いろいろ is a very convenient word when you're learning Japanese. It's means various, as in:
What kind of cakes do you like to bake? いろいろ。
I have some catching up to do on my blog, so I will write about いろいろ things. :)
First, I would like to say that Skype (see photo) is great. I celebrated Christmas with my family over Skype and then had a great party with my roommates and classmates for my birthday. I am super blessed.
I also got to spend my first white Christmas in the area where the tsunami hit last year. I will write my next prayer letter about the trip, but here are some extra pictures. There are really no words, seriously. But you can see a glimpse in the pictures that the devastation is still incredibly serious. The people in Tohoku welcomed the donated Christmas presents we delivered with joy. You can see that I spent time helping to cook and hanging out with kids, since I'm still learning Japanese. For more about the trip, next week please take a look at http://www.ministryupdates.org/eads
Being back in language school is quite the adventure. The amount of reference to alcohol never ceases to out-do itself. This week, one of our kanji was sake (酒). The teacher that day proceeded to act out drunkenness, which I just can't quite picture happening in the classroom setting in America. She keeps us awake though.
Then today, I was thinking that we actually didn't really discuss alcohol at all. We're learning about intransitive verbs. But then, I remembered that shortly after we celebrated a birthday during our break, the teacher mentioned wanting a beer. I think it's a daily topic, with very few, if any, exceptions.
Oh and Happy Belated New Year! I got to visit a temple, as is the Japanese custom. I went with the crowds and watched them wave smoke over their heads (a tradition to make you smarter), threw coins, and read fortunes. Then we went where you can by almost any Japanese food and souvenirs. I'm thankful I could experience they typical new years day in Tokyo!
