Kobe Quarter Marathon

Stephanie's Birthday -
We celebrated Stephanie's golden birthday this past week by going to her favorite "conveyor belt" restaurant in Oji . She ate seafood to her hearts content and enjoyed chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream when we returned home. KCS makes a big deal of birthdays so she has been sung to, gifted and wished happy birthday for the better part of the month.

Reiko, the kids' adopted Japanese grandmother, remembered Stephanie's birthday and gave her a Totoro puzzle and frame to mount it in once she puts the puzzle together. She also received e-mail, phone and Skype messages from friends in the states wishing her a happy birthday which let her know she was not forgotten.

Stephanie's golden birthday in Japan

Birthday cake and presents

Michiro and Yoko Nakashima -
We traveled to Kobe on Saturday and stayed with Michiro and Yoko Nakashima. They are long time family friends whom Bob had not seen since he was last in Japan about 25 years ago. We learned the story of how Yoko and Priscilla, Bob's late mother met in Virginia when they were both in married student hosing at the University of Virginia. Bob's father William and Michiro were both in medical school when Priscilla noticed the Nakashima's were new on campus and knocked on Yoko's door to introduce herself.

Yoko shared how she cared for the Chadduck children a couple days a week and how she and Priscilla shared a life long love of music and singing. Yoko still sings with her Kobe Women's University choral group and has done so for 50 years. We were treated to a brief choral performance when some of the women from Yoko's choral group showed up to talk with her.

Yoko Nakashima and some of her choral group members

I have corresponded with the Nakashima's for over fifteen years and last weekend was the first time meeting them face to face. We went to dinner and heard amazing stories of Michiro's experiences in mountain medicine and their travels abroad to the US and Nepal as well as many climbing adventures.

What and inspiration this couple is. They are in their early 80's and so full of life, adventure and have incredible stories of travels, achievements and life experiences. We had a delightful visit. Our children were amazed at the stories and adventures the couple has experienced and really enjoyed their time with them. What a great visit and we so appreciate their hospitality and good company.

Visit with Yoko and Michiro Nakashima and their son in-law in Kobe, Japan

Kobe Quarter Marathon -
We ran the Kobe quarter marathon this past weekend and had a great time. We did not train enough but managed to run the entire race. Fun to take part in a huge marathon and run through the streets of Kobe. This was my first time in Kobe and it was a very fun city to visit. Wish we had the whole weekend to take in the sights and visit more. We hope to return in the near future to see Yoko in one of her holiday choral performances.

Fun finishers towel, medal and sport shirt even for the quarter marathon finishers! Lucky us, woohoooo!

Kobe quarter marathon - Kobe, Japan

Even quarter marathon finishers received the cool towel, medal and shirt. Wooohooo!

Fun family trip to run the Kobe quarter marathon

Dinner with Haruka and Miko -
While in Kobe near Mukogawa Women's University, we caught up with Haruka and Miko. They were MFWI students in the states about eighteen months ago and this was the first time we have seen them in Japan.

Our visit was short but dinner and together was great.

Dinner and a brief  visit with Haruka and Miko in Kobe, Japan

Thank you to our friends, family and supporters who continue to pray for us and send us note and e-mails of encouragement. Your kind words let us know we are in your thoughts and missed. Receiving these communications has been wonderful around special days like birthdays when one might tend to get a little homesick. Your prayers and notes are really appreciated and mean a lot to us. So, thank you again for your kind gestures and messages.

In Christ,

K. Chadduck

The Pilgrim's Progress

Destruction Daily News Assignment -
This past week I gave the 11th and 12th grade English class an assignment regarding "The Pilgrim's Progress". I told my students they were newspaper reporters assigned to follow Christian's pilgrimage from the City of Destruction and report back to the citizens of his community.

I provided eight elements for them to include on the front page of the "Daily Destruction News":

• Interesting article(s) a minimum of 200 words
• Headlines for their articles
• Maps of Christian's journey
• Pictures of characters he met
• Captions for all pictures and/or maps
• Interview with Christian's wife, children and/or friends
• Advertisements
• Opinion article from current Destruction resident

What I received from the students for this assignment not only impressed me but was way beyond what I envisioned. I thought it would be a fun change from our weekly literary circles, vocabulary and grammar studies but they really go into this assignment. Each pair of students also had to present the front page "proof'" to their editor as part of their assignment.

The bottom right photo slides to display a before and after photo of Christian's family when he left Destruction

This newspaper is discolored by coffee to make it look weathered and aged

Some students pretended they were newscasters and radio hosts with reporters on location in the city of Destruction and acted out interviews with citizens of Destruction. They did an amazing job and I am so proud of them. I plan to hang their front page news in our classroom since they are works art. This turned out to be a really fun assignment and I wanted you to see their projects as well.

Visit with Marina -

We met with a former MFWI student this past weekend in Takatsuki. Marina was one of the very first students we hosted in the states and it has been almost exactly two years since we last saw her. We got to hangout with her for a while on Saturday, go to dinner and then attended the Clark's International night. It was great to see her and we made plans to have her and Kazuyo stay the with us in the near future.

She is studying to be an elementary school teacher and was amazed at how much the kids have grown since she last saw them. Alex is now taller than she is and was much shorter than her when she returned to Japan.

Dinner with Marina in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture Japan

Picture at the Clark's International Night November 2015

Hope Chapel Group Picture -
A couple in our church got engaged on Sunday and we all celebrated with a group photo and watched them exchange their engagement rings. The picture is of our congregation and represents a large church by Japanese standards. Presently Christians represent only about 1% of the population, so congregations of around forty are considered a large church.

We are glad to be a part of this group of believers and are blessed to have been welcomed into the group with open arms and kindness. Praise be to God for the "Church" wherever in the world she may be.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support. Please continue to pray God will open the hearts of those He brings across our paths so we may share His good news. In Christ.

The Chadducks

Making Okonomiyaki

Hiking Mount Ikoma -

We met up with a few families, friends and students last Saturday to hike Mount Ikoma. We set out at 10:15 and did not return home until shortly after 5:00 pm. It was a difficult hike taking about an hour to get half way up the front side of the mountain. We stopped at a small café for ice cream and water before we started for the summit.

Break at the little cafe about half way up Mount Ikoma, Japan

Boarder of Osaka Prefecture headed up Mt. Ikoma. Don't know this guy, he just really wanted a picture with us.

There is a large amusement park at the top of the mountain where we ate sack lunches, drank some hot ocha (tea) and the kids rode a few rides before we headed down the mountain again.

Pikacho at the amusement park

Log ride at the amusement park

This was a really steep hike in the country side overlooking well-manicured gardens, loaded kaki trees and bamboo forests. The view from the top was incredible. Looking back over our trek up the mountain we could see Ikoma and Heguri. The other direction was Osaka, Namba and eventually we could see the ocean beyond the sprawling city below. Incredible to actually see the shore since most of the time it does not feel like we live on an island. A great time and beautiful day hiking in the mountains.

Manicured garden on the way up Mount Ikoma

Trying my hand at Japanese cooking -

So we went to dinner last Thursday at some friend’s house and had Okonomiyaki (savory cabbage pancake). It was incredible and so tasty I am going to try to make it myself tonight. This dish looks like fried zucchini, but tastes WAY better. It consists of grated cabbage, fish broth, soy sauce, green onions, Nagaimo (long yam), Bonita flakes (dried fish flakes), Aonori (dried green seaweed), sliced bacon, mayo and Okonomiyaki sauce.

A fellow missionary here at KCS turned me on to Japanese cooking 101.com and I am studying this website for tips, tricks, recipes and oh yes, how to find ingredients to cook this dish here in Japan. Armed with my ingredients list in hand, (including the Japanese names of my ingredients) I set out last Friday to buy groceries. No kidding, I had to ask four different people where the flour, dashi, Okonomiyaki sauce and Nagaimo was. I generally think I am pretty outgoing but after asking the fourth person in the store where these items were I was frustrated and honestly annoyed.

Aonori (dried green seaweed), Okonomiyaki sauce, Dashi (fish broth),Nagaimo (long yam) in that order

This experience has given me a new appreciation of being able to walk into a grocery store and find what I need to make dinner.  It is one thing to be responsible for feeding your family and another completely different issue to not be able to find the items you need to make a meal. It is humbling I tell you, humbling. I am grateful the Japanese are so kind, gracious and willing to help. Every person I asked took me right to the correct aisle and showed me the item I needed.

Someone asked me recently what has been the hardest part of adjusting to Japan. I thought for a minute and said, "Not having my American oven and grocery shopping without a doubt." I guess maybe it is because I expected to miss friends, family and to struggle with the language. I expected to be stared at as a gaijen, (foreigner), I anticipated missing seasonal traditions our family enjoys like Greenbluff and watching Riverfront Park change in the fall. I had not anticipated the regular struggle to navigate the grocery store and to cook meals my family would both enjoy and I know how to cook.

The flip side of that is, I am sometimes shocked at how normal life feels in Japan. What I mean is, I still do laundry, still do dishes, make lunches in the morning, clean the house, parent and our humanness has followed us. We still get too busy, still have homework, struggles and victories daily. I think I knew it would be this way but doing life in a foreign country brings surprises when and where you do not expect them. Not good or bad, just different and it takes time to adjust.

I digress though, back to my cooking experience. It is Wednesday here and I am feeling adventurous again and ready to attempt cooking this amazing dish. I do not like Bonita or Aonori personally so my Okonomiyaki will be served without the fish flakes and dried seaweed. I will post a picture of it tonight after I make it and let you all know if it was a success or a flop. It is hard to say, sometimes I think it will be a hit and it flops.

Headed out for a fun now but thanks for listening to my ramblings of success and failures in Japan.

In Christ,

K. Chadduck

Checking back in with pictures of tonights Okonomiyaki (cabbage savory pancake).

Cabbage, onions, Dashi sauce 

Fried cabbage pancake with bacon! (Okonomiyaki)

Smells so good in our kitchen

Oishii! (Delicious) my first attempt at authentic Japanese cuisine. Success!

Glad all my effort was a success tonight and not a flop.

In Christ,

K. Chadduck

Rice Fields of Japan

Rice Fields of Japan -

Most of the rice fields around our region have been harvested now and the beautiful, flowing green fields heavy with rice are cut down. When they were green and heavy with rice, they reminded me of the wheat fields of Eastern Washington that turn golden before harvest.

There are many rice fields in our region and most are small plots of tiered land inaccessible to large machinery. Because of the tiered fields and smaller plots, they use smaller machinery than you would see in the US where huge fields are harvested by massive machines. We observed two methods of harvesting this fall, the old way where the stocks are cut and hung upside down in the fields to dry and the more modern way with a small machine that looks like a miniature Zamboni. The harvesting machine cuts the stocks at the ground, separating the rice from the chaff and gathers the rice into large bags. 

Beautiful tiered rice fields of our region - photo by Stephanie

This time of year when the rice has been harvested, the air frequently smells of smoke as the farmers are burning the chaff from the rice. We had a discussion with the kids this weekend about what a threshing floor would have been like in the Bible since we have witnessed several farmers threshing their rice, bagging it and generating large piles for distribution.

Rice fields ready for harvest - photo by Stephanie

I am going to miss the beautiful, flowing green fields and the bent stalks heavy with golden rice. Being this close to the production of food makes you appreciate the process when you dump cups of rice into your rice cooker. Something about watching your food grow, ripen and then enjoying it that is very satisfying.

A bountiful crop of rice, ready for harvest - photo by Stephanie

Harvested rice drying in the field

Rice drying the old fashioned way

Visit with Mitsuki and Momo -

Saturday evening we attended Hope Chapel English with Mitsuki and later met up with Momo at the Ikoma train station. They stayed the night with us Saturday and got to see our Japanese home for the first time. They spent most of Sunday with our family, playing badminton in our back yard, eating the yummy cheesecake Mitsuki brought, eating cream stew and visiting a local park with the kids.

Mitsuki and Stephanie with pumpkin cheesecake 

Mitsuki, Momo, Stephanie and Alex at our favorite Koi feeding spot

We had a great time with these girls and cannot wait to see them again at the Hope Chapel Thanksgiving Dinner in a couple of weeks. We practiced our Japanese phrases and they helped us understand a few of the electronic appliances in our house.

One last group picture before we sent then back home

They also went with us to the store and helped me purchase dehumidifiers for our closets. Yes, here in Japan you need to dehumidify your house or you are likely to have your clothes mold. I learned this first hand last month when I opened my coat closet to find two of our jackets with mold on them. Thankfully I caught it before it was too bad and a good washing seems to have taken care of the issue before it destroyed our winter coats.

Dehumidifier for your cloths closet

I was grateful for their help since there are countless types of these dehumidifiers available. They explained to me some products were not only to dehumidify your closet but had bug repellent as well as varying scents. There were about 25 options to chose from I kid you not.

Thank you for sharing in our many adventures and for your prayers. Please continue to pray for open hearts as we interact with neighbors and invite students to various outreach activities.

In Christ,

K. Chadduck

Care Package from the States

Care Package from the States –

Thanks to Auntie Beth, we received a much anticipated and well stocked care package of our favorite items. Hard to explain how much you miss your favorite cereal, coffee, pencils, pens and apparently for some, candy corn. Auntie Beth was kind enough to stock a box full of our favorite items and send them to us with notes of love and birthday wishes. We are oh so blessed and rationing our items to make them last as long as possible. Thank you SO MUCH Auntie Beth. You have no idea what a treat it is to eat an “Idaho Potato” candy bar and my students thought it was great to receive something from the US as their prize for the Word of the Week. We love you and really appreciate all the love and kindness you boxed up and sent us. What a blessing, like hugs and kisses from aunt Beth is a box.

Care package from Auntie Beth in the states.

Japanese Trash –

So I know this may sound like an odd blog topic but I have been thinking about this for a while and trash is a really big deal in Japan. I thought some of you may find it interesting to know just how Japan handles trash in our region.

When we first arrived in Japan within two weeks we went to the Government office signed up for healthcare, registered as residents and signed up for trash service. While at the government building we were given a large book detailing the trash pickup schedule, what type of trash is picked up which day, and our orange recycling bin. The book is pretty intimidating not to mention I cannot read a word of it.

Japanese trash manual

They require residents to purchase designated plastic bags with their city name printed on the bags. These bags are readily available at any local grocery or Fred Meyer type store. They are not particularly expensive and come in 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 liter bags.

Clearly says Heguri right?

The first week we were here we generated quite a lot of trash as we were setting up house and purchasing many boxed items. You need to understand trash is sorted into PET, plastic, tray, burnable, cardboard, bin and special trash. We have about 3-4 different sorting bins for the various types of trash we accumulate each week. Burnable trash is collected twice a week just down the street in a large green mesh covered bin with a lid to keep the critters out. Pet is collected a couple times a month while plastic is collected every Monday and special trash like broken small appliances, worn out rugs, shoes and sun shades collected once a month on our block.

So, we gathered our burnable trash, took it out to the collective receptacle just down the street and were glad to have it out of the house. When we returned from work, it was gone. Easy enough we thought, mission accomplished. We followed the schedule and put our burnable trash out again on the following Monday. This time when I got home I was met by a neighbor who tried to explain to me we were not following trash protocol and he had graciously corrected our error last Monday. By the time Bob came home shortly after I did, I was able to explain the gist of what my neighbor had been trying to explain in Japanese.

Japanese annual trash calendar for our region

We inadvertently purchased Ikoma trash bags at the local hardware store and were happily putting our trash out every Monday in a trash bag clearly marked “Ikoma”. Well, we do not live in Ikoma, we live in Heguri and we did not have the proper Heguri trash bags. Our neighbor had been gracious enough the previous week to transfer our trash into a Heguri bag but after we made the mistake again, he let us know and was kind enough to give us the correct trash bag so we could see what we needed to purchase.

Simple enough mistake but each city has their own trash bags and by purchasing the correct trash bags they are able to maintain the service for those in the region. We profusely thanked our neighbor, took the bag and soon after purchased the correct trash bags for our region. We had no idea we needed a specific trash bag and for that matter, had no idea we had purchased the incorrect bags. So many new experiences and so many things to learn. Thank goodness our neighbors are gracious and kind enough not assume the worst and lend a hand to help us out.

Pilgrim’s Progress –

We just started reading “Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan in my 11^th & 12^th grade English class and I am really excited to be reading this book. It is one of the all-time bestselling books only second to the Bible and has an amazing history. I was reviewing many English classics when I found “Pilgrim’s Progress” listed as the number one classical book on many literature review sights.

I personally have heard about this book for many years since becoming a Christian but have never read it myself. I am committed to read whatever novel I assign to my students so I am looking forward to reading this novel with them. This book is a difficult read and the vernacular is like that of “Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn”, both by Mark Twain but once you have read it for a while the language is easier to follow.

Literary review blogs claim many readers have come to Christ after reading this book. It is written as an allegory much like "Narnia" by C.S. Lewis and the imagery is amazing with many conversations in the book quoting scripture. If you are looking for a good book to pick up and read this fall as the nights grow long and you are huddled inside with your coffee and a blanket, maybe you should pick up a copy of Pilgrim’s Progress. There are many versions and some may be easier for younger readers than others.

"Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan

Thank you for your faithful prayers and for following our adventure. We are blessed to be here and grateful for the friendships and opportunities God is bringing our way. May we all be intentional, living on mission each day in order to bring as many as possible to salvation in Jesus Christ. 

In Him,

K.Chadduck

Road Trip to the Beach

Futsal at Canadian Academy -

Last Friday the KCS elementary futsal team made a one day road trip to Kobe to play in a tournament hosted by Canadian Academy. I guess last year was the first year KCS participated in the tournament and this year they were much improved. They played three games winning two and had a great time. Thanks to Noah for coaching the team and for working with the kids.

While at the tournament, Bob and Stephanie were able to catch up and spend some time with three more MFWI students. A great time was had by all and we hope to see the Yuki’s and Ai again soon.

Yuki's and Ai at the Canadian Academy

Birthday Celebrations -

Friday my English class surprised me with a birthday party and Oreo cheesecake. What a fun group of kids and thoughtful too. (See the photos of our party on FB) After the futsal tournament, my family took me out for dinner at Coco’s. Thank you to everyone for the wonderful cards, Facebook wishes and delicious treats. I had a great birthday and really feel blessed to have some many thoughtful and caring friends and family.

My birthday dinner at Coco's

Atashika Beach –

Our family took a long road trip to Kumano and spent time together on a couple of beaches in this region. Stephanie has been aching to get to the ocean since we arrived in Japan and we took advantage of a long weekend to take a road trip. The water was warm and our family spent the day beach combing, swimming and having lunch with strangers.

Alex on the beach

Yep, apparently Bob started a conversation with a group of guys fishing on the beach and they invited our family to have crab miso soup with them. We ended up spending about 3-4 hours hanging out with this group of civil engineers from Osaka who were about our age and on their annual camping trip to Atashika.

Catching Moss crab at the ocean

They had crab traps, vegetables, tofu and miso soup cooking in a pot on the beach. They showed us their traps and after seeing what the crabs looked like Stephanie and Alex took off along the beach and caught two more with their bare hands. The group of guys were amazed since they had purchased bait and set traps and here our kids just went and caught two more crabs. We were thankful to contribute something to the meal and they were surprised to have additional crabs for lunch.

Crab miso soup for lumch!

Alex tried his first crab and we really enjoyed their company as we shared a meal together. A couple of the guys had been to California for work and one studied at USC so they knew some English.  What an experience it was and after the meal a couple of families on the beach joined the kids as they explored the rocks along the side of the ocean.

What a day at the beach

In the pot you go little crab!

Alex and Stephanie's contribution to the meal

A haircut and Sweet Potatoes –

We seem to be meeting people pretty quickly as we were invited by the local crosswalk guard/barber in our neighborhood to attend a festival of sorts on Monday. We have befriended the crosswalk guard near our house who has in turn brought us corn, persimmons off of his trees and recently cut Alex’s hair. We have had some laughable attempts at conversation since he does not speak much English and we do not speak much Japanese yet.

Alex went to the crossing guard’s barber shop and got his haircut last week. He said it was an amazing experience! Got his hair washed like three times, a shave with a straight edge (I am not sure what he was shaving) and the back of his neck trimmed with a straight edge as well. He said it was a little unnerving but definitely an amazing experience. When I picked Alex up our neighbor kept trying to give me products from his shop.

He then gave us an invitation to a local sweet potato harvest and party in our neighborhood on Monday. He told us to take the sheet to another neighbor who lives close to us that is bilingual. Turns out he invited us to a neighborhood block party if you will, where they dig sweet potatoes and cook them in an open fire. My family smelled of smoke upon their return but seemed to enjoy the outing and met more people in our neighborhood. It amazes me how much we are able to communicate in spite of not speaking the same language. Never a dull moment and we always seem to find an adventure.

Sweet potato harvest and fire

Straight from the fire, sweet potatoes for lunch

I continue to be blessed and amazed by the people God is bringing across our path. We are grateful for this experience and are trying to drink in every encounter to the fullest. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support. Please continue to pray for the hearts and minds of those we meet that they will come to know the Lord and we will bring glory to God through out interactions.

In Christ,

The Chadducks