Sakura and Scaffolding

Greetings from Kobe,

I don't have much to post about, School's out and our English classes are on hold until next week, so I've had significantly more free time. I have been trying to get out and walk each day, see a bit more of the area and finding some new shops, some useful and others not so relevant for me.

So some small things from the past week.

1: If you notice the new banner I put on the blog, that is from this past Wednesday evening with our students from the Wednesday night class. Because we missed classes earlier in the month because we were all a bit sick at the time, we had an extra class for those students. Additionally, one of the students just graduated high school and is going to start college in Osaka in April, so we decided to make it a special outing as a farewell for her. We had a good evening, practicing English and walking around a more central part of Osaka. It was a lot of fun and it was interesting to see the Cherry Blossoms in bloom at night. Here is another picture from that evening.

2: Speaking of Cherry Blossoms, it is that time of year that they are in bloom so I am seeing many trees with white or light pink petals all around Kobe, and across Japan in general. Cherry Blossoms, also called Sakura (さくら – 桜), is a significant symbol in Japanese culture and identity. Thus when they are in bloom, it is a significant time of the year and something many Japanese will spend time going out to view. Here is a picture of some Cherry Blossoms that can be seen from my apartment, please ignore the scaffolding.

3: Speaking of Scaffolding, the apartment building is having some work done on it. It seems like they are working on some stuff on the roof and fixing some other exterior issues as as they prepare to paint. I am not a hundred percent certain but I believe the outer structure of the building is concrete. I am not certain because there is a layer of stucco on the exterior to make the building look less dystopian (For my friends in Tucson, if you have ever been to Pima Community College's West Campus, then you get an idea of what I am talking about.) Anyways, that is another motivation for me to get out and take a walk, especially since their drills reverberate through the whole apartment.

Anyways, That was a quick update on my daily life in Japan. Maybe not quite as interesting or active as other posts, but school will be starting soon and our classes will be back to normal the beginning of April.

A prayer request, I am considering some long term plans. What I will do after getting back to Tucson? What options do I have to stay in Japan longer? Are there other options I should look into besides those two? I am looking into some options but it is a bit too early to give details, once I start hearing back on these options, I will give an update. Please pray for wisdom as I consider these options and what I am going to do moving forward.

Another prayer request, please pray for my studies. I am trying to learn Japanese, although it is going much slower than I would like, and I am trying to learn to be a better English teacher. I believe both of these will improve my opportunities to continue on here in Japan.

Thank you for your support and God Bless,

Carl

p.s. I know someone will ask why I haven't posted more pictures of my Japanese students, a part of it is because there are privacy concerns in Japan. I did film some students at the church services but it was under the condition that it would not be broadcast and only shown at my home church. Maybe I will be able to post some better pictures as I gain a rapport with the Japanese students.