Leaving the city of Date later tonight... and going crazy until that time arrives. Well, not right now. Eating udon with crab and kimchee seems to help quite a bit. Not gonna be posting until probably the 6th when I touch down into LAX.

The plan...

March 22: Leave Date
March 23-29: Mission retreat in Nagano (Karuizawa)
March 30- April 6: Trip to Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nikko, Tokyo.
April 6-9: Los Angeles Re-entry/de-briefing.
April 9: The Yay.

Haven't been posting because I've been spending most of my free time packing and cleaning. Oyy. Who knew that stuff multiplies like rabbits?

I'm going going... back back... to Cali Cali...

FYI. I'll be back in Northern Cal on Friday April 9th, Good Friday. 12:37PM into Oakland Airport... United flight 6501.

Great article about Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion. Seems to echo Danny and Cal's thoughts and opinions. Haven't experienced the hype and controversy, but based on CNN's website reports, I can probably make a good guess what it's like.

I am weary. Not just tired. But weary. I'd appreciate your prayers on my behalf.

I got a phone call today from my mom saying, "Congratulations, you have been accepted into Fuller Theological Seminary."

Since my mind is going all over the place with preparations for the move back home, I'll take an except from my journal back in January.

Stephen's speech. In describing Moses' early activity as recorded from Acts 7:23-29, Stephen uses very active verbs. "Decided," "went," "killing," "thought." Verse 25 in particular is interesting. "Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not." Looks like he thought wrong. But beyond that, I think it interesting at the choice of words: "His own people." This probably doesn't mean that he was the leader and they were his people. I see this more like he was trying to be like his people... that he was trying to join his group, confirm his identity maybe. I guess something like trying to be a leader without taking the responsibility. "Hey, I'm one of the guys, man." Later in his life we see him pleading on "his people's" behalf. Responsibility, the responsibility of the spiritual leader is felt. Truly, the call and responsibility of a leader is great. It is true, not all of us should desire to be leaders. Only a few can carry the burden required.

Today we reached a new level of cold...

Most people back home will say that it's cold when they can see their breath outside. Those same people will say that it's freezing cold when they can see their breath inside. Well, today, as I was going to the bathroom, I noticed that my urine was steaming. Nasty stuff. Seeing that kind of steam rising up toward your face. Scary!

Then again, it could be worse. Asahikawa, a city out here in Hokkaido, doesn't snow sometimes. At times it'll get so cold that it won't snow. Instead of snow, ice crystals fall from the sky. The Japanese people call the stuff "diamond dust." Very scary!

Since Steve said that my last post was a waste of time, I'mma gonna post again.

A couple of days ago, I went to the train station to reserve some tickets for a trip I'm taking around Japan after I leave Date. Went into the office, sat down, and waited for a guy to come out and help me figure this thing out. A guy came out a few moments later and I tell him that I'm looking for a way to get to Nagano prefecture from Hokkaido via local trains. We talk for a while, clarify a few things, and it looked like everything was going well.

Then, his attitude changed. He started getting gruff with me and it was obvious that he didn't want to be there anymore. "Are you done?" "Do you need me anymore?" After a few minutes, he said, "Do you understand?" and I obviously didn't, but I said "Yes," and ran away.

Later that day, I talked with a few Japanese people about the incident to try to figure out why his demeanor changed so rapidly. Most suggested that he might have thought I was treating him like a retarded man. Why? Because I probably didn't speak perfect Japanese. That's right. I speak inperfect Japanese, and the guy takes that to mean that I think HE is retarded. Does this not make sense to anybody else out there?

Ahhhhh!!!!

I'm going nutzo. It's just starting to hit me. I'm leaving in a few weeks! The whole feeling is weird but very familiar. It feels just like graduation. Looking forward to the future, have to move forward, but kinda hesitant because this is what I've known as my reality for the last few years. Got a good number of boxes ready to become FOBs. Haven't worked on the FOP boxes yet though.

Thanks to Tim Clark, a fellow missionary in the Hokkaido region, most of the flooring's been wiped up, bathroom and toilet are clean, and so is the kitchen. Most of the cleaning duties are now relegated to the bedroom region.

Side note, today, the radio played the song "Summertime" by the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Yo, I was not feelin' it. -9C weather is probably not the best time to hear a song about hot weather, playing basketball outside, and driving down a street at 2 mph. Well, at least I was in a car at the time... instead of walking around with my fingers falling off from frostbite.

Have many good memories of this place, but the weather I can do without. I haven't seen a summer in a while. When I got here, and it started getting cold, I asked about how long the winters last here. The person laughed and said, "Here, we have winter, spring, and fall." I've generally found this to be true. Winter lasts about 6 months (Nov-Apr), spring lasts about 3 months (May-Jul), and fall lasts about 3 months(Aug-Oct).

Summah summah summertime...