What a difference a year makes...

At this time last year...

I was in Ghana.
I was teaching 8th Grade Science, Health, Chemistry, Physics, and Physical Science.
I was sweaty.
This is right around the time crap hit the fan with a situation at school.
I was praying for electricity and water.
I was counting the days until Christmas break.
I was ready to go home to America and never leave again.
I was in Africa.


NOW...

I'm in Japan.
I'm teaching Life Science, Pre-Algebra, Physical Science, Algebra I, Chemistry, and Geometry.
I'm not sweating.
I have a church I love.
I get to eat cheap sushi whenever I want.
I can have Starbucks and McDonald's.
I'm in Asia.



What a difference a year makes.




I keep reflecting on my time in Ghana, which I think is only natural since I'm somewhere new I NEVER thought I would be. Amanda and I talk about it a lot and she misses Ghana much more than I do right now... and she probably always will. She's able to look on the bright side and remember the good stuff easier than I can. Of course I miss the friends I made there EVERY single day - really, I do - but I don't miss Ghana yet. I hope that someday I do because I will never regret the time I spent there. God called me to spend those two years in Africa and I'm ridiculously grateful that He did because I learned things there I could have NEVER learned if I had stayed in America. Like...

1. how grateful I am for simply having an American passport
2. the knowledge that no matter how poor I think I am, I will always be rich
3. how small America is
4. how much I love my crazy family and depend on them
5. that some of the happiest people have no "stuff"
6. how to trust God and follow through even when I really don't want to


There are so many more things that I can't figure out how to put in to words - most of it having to do with how small my American mind was before Ghana (and really, still is). Living in a third world country really opens your eyes to how the other 90 or so % of the world lives.

I'm falling in to a rabbit hole...


After a tough two years in Ghana, I was ready to be back in America with my family. My to do list was: buy a car, get a job, make some money, get an apartment - LIVE IN AMERICA.


Mind you, I didn't really talk to God about all this - I just assumed that I knew best, that I had put in my time in Ghana, and it was time for life to be "easy" for a while. Oooooh, Elyse, will you never learn???


When I got home in June, things were pretty messy and I spent LOTS of time in the hospital with ailing family members. Looking back now, the reason I did not have a job right away when I got home like I wanted is obvious - to help take care of family so everyone else can work their own jobs! At the time, I remember thinking, "It's good that I don't have a job so that I can always be where people need me... but WHY DON'T I HAVE A JOB???" I wasn't willing to get outside of my own small, silly brain to see the bigger picture. Well, I saw it but I sure didn't pay enough attention. I was so focused on what I thought should be happening in my life that I wasn't paying attention to what actually was going on in my life. I wasn't willing to listen to those convictions from the Holy Spirit in my life because they weren't what I wanted to hear.


Thank you, Lord, that I was able to be with my family and help out so much this summer. Thank you, for not giving me a job right away even though that's what I wanted - your plan was so much better. Thank you for giving me an AMAZING summer with my family.

Some highlights...

A day at the lake... SO MUCH FUN! Can't wait to do it again next summer!

In Chicago with some amazing friends :-)

With Mom waiting for the Goo Goo Dolls concert to start. Mom and I had a BLAST this summer - it was so great to get to spend so much time with her :-) Love you, Mom

Family :-) I miss you all so, so, so much!

At Eileen and Nate's wedding... Heidi and Christi, I miss you both!

I got to spend lots of time with my brothers! On this day, I took them to the water park - hahaha, funny day.

So, the summer keeps going and I'm still job hunting and getting more and more frustrated. One day I was listening to the local Christian radio station in the car and the "positive thought" for the day was about seeing waiting as preparation. I thought about that for a while and realized that maybe all this waiting I was doing for a job was really God trying to prepare me for something else - all the while I'm still kicking and screaming about wanting a job. Hmmm. That thought didn't really sink in, I don't think, until Amanda started talking to me about the job opening here in Japan...


I think we all know by now how this story ends but *spoiler alert* I'm in Japan!


When Amanda first told me about the job opening, I totally shut down. "No, I'm in America. I want to be in America. I'm not leaving again. What if it's just like Ghana?" I e-mailed the director (after he e-mailed me, telling me about the job) and told him that I wasn't interested, end of story. Well, the idea of working in Japan kept nagging at me in my head and Amanda kept talking about it, haha. So, about a week after telling the director I wasn't interested, I e-mailed him again asking him for some more information. I don't remember exactly the order of events that happened next but I do know I talked to the director on the phone, I spent a weekend in South Bend, Indiana with several friends from Ghana who all enthusiastically encouraged me to accept the job in Japan, and then when I was officially offered the job in Japan (while still in South Bend) I was also offered a job in Columbus at COSI on the same day. WHAT are you trying to do to me God???

The job in Columbus was sort-of a dream job working for COSI - a place I love. It's a place all about science so what's NOT to love??? I wanted that job. Oh how I wanted that job! It would keep me in Columbus, near my family, and I would get to be with people who get nerdily excited about science like I do everyday. The downside: very little money, only part-time, no benefits.


To be offered two jobs ON THE SAME DAY... Geeze.


The job in Japan was something I had only begun to consider in the previous two weeks. Would my family be upset I was leaving again after telling them I was in America to stay? Would it be just like Ghana? Is this really where God wants me to be?


In the end it was an easy decision I was just too scared to make. Japan was absolutely too perfect of a fit for me for it not to have been designed for me. Plus, it came with more pay than the COSI job (not a lot more, but more nonetheless) and health insurance. PLUS - I would get to live with Amanda again! So, after lots of prayer and lots of talking to lots of people - I accepted the job in Japan and here I am :-)


I am LOVING living in Japan! I am LOVING teaching, which I honestly did not think was possible.


I go to an AWESOME church.

I have all the textbooks I need.

I have more science equipment than I know what to do with.

I get to have SEASONS again and watch the leaves change and maybe even SNOW.

I have always had electricity and water (and don't know why that wouldn't always be the case).

I can keep up with my favorite TV shows, find new TV shows, and can even watch FOOTBALL - all online, all free.

Packages come right to my apartment and if they're too big for the box, the post office will deliver them later the SAME day at the time you ask - they won't even open your package and rifle through your stuff nor will they charge you to receive your package!

I'm not afraid to be outside at night.

And even something that sounds like a bad thing but I'm actually enjoying... I'm up to my eyeballs everyday in planning for SIX preps - again, the work of at least 3 teachers.




I heart Japan.



There are only two things about which I can honestly complain about Japan.

1. MOSQUITOES. I thought I left those in Ghana... apparently not. Oh well, just another 100 or so scars to add to my already ridiculously scarred body.

2. The language. Now, I know perfectly well that this only has to do only with my own shortcomings as a single language speaking American... but it's still frustrating. Even as I'm doing my best to quickly learn the language, I know it's mostly a fruitless effort since learning Japanese doesn't involve learning one new language - but three. Three new sets of hundreds and thousands of new characters that are all used interchangeably and all three sets are used woven together. It's enough to make a foreigner crazy. Plus, in Japanese the words aren't separated by spaces like in English... they're all strung together. Also, English has 26 letters to learn, in contrast to one of the sets of Japanese characters, Hiragana, has at least 100 - and that's just one of the THREE sets. There are so many characters because instead of just stringing a few characters together to get a new sound (like in English, re versus ro for example) the Japanese just invented another character... bah. Another set of characters, Kanji, has thousands. Thousands. And those aren't "one character per sound" like Hiragana, one character will represent the word "tree," for example, while another will represent "forest." Admittedly, the two characters are similar for tree and forest but for me... they might as well be Egyptian hieroglyphics. Again, I know this is not a problem with the Japanese language or Japanese people because they understand it perfectly well - I'm the foreigner and it's my job to learn the language but that doesn't make it any less frustrating when all I want to do is order dinner somewhere and I can't.


SO. Some highlights :-)

My first sushi in Japan!!! I got to Japan one day before my birthday so Amanda and I had sushi on my birthday :-)

My little bedroom!

Everyone at Amanda's birthday dinner!

My classroom! See the PROJECTORS???

Amanda and I doing some exploring!

Japan has some of the greatest signs. This is one of my favorites because of the expressions on the mother and baby's faces.

The whole secondary went on a retreat = a lot of fun!!! Unfortunately, I missed this picture... oops.

In short: I miss my family and American but I LOVE Japan. Praise the Lord for bringing me here!



If you're interested in seeing TONS more pictures... visit these websites...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2420946&id=7703737&l=215188036b
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2432757&id=7703737&l=c07d949506



Please pray for:
1. my time here - that I would always keep God first and would always trust Him before trusting even myself
2. my students - that I would be able to always be a Christ-like example for them
3. my students - some hard stuff has been going on at school with them and they need prayer - prayer that they would lift each other up instead of tear each other down




Love to everyone in the States :-)