Tuesday that is, just three short days after our long absences without SHOVEL TRUCK, there upon our walk home from singing our hearts out at karaoke for 4 hours, the beauty, the amazingness, was before us again...this time with twice the greatness. Check it out for yourselves, although the video doesn't do justice, viewers beware, this might knock your socks off.......






We thought this was also a nice picture.