Genie in Japan

Home Sweet Home

There was an earthquake in the middle of Pastor Sasaki’s message this morning during the worship service! At first I thought the dude behind me was just kicking my chair, but suddenly people started saying “jishin! jishin!” in hushed voices. The sanctuary rumbled for a little while, and I was worried that the spotlights might jiggle off onto someone’s head. Earthquakes are fascinating. I think. Anyways, Takashi was sitting next to me and deeply concerned, he asked “Are you okay?”I was like yeah, yeah, it’s cool, happens all the time in Cali. And the weather today was just like home, sweet home–sunny, breezy, and beautiful. I can’t wait to bust out shorts and flip-flops. Now if only they had In-N-Out in Osaka…

Banking

I hate going to the bank in Japan. Reason #1) I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. Reason #2) I really don’t know what the heck I’m doing. But anyways, today I absolutely had to go to the bank to pay for my plane ticket back home (yikes). Because I can’t read any of the forms or understand any of the processes, I go up to the bank teller and say, “Excuse me. I’m sorry. I don’t speak Japanese.” If they look confused, I then say, “I’m from America.” Even though they’re still confused (because this Asian face is saying “I’m not”), they proceed to help me out the best they can…today the adorable banking man walks me over to the ATM and said the cutest thing: “seekureto namba pureezu.”