As I was biking to work this morning I passed by an obaasan (grandmother) walking her small house dog. I got to thinking about dogs as I usually do in this scenario. I often see older men and women walking various breeds of small dogs here in Kambara. I thought about dogs living in Japan; do they act differently here than they do back in the states? Of course they understand different language- do their Japanese owners tell them to “suware” (sit)? If I reproduced these same syllabic utterances, would their dog sit for me as well?

I thought about Yori living here in Japan. Would she be any different? I thought about it for a moment and then determined that no, she’d be just as inane. She’d still look at you with that same puppy dog innocence. She would still be hot on the trail after the same imaginary rodents. And that sideways trot, I’ll never forget that.

Last night I went into Shizuoka again. I’ve been going with increasing frequency, and this trend will probably continue. Now I have a draw. Ruth has introduced me to several of the Shizuoka Navigators, and I’m beginning to get involved. I went to Joy Fellowship church on Sunday with Ruth and met Brain and his wife Marjorie as well as Mark and his wife (I forget her name now). Mark has been serving with Navs overseas for more than 20 years now. He just got back from a 6000 km road trip in the US to glean laborers for the Japan mission field. He was also there to raise support and make new connections with Navigators based in the states, since he hasn’t lived there for so long.

I have been helping out with BEHOP twice a month, a Navigator outreach club for adults. Its draw is “cheap English lessons” which is a very common “in” for missionaries working over here. It has been a lot of fun, and I plan on attending every lesson I’m in town. Already the BEHOP organizer, Ginger, has roped me into helping her move furniture in her house after Church this Sunday, so I’ll be back in Shizuoka again. Ginger has been living in Japan for 12 years now, and I would guess she is getting close to 70. I asked her why she’s living in Japan and she said that she had hosted a Japanese college student each of three years in a row back in the states. Each student took a third of her heart back to Japan, so after the third one left, she just followed her heart. Ginger speaks perfect Japanese now and translates the Sunday services into English for the helplessly lost (aka, me).

Last night’s visit was to meet the new mid-termers who will be living and working in Shizuoka with the Shizudai (university) BEST Club students. BEST Club is very similar to a campus Navigators organization; however, the vast majority of BEST members are not Christians. They do all kinds of different activities together all led by Christian missionaries who also present the gospel, lead Bible studies for interested students, etc. Elbert and Mandy are the mid-termers; they’ll be here for 2 years and maybe more. At dinner I found out that Mandy is from Kearny, Nebraska, and knows Lois, my aunt! She said they went to the same Church and would say hi to each other on campus. I won’t say “small world” cuz everyone always uses those words and we know it’s true. I will say though that I think this world is more connected than anyone realizes. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise, as we discover these connections often. For me the best part about discovering the connection is not the excitement or the “what’r the odds?” but the ease of conversation that is inherent when two people share similar experiences and topics. So cool, I know new people and will be seeing them frequently this year.

I’ll leave you with one interesting observation, which apologetically I think may only be amusingly interesting to people who have lived here:

Why are the spoons so big and the toothbrushes so small when they’re both intended for the same mouth?