Konnichiwa.... and that's about the extent of my Japanese so far. :) This is just to let you know I'm alive and well and living it up in sunny Sendai!

Actually, I have an ulterior motive, I want your prayers! But first I'll tell you what I'm doing. I'd like to make it at painless as possible so I thought I'd write it as an acrostic... I'll bet no-one's thought of that before! So here we go... using the letters of Konnichiwa (which means 'hello').

K is for Kids. I never claimed to have any ability at looking after kids but that doesn't seem to have made a difference as lately I've been helping at kids' Christmas parties, teaching kids' English classes and next week I'll be running part of a kids' Christmas party with an Australian theme (not my idea I promise).

The great thing is that even though I have no idea what the kids are saying to me we can still play. Actually, working with kids hasn't been that big a deal but it started with a k.

The Izumi Park Kids Christmas Party.

O is for Old Ladies. Last week I had the pleasure of helping at two ladies' English classes. Surprisingly, it was heaps of fun! The ladies were great and even offered to cook dinner for myself and Raymond who is the other short-term missionary I'm working with. They cook great food too... I really hope we're invited back next time!

As you can see, the ladies aren't that old but there's no 'L' in 'Konnichiwa'.

N is for Nose because lately I wish I didn't have one. The weather isn't too cold yet but something in our cosy little hive seems to trouble my snozzer. Please pray for my health in the cold here. It's a miracle I haven't got sick yet.

N could also be for yoshiNoya which is Japanese for McDonald's. Well, not really, that's something like Makudonarudo, but McDonald's is really expensive whereas Yoshinoya is really cheap so we eat there nearly every day. I think it's Japanese-style food but it may as well be any cheap and nasty place in Chinatown.

N is for Nihongo ga yomimasen which means "I can't read Japanese" (I think so anyway). And that would explain why I didn't realise I was parking my bike illegally earlier in the week and later had to retrieve it from the bike pound. As I found out, you can't just park your bike anywhere in the middle of Sendai, you're supposed to park it in the multi-storey underground bike parking lots (which even come equipped with elevators and bike conveyor belts!).

I is for "I got killed by black bugs on my video game" which is a 'gurge song that has something to do with living in a video game. And that's how how I choose to characterise Japan this week: Life in a video game. Everything sings at you and plays video game tunes!

The traffic lights sound like birds cheeping. Heaters, hot water systems play songs while a girl's voice announces something over the top (possibly "This heater will soon self-destruct, please clear the area" but in my ignorant bliss I just enjoy the tune). Even the garbage trucks sing a song so happy that it makes the Mr. Whippy tune sound like a dirge. Apparently during the Astro Boy anniversary the home city of Astro Boy played the Astro Boy theme song every time a train arrived. I can't believe I missed that!

C is for Chirashi which means soomething like 'flyer' or 'junk mail'. I'm not sure which one. But I spent several days last week making flyers announcing the church's Christmas events and I had to learn this word so that when we were distributing them I wouldn't put them in the 'No junk mail' boxes. Please pray for people to come to the Christmas service next Sunday and the special English Cafe on this Friday.

H is for "He's a lumberjack and he's okay". During the first few days Ray and I were invited to help some missionaries with their yardwork. This involved clearing a big section of the forest (all the trees had been fumigated anyway and had to come down) so they could replace an old drain. I was stoked! After months of desk work there was nothing I wanted to do more than some hard physical work: cutting up logs, carting logs, building a porch, clearing weeds... and best of all... chopping wood! I think I could chop wood for the rest of my life. After each day we were completely spent but really satisfied. I only wish we could have done more of it.

Bam! Even more fun than it looks!

I is for I'm running out of ideas.

W is for Woeful which is the state of my Japanese. Arriving in Japan has helped me realise how little Japanese I know and how much everyone else knows. I feel prententious just saying "my Japanese". Please pray that I'll have time to study and practice Japanese!

W could also be for Washoku which means "Japanese food" (I had to look that up) which everyone seems to be interested in. Well, it's great! We've been eating ramen, sushi and heaps of stuff I could describe but not pronounce. Sendai (where I'm staying) is famous for grilled beef tongue. Although the tongue comes from Australia I'm still really keen to try it. I'll let you know how it is next week.

Finally, A is for Address. A lot of people have been asking for my address and finally I have discovered it:

1-13-6
Nishikicho Aobaku
Sendai 9800012
Japan

Probably my name should go before that too. At this stage I'll only be at that address until the end of December (about the 29th I think) so don't send stuff to that address unless you think it stands a reasonable chance of arriving before then. I might still be able to get the mail but there's no guarantee. Otherwise, the following address might work:

506 Residence Onodan
Onodan 7 - 1 Onoda Aza
Daiaqu Ku Sendai Shi
Japan 982 - 0014

While I'm at it, Ray and I are sharing a mobile so if you need to ring me you can ring:

090 288 28580

You'll need to put the international prefix and country code in front of that of course. If someone answers the phone and says "Washing machine" then it's probably just Ray or I showing off our amazing Japanese (actually Ray's Japanese is amazing, so if you can't understand the person on the other end, it's probably him).

And finally for those of you who don't have time to read the whole email (or who have forgotten already) can you please pray for:

My health
The Christmas services the church I am helping is running
Time to study and practice Japanese

Thanks heaps for anyone who does pray for me. I haven't had time to tell you about all of the things we're doing here (which is probably good news for you and for me!), but rest assured we're working really hard!

Thanks again! See you next time!

Brian.

PS- Sorry if I don't reply to your emails very quickly... for the most technologically advanced country in the world it's really hard to find somewhere to do my email!