Introduction to Japan

Hello and fasten your seatbelts as you get ready for a whirlwing tour of our life in Japan. We have been in Japan for 3 months now. That's been long enought four us to: go through our first tube of Colgate that we brought with us, get settled down and feeling normal in Japan, and decide that we should give you a look at what things are like over here. So we have compiled pictures and explanations to make a Website that accomplishes that.

Arrival

We arrived in Japan on Jusly 26. We flew seperately. Sarah from Chicago and Dan from Toronto. We met in Tokyo. We stayed there for 3 days and then headed to Kumamoto Prefecture. We did homestays separately for a week before moving into our appartment. Below are a few pictures from those first few days. They seem like forever ago.

Picture 1: Sarah's flight to Japan. We're not sure you can tell, but we were right in the noses of our planes. First class sure is nice. For sure you can't see all the food and drink we consumed. Its all in our stomachs. Picture 2: This is the day we left Tokyo and first encountered life in Kumamoto. We were picked up at the airport by our two supervisors, seen here. Ask Sarah how many times she has talked to her supervisor since. He's not to talkative, or good at English for being the head of the English department. Picture 3: The urban wasteland of Tokyo. Skyscrapers and more skyscrapers.

Home

We live in Hondo City. Hondo is a town of 40,000 which is a real good size. The people are friendly and welcoming. We live in a small appartment in the middle of the city.

Picture 1: Dan lazing in our appartment. When we came that was all you could do on account of the heat. See our shadow doll, Mom Sybenga. Picture 2: This is a picture of our neighbourhood in Hondo. You can barely see it, but there is a big green net that marks a golf driving range close to our house. We can always locate our home based on that. Picture 3: In Hondo. There is a shrine in Hondo with a bridge right in front of it that dates back to the rebellion of the Christians in Japan.  Picture 4: Dan toiling in the garden. It was all weeds at first, but now things are growing there.

Friends

Since coming to Japan we have made numerous new friends. Some are people from school. Others are JETS or other foriegners in Hondo. Still more are friends we have made through church.

School

We came to Japan to teach and teaching we are. Teaching has its ups and downs and the kids are not always the best. But, relationships with teachers are building, friends are being made outside of class, and some learning of English is being accomplished.

Picture 1: Dan teaching. The first week we had self introductory lessons. We had to tell about ourselves and our countries. This is Dan in action. Thanks for the flag Josh. Picture 2: Dan's supervisor Nakamura. We have desks beside eachother. Nakamura is a great help and speaks great English. Picture 3: Dan and Sarah at the Haiya festival. The first week we got suckered into this festival. We had to dance for what seemed like forever in these small slippers. Dan's feet hurt for a week. Picture 4: Dan and Sarah with some of Sarah's students at the festival. Picture 5: Sarah strutting her stuff.

Nagasaki

We have made a number of trips since arriving in Japan. One of our favorites was a one day trip to Nagasaki with Dan's supervisor, Nakamura. There is a lot to see in Nagasaki and we saw almost all of it. Boy, were we tired. From the colorful, to a Dutch influence, to the tragedy of nuclear war this century, Nagasaki has it all.

Picture 1: Sarah loves artistic photos and this is a dandy she took of some fish vendors in Nagasaki. Picture 2: This is the biggest shrine in Nagasaki. If you can see it look to the left of the center of the shrine. There you will see tonnes of boxes full of sake bottles. Alcohol is really religious here. Picture 3: This is the statue at the Nagasaki Peace park. It is huge. The leg crossed stands for contemplation, the other leg symbolizes readiness for action, the hand hovering over the land stands for peace, and the hand pointed up reminds of us of the what horrors can come from the sky. Picture 4: This was an artistic photo taken by Dan, surprise, surprise!

Scenery near Hondo

We told most of you that we would be living in a remote island off of Japan and that it was supposed to be beautiful. Of all the things we told you this one definitely holds true. Hondo is right on the coast of one of the bigger islands of Amakusa, a group of 120 islands off of Japan. The ocean, the coast, the sky, and the varying shades of green that adorn the trees certainly make our home a beautiful place that exemplifies the creative energy of God.

Picture 1: Taken in Hondo. This is the view of the International Hotel in Hondo. Actually the hotel is behind the mountain. But by the palm trees is a wonderful outdoor all you can eat restaurant in summer. All you can eat is rather rare in Japan and I think foreigners really worry the management. Picture 2: This was taken at Matsushima about 40 minutes from Hondo. One morning during Kumamoto orientation we arose early and got this great shot on a hike up the mountain. Picture 3 and 4: Taken near Takahama, 20 minutes from Hondo to the west. The west coast of Amakusa is spectacular.

Thanks for taking the time to check out this page. Please send any comment or questions to dsrins_syb@yahoo.com(please put an underscore between the two s'. This program won't print one)