Starting a New Job

I can't believe that Christmas is only 2 weeks away!!! Time sure is flying! It's hard to believe that we have been over here in Japan for four months already. It's even harder to imagine that we were praying for cold weather to come not more than 2 months ago... Well, we asked for it. You may have noticed in the past few posts how cold we said it is getting. It finally snowed this week here in the city; just enough to be really wet and slushy as we rode around on our bikes. Most of the snow has all melted though and isn't supposed to snow again until next weekend.


Some of the cool things that happened this week:


1. I took the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) Level 2 last Sunday. I had to travel to Fukushima which was about an hour and a half away to take it at the University there. I did some studying for it but maybe not as much as I should have. I'm not saying that I completely bombed it, but at the same time, not saying I left with the feeling "wow, that was easy." Just to give you an idea, the JLPT tests foreigners' Japanese ability in reading and listening including the reading of various Chinese characters (Kanji) and lots and lots of vocabulary. There are five levels with Level 1 being for fluent speakers and Level 5 being for beginners. Needless to say, the test was pretty intense lasting almost 4 hours with a 20 minute break.


2. This week Emily and LaNae helped the sisters in the branch for a cookie making activity. I decided to head over for the activity too and found that the missionaries and some other brethren had shown up for the activity as well (somebody must have told them there were cookies...). Both Emily and LaNae made a few batches of cookies before the activity and made one batch with the sisters so that they would know how to make them. They also made some simple frosting to go on top, wrapped them up, and took them to friends and other members of the Church to invite them to the Christmas party we are having on the 23rd. It was a lot of fun making and decorating the sugar cookies.

3. We were able to have dinner at Steve and LaNae's apartment tonight. We made Japanese curry with chicken katsu. It was way yummy and had fun visiting with them.


It was a busy week, but next week is going to be even more busy. The Aizu Wakamatsu International Association (one of my employers) has asked me to teach at another school called Aizu Bange 2nd Junior High School. I'm excited because I haven't really taught the junior high school aged kids yet. It's another experience that will broaden my skills as a teacher as I am now teaching in grades 3-6, college aged, older people (through private lessons), and now junior high school.


I hope that everyone has a great week and that you are all enjoying the holiday season! Love you all lots and appreciate your love and support.