We had a great three-day weekend. On Sunday we went to church at the Hamamatsu Church of the Savior, which Elisabeth’s parents planted 25 years ago. Worship was so fun. They even sang “Friend of God” in Japanese! Elisabeth’s dad, who I call FIL (short for father in-law), preached a great message about walking by faith and so being joyful even when you’re feeling lost in your journey with God.

BTW, this church has an incredible number of screens for their video team: eleven! You can watch Sunday morning services live on via the web.

Yesterday, Noah reached several milestones: he refuses to eat baby food any longer, he learned to clap and he now knows how to safely back down from being up on a couch.

Today (Monday) was a national holiday in Japan: Labor Thanksgiving Day. Elisabeth’s dad drove us out to Kakegawa where the Fowler family first lived when they moved to Japan thirty-one years ago. We saw where Elisabeth lived from age two to six. We tried to find her kindergarten school, but so many rice fields had been turned into homes and apartment buildings that we couldn’t find it.

We got to visit the Kakegawa International Christian School, which is run by Paul & Cheryl Bostrom, Elisabeth’s cousins. They have thirteen children!

Interestingly, Kakegawa is the site of the main Yahama piano plant.

Today I learned how to use iMovie and am have a blast playing with it. Now, if only iMovie would quit crashing constantly!

New Japanese word of the day: Tomodachi (友達; ともだち; or トモダチ) means friend.

Interesting factoids about Japan:

• they record birthdays according to the year of the Japanese emperor who was reigning at the time of birth. Other dates are recorded with the emperor date as well.
  
• they still use bank books. When you go to an ATM machine, you insert your bank book into it. The ATM will print a line for each transaction in your bank book and when you’re done it spits it back out. No monthly statements are mailed because all records are in your bank book. Transactions are recorded in the emperor year.