Japan, Polish WIKI, etc.

I went out tonight with my Japanese friend. We had a wonderful dinner of sushi and went to a movie. The movie was actually quite disappointing, but the night overall was amazingly fun. We spoke primarily Japanese all evening. I have never done that before, not for such a long time period. Oh, how I have missed speaking. It was quite hard though. I really haven't studied in a LONG time and I couldn't remember correct verb-endings. I should probably work on that.

Tomorrow, I will go to church and then have a WIKI talk about the Polish short film series, "Dekalogue". We watched three of the hour-long films, each of which correspond to one of the 10 Commandments. The first we watched was the first in the series: Have no other gods before God. It was about a man putting a computer above God. Sort of. It had a tragic ending and was actually quite confusing, yet of the three, it made the most sense. We also watched one on murder and one that was supposed to be on adultery. That one left a question: Does one of the people involved have to be married for the act to be adultery?

Marriage. What an interesting concept. I have often said that I want to be married, but I don't look forward to getting married. It is the game that preceeds the commitment that is at the same time so intimidating and yet so engaging. Will I marry? I don't know.

Hodge Podge in my mind

Life is in an interesting place right now. I am teaching English to Japanese people in a small town in the middle of Nowhere, TN once a week. I also have my dream job: I am an assistant campus minister. Plus, I have just started my first year of grad school at a seminary. I love all of what I am doing. It's a lot, and I stay busy, but whichever thing I am doing, I want to be doing.

I made a new friend today. She is also a grad student, but not at my school. She is from Japan and we spent a couple of hours talking about translation differences, classroom management, even religion. I didn't know what to say about religion though. She seemed to be very offended by many Christians that have tried to force her to see that they are right. I enjoyed talking with her though, and we are going to hang out again. Next time, we will do it in Japanese. We are going to try to alternate languages on days that we hang out. It has been so long since I last spoke Japnanese though. I think I need to study up before we hang out agian.

I also need to clean out my car. it was awful! I opened the door to let her in my car and there was trash everywhere! I didn't realize I had let it get that bad.

And tonight, I am hanging out being lazy. It is so nice to be able to turn off my brain for a little while and watch CSI. My roommate isn't here, so that's a little sad, but also kind of nice because I don't have to worry about whether or not she is getting tired of watching the same show for hours on end.

I am a little sad. A few weeks ago, I made a new friend. He lived in a different city, but we talked on the phone and were getting to know each other. I stopped talking to him, and I really think that it is for the better that I did, but I miss him. It was nice to hear a perspective from someone who doesn't live 'round here. Maybe one day I can be his friend again, but if not, I am still glad for the encouragement he gave me even in such a short time.

Met another guy today. He stands out in my mind because he held the door for me. It was raining as I walked into school this morning, but he waited and held the door. It is nice to know that chivalry isn't as dead as all us girls claim it is. He caught my attention further when he quoted Optimus Prime when I asked him how he was doing. Precious, geeky responses like that are worth noting.

I want to do something. It would be pretty fun if there was a place to go dancing around here. Like not sleezy, sleep-with-me dancing, but like classy, social dancing. not that i know how. but i could learn. maybe i will learn. or i will go play putt-putt. that will distract me long enough to forget about dancing.

on second thought, i think i'll just stay home.

Neat New Guy

I went to church yesterday at 11am. I almost always do. But when I got there yesterday, there was this guy there that I knew I had seen before and that I had even spoken with once before, but I knew that I HAD to talk to him that day. I really didn't know what to say to him, it was just one of those certainties you can't shake, no matter how hard you try. At Greeting Time, I tried to get over to him, just to say hi. He was, however, all the way on the other side of the church and I didn't make it to him before I had to go back to my seat. When the service finished, I felt prompted again to go speak to him. All the way over I prayed, "God, please give me the words to say." (I really am very shy.) When I got over to him, I said the first thing that came to my mind, "I really don't remember your name at all..."

I am so smooth. He was very kind though, and kept the conversation going for quite a while. I mentioned my roommate several times because it seemed that she had several points of similarity with his lifestory that he was sharing with me. He was really quite open. I think it has something to do with my spiritual gift as an Ear. (If you don't understand, let me know and I will explain how people just seem to talk when I am around about things that they had no intention of saying out-loud but that needed to be said.) As we walked outside, I handed him one of my business cards and said good-bye.

. . .

Later that evening, I was at a Super Bowl party and my roommate came in. She said that some guy from my church had called and told her about a social work job. She has been looking for one for a while, and so she was excited about this news. I asked her who it was that called. She told me that it was the guy I had felt like I had had to talk to. It was really odd that he was telling her about a job in the same field that he himself is looking for one. Nonetheless, I am super excited for her opportunity.

To be perfectly honest, I am also pretty impressed that this guy that I don't even know actually called me and that he had great news for my roommate, whom he has never met.

Your Fortune Is

War does not determine who is right, war determine who is left.

The Wacky Fortune Cookie Generator

Essay on Salvation

Essay topic: My traditional understanding of salvation DUE MONDAY

Salvation starts with an understanding of God. Let's use an analogy: God is like a bucket of white paint: pure, clean, unblemished white paint. God cannot let even a drop of green paint into his bucket or it will cease to be white and become very very pale green. In other words, God is perfect. He cannot let what is not perfect (sin, green paint) into his presence or he ceases to be perfect and thus to be God. But if there was a way to change this green, to make it go way, then the paint would be white and thus able to join God. Death is this cleaning agent. It wipes the slate clean so that one can work from a white canvas (or start from white paint). The problem is that once a person dies, and their sin is equalized out (since death=price of sin), then they no longer have life to spend connecting to God. But, if someone else could pay that price, then you would have a new life to spend in communion with God. The problem is that everyone has their own death to pay and you can't die twice. You would need someone to die that didn't need to die themselves. Since Jesus had no green, he could already be with God. When he died he was able to pay the price of for sin, for EVERYONE. If you give you "bill" of sin to Jesus, he will pay it for you, but he can't do that until you choose to give it to him.