Sam went to work and the girls and I had school.
October 15, 2018 - Our daughter Annie received Salvation from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!!! She became my sister in Christ! It was a school day and we were going over an AWANA memory Bible verse and discussing what it meant (Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord). Then she tells me that she wanted to pray to Jesus after she dies and I explained to her that after you die, it is too late. You have to accept Jesus and confess your sins before you die so that you may spend eternity with Jesus. The prayer is simple - do you want to pray right now? She whispers "Yes." I tell her "ok go ahead". And we close our eyes and she prays quietly "I love you Jesus. I'm sorry for my bad sin." I was totally not expecting that to happen today - I was really tired that day and almost cancelled our school day! This was my second child to accept salvation while studying their AWANA books - AWANA has had such an impact on our family! We discussed baptism (the public declaration of your faith in Jesus Christ) and she was excited!
During our time in China, Annie has also started reading!! Phonics is a really hard subject for her, but she has been diligently practicing her blends (consonants + vowels) and finally made the leap to 3 and 4 letter words. She has even started reading sentences!! We have been working towards this goal for over 3 years and was challenged because of her delay. We just kept praying for guidance, patience and wisdom on how to slow the pace and change the curriculum to fit Annie. Thank You Jesus!!!
A really neat series our 8 and 6 year old have really enjoyed is the Magic Tree House Books. We read the books on China, but they have books on many countries and other subjects as well! Highly recommend!
Sam is working long hours - regular work day to interact with people in China and then evening shifts so he can work with the people in the US. He is really tired! He is doing these longs days quite often! But he is getting in some neat witnessing opportunities - like with our driver, Mr. Di! Mr. Di lets Sam play his music in the car, so Sam plays his Christian music. And when we have housekeeping in the apartment, I usually have a sermon broadcasting on my phone. We are eager to share the Truth with all those around us. Please pray for our protection, wisdom, opportunities and boldness in sharing the gospel!
A few tips about China/Asia - swim caps are usually required for public swimming pools! And I love how Chinese women are generally very modest with their clothing! (Japan - not so much..). We love women’s shoes in Asia- they are often beautiful and creative!
We begin a 9 day marathon through Japan and South Korea. We begin by flying into South Korea (which has a WONDERFUL airport - voted best airport in the WORLD 12 years in a row!), have a several hour layover and then head to Tokyo, Japan for the next 4 days. The Incheon Aiport in Seoul, South Korea is BEAUTIFUL. There are real orchids everywhere as well as friendly looking robots. When we arrive, we see and hear traditional Korean musicians playing very calming music on traditional instruments. And the musicians were wearing beautiful traditional clothing. Bathrooms and restaurants everywhere (and no chinese squat toilets here! yay!) . And kid play areas abound! Great spot for a layover!! And it was no problem getting into the country - the security people were so friendly and welcoming! (Even leaving China earlier in the day was long and stressful!) However since we were arriving from China, we had to fill out all this quarantine paperwork to enter South Korea (later in the week when we fly from Japan to South Korea, it was no problem - no quarantine paperwork then! )
Similar experience in Tokyo - getting through immigration, security and customs was no problem. All the personnel were friendly. Such a completely different experience from China! Entering and leaving China is always time consuming and stressful. All the employees are very serious and we are always concerned we will not be allowed to either enter or leave.
Few things we notice immediately in Japan - they drive on the right side of the car! And many taxis resemble British taxis! And as expected in a city that holds 37 million people - our hotel room was TINY! The room barely fit 3 twin beds (that we all shared) and the bathroom was similar to an airplane bathroom (it even had the same door found on airplanes!) . But they provided pajamas (yuck. No thanks!) and a great view of the city. Something about Asia that is really growing on me - leaving shoes at the door and slippers only inside the apartments/homes/rooms! Shoes are so disgusting - best to not bring into your living quarters! All hotels we stay at in Asia provide slippers and in Korea/Japan - shoes are NOT ALLOWED into the hotel rooms! Sounds good to me!
Day 25
We start the day with a generous Japanese breakfast buffet (yum!!). The Japanese love curry and it is offered at breakfast (Yes Thank You!). The food is delicious and once again filled with lots of savory vegetables, soups, meats, etc. However I am not a fan of the Japanese green teas (one is called Houjicha)! I end up trying two and don't favor either!
We are finding that as long as we can greet people and say thank you in the language of the country we are visiting, that gets us pretty far!
Then we head for the public air rails and catch a ride near our next destination - Tokyo Baptist Church! tokyobaptist.org We made it to the service and it was excellent! And inspiring! TBC is a very mature, vibrant church in the middle of Tokyo. It was so exciting to see the work that is being done there! There is religious freedom in Japan - this country was the most similar to America of the 3 Asian countries we have visited. A lot of energy and wealth in this country (and signs of some of our moral decay as well).
Lots of great shopping here (yes we made it to Hello Kitty Japan as well as the Disney Japan store). Lots of nice public playgrounds too. On the way back from shopping and another train ride, we stopped at a public park with playground located by the hotel. We end up coming here several times!
Day 26
It is Monday and unfortunately most museums are closed on Mondays! But we have only a few days here, so we find a couple museums that are open - A National Art Museum and The Samurai Museum. The Art museum was gorgeous and our oldest loved it! Samurai museum was also interesting (however the 2 youngest were not so interested so I had to sit with them in the lobby while Sam/Lucy participated in the tour). International Travel with young kids is not easy - seriously considering not bringing them back overseas until they are teens!
A word about the public transportation here - it is excellent!! Inexpensive and easy to catch no matter where we go. There is always a subway/ light rail or bus available. Or if you are exhausted and don't mind the expense, taxis are always available. (However taxis are VERY expensive!!! Easy to get a $100 taxi ride - it would have been $300 to get a taxi to the airport from our hotel! However there was a convenient train ride available for the airport which still cost about $80 for our family!)
Generally, Japan is an expensive country to visit. Lots of good shopping also makes it an easy place to spend money! Food costs are comparable to America. At least we get in lots of walking with the use of public transportation!
Later that evening Sam and Lucy head to Gamers Paradise -Akihabara! This is a worldwide electronics mecca (and popular electronics shopping district) in Tokyo. Sam is a huge lifelong electronics/gamer fan, so this was a must see! All 3 of our girls enjoy playing video games with Sam (however the youngest two were exhausted, so only Lucy joined him). They had a blast! Sam was thrilled to find a 30th anniversary edition of the original Nintendo system which included 30 original Nintendo games (which are in Japanese and a few of them were never available in America). A Neat find!
Day 27
Tuesday we catch an all day tour of Mt Fugi! Beautiful scenery, wonderful english speaking guide - it ends up being a highlight of our trip. Well worth the expense (tours are not inexpensive - however can be well worth the expense. Our tour guide talked about Tokyo, Japan, Mt. Fugi and more for most of the trip! Very informational!) Beautiful to see the fall colors - and very cold! Snow on the ground!
A note about Japan (and Asia) - there is a lot of smoking! And smoking inside restaurants/public spaces is ok! In Japan, the work attire is very formal. Everyone wears suits (mostly pencil suits). They are very sharp dressers!
Japanese typically have 2-3 kids. However they have an aging population and a severe worker shortage. Minimum wage is equivalent to $10-12USD. Only 3% unemployment. Great place for foreigners to live and work. And they are making it easy for foreign workers to bring their families.
We passed lots of rice and grape farms on the way to Mt. Fugi. We drive by tons of gorgeous Japanese Pine Trees (they have red bark), Japanese Maple trees and Japanese White Birch trees. Mushroom hunting is very popular on Mt. Fugi. (As is mountain climbing. Young children all the way up to someone 105 years old have climbed it. The tour guide said it is an easy climb, however it still looked daunting to me!)
On the way back from Mt. Fugi we passed a sad area called "Suicide Forrest". It is so dense and magnetic compasses do not work in that forrest. Evidently many Japanese come here to commit suicide. Shintoism is a popular religion here (we visited a Shinto shrine on Mt. Fugi). I know National Suicide Awareness day in America was recently. Suicide is a large problem in Japan as as well as in America (it is the second leading cause of death in young people around ages 10-30 in America!). Please be in prayer for Japan. That they would know Jesus Christ and His great love for them!
Day 28
We take a train to the airport and fly to Seoul, South Korea! It is only about a 2.5 hour plane ride.
We flew one a new airline called JinAir. It was really interesting experience - the flight attendants wore jeans! (I was tempted to take a picture but was not sure if that would be rude?). The safety manuals were hilarious! My guess is the airline is run by a young person!
After we get in and take a taxi to our hotel (which ends up being more of a bed and breakfast), we relax and take it easy. It was hard getting a hotel room in Seoul! Not many hotels. It is very common for people in Seoul to rent out a room or even their apartment to visitors. So our lodging is not great but we make it work. If you are ever in Seoul, South Korea, I do NOT recommend The Mei Haus! Run by a couple of young men and resembles (and smells like) a dirty frat boy house (yes I remember my college days). Not a place I wanted to stay then and definitely not at age 37 with a family! The so called continental breakfast was bread. However I will say that I enjoyed a popular Korean Green Tea - Brown Rice Green Tea. It was pleasant all by itself (I usually like milk, sugar or honey in tea). Highly recommend staying in a real hotel in downtown Seoul if possible.
A few positives were that we were not far from public transportation and restaurants/markets here (it is also good in South Korea). Easy to catch a bus/subway or light rail. And inexpensive. Food costs are also comparable to America (not cheap like China).
Downtown Seoul is clean and beautiful. Once you leave that area, it is pretty dirty, trashy and older. Very difficult to ever find trashcans in Seoul. However like in China and Japan, lots of construction projects in Seoul. It is exciting to see these countries emerging from wars, oppression and civil unrest and rebuilding.
And same toilets in S Korea and Japan as in America! Yay!
Day 29
We spend the day visiting The National Museum of Korea - a must see! Gorgeous! Lots of great exhibits (much of which is free, including the Children's museum!). The Children's Museum was excellent and did a great job in teaching the kids about Korea but in fun, easy to understand, interactive exhibits.
Day 30
We spend the day on a half day tour of a Buddhist temple, one of the palaces from the Josean Dynasty, the National Folk Museum, a changing of the guard ceremony and a tour of a Ginseng store (Ginseng is a very popular remedy in Korea however we did not purchase anything).
A note about Japan/Korea - you can use your debit cards here! They don't work in China. In China we find ATMs that accept our cards and then pay for everything with cash (which would probably make Dave Ramsey happy anyway!)
Korea/China - they drive on same side as America.
Napkins in Asia are basically small squares of toilet paper. Small and thin and not very useful.
The tap water in Japan and S Korea was fine. We drank both. S Korea actually has better water than the US. US has 12th best drinking water in the world. S Korea has 8th.
Day 31
We went on another half day tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with N Korea. Learned a lot about the history of Korea, its' division after WWII and the Korean War. Very sad story. Many Koreans had family in N Korea and cannot have any communication with them. Much has been done to try to bring the two countries together but they are still separate. Praying that they would be reunited and the dark forces at work in N Korea would be expelled! Thankful for the US Troops still in South Korea to defend them from N Korea/Russia/China if necessary. And thankful for the US troops that participated in the Korean War! It was not our country that they had to defend but instead honored our pact with South Korea to aid their defense if necessary. South Koreans have a great respect for America and it's military!
In the DMZ, and surrounding area, there is very good farmland. DMZ is only a few kilometers wide. They grow rice, soybeans and ginseng.
There are Christian Churches everywhere in South Korea! There is even a big cross in the DMZ! Excited to see the religious freedom in South Korea and believers at work in this country. A few facts about the two parts of Korea:
S Korea has 50 million people. Many own vehicles. Mandatory military service for men for up to 2 years.
N Korea has 25 million people. Very oppressed communist country. Only 1% own vehicles. Mandatory military service for men for 10-13 years; women for 7 years. No religious freedom. Very dangerous place for Christians.
China is also becoming increasingly dangerous for Christians. Recently heard of a group of 300 Chinese Christians that were kicked out of the country. Heard not long ago from the Voice of the Martyr Ministry of a Chinese Pastor who was helping people from N Korea that was killed.
Day 32
Checked out of smelly hotel and headed to Seoul International Baptist Church! A wonderful time in Bible study and great service! Sam went to a men's group and I went to a ladies group. The girls loved their time with the kids and asked if we could come back. Definitely loving the amazing opportunity to see this side of God's amazing creation and developing a huge love for the Asian people! Hoping we can come back some day! We see that there is definitely a need for mature workers in these churches. SIBC just started a church plant in another part of Seoul - exciting to see their growth! Please be in prayer for both SIBC and TBC (Tokyo Baptist Church)!
Later that day we head to the airport and fly back to Dalian, China. We are exhausted (got in a ton of steps this week!). But what amazing things we saw and people we met! Thank you Jesus for this trip!
