The Weekend

Last weekend was pretty great. One of the other volunteers went with an ARI missionary's family to see a couple of Shrines and attend the Ajisai Festival. (Hydrangea Festival) It was absolutely beautiful and his two little girls are very artistic so we stayed in the park for over an hour and walked around while they sketched and took pictures. (They are 5 and 8 yrs old.) Their drawings turned out pretty great too.

(That's their Uncle Andy in the background.) 

The moment I arrived home from the Ajisai Festival, I jumped on my bike to join some of the other volunteers for a pizza party at a nearby park. Then we rode our bikes to a Karaoke place for Nicole's birthday party. Then, on Sunday, we rode down to the river and spent fours hours hanging out and swimming. (I of course got a sunburn.)

After I got back to ARI and fed the pigs and piglets I went to Jonathan and Satomi's house (United Methodist missionary couple) for a group dinner to say goodbye to Ban-san and Jean hae-san before they left for a two month speaking tour in the US.

I spent last week helping Ban-san build the new duck pen and Jean hae-san pulled me away from dinner on Friday night to give me a dazzling necklace with a cross and a pearl on it. She gave it to me and said she wanted me to have it because she and Ban-san have been looking out for me and they were impressed with the fact that I attended church with them a few times. These two really reminded me of Grandpa and Grandma Hollern. They were some of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever met. God Bless them, I will miss them dearly.