Dad's in town, basketball with friends

I can't sleep. I'm elated and overwhelmed by the fun day I've had. Writing as I am snuggled up in my warm bed on yet another winter cold night. It is Sunday. My dad is in town on business! Today we spent the day together. We met at 8 at the train station, had breakfast at Denny's, and walked to church (along the lake). We had so much to talk about you wouldn't believe it's only been a month and a half since I was home visiting.

"Daitai" and "Chanto" - Understanding Japanese work ethic

In my last post I discussed starting a part-time job at a restaurant and a presentation at town hall. The presentation went really well. The only difficulty was that although the audience was made up of Intermediate to Advanced English learners, my topic has some really complex English words. I knew this beforehand and I budgeted an extra 30 minutes longer than my practice speech so that I could speak slowly, articulate, and explain big words. (Think a lot of hand gesturing) They probably did not get all of it, but we were able to engage in a fascinating discussion about where the world is headed environmentally, and whether or not the current problems are too big to tackle. I ended up

My job to love

This week's post comes at a time of a lot of changes in my work and service at the church. It feels like a time when I need either to work a lot harder, or give up. That "do or die" time. God brought encouragement to me in this reminder (below). Feel free to download it! I made it so you can use it as a Facebook cover photo (if you want)! Right-click, save image as...to save it.

Korea for the weekend

Korea for the weekend - link here - http://jacquelinejoseph.wordpress.com/2014/03/15/korea-for-the-weekend/

Presenting next month

I'm going to present at the city office next month! 1 1/2 hours on the business of sustainable design - my university research topic. Three times a week I study Japanese at the city office (I do believe I'd written on that previously) and last week they mentioned how there is an upcoming 'World Culture Seminar' and they are looking for presenters. Basically, the topic can be anything. So, I emailed that guy my spiel, and vuala! He said I'm in! So, I'm preparing now. Like I said I covered this topic extensively in my final semester during university. I am pretty passionate about the whole 'eco' thing, you could say. I come at it from a point, however, as a designer because the designer is the middle man - an effector for good or harm to the environment. I won't get into all the dry details of my speech. Plus, I need to work on adjusting my audience to low-level English! The fun begins... Also! I've gotten the opportunity to take up a side job - one of those working nights-only restaurant jobs. Super thankful for the opportunity to earn extra cash, and experience too! An answer to prayer! Anywho, the owner will give me a test run this Thursday so please pray that it goes well. I hope to work there a few nights a week. I'll keep you updated on that. Peace!

First Day of Snow - Mito, Ibaraki, Japan

LINK: http://jacquelinejoseph.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/first-day-of-snow-mito-ibaraki-japan/