Type-A Asia

Last night I returned from a week in Nagoya, Japan. As the country's fourth largest city its skyline still made for an impressive view:

Cool sky tower gave an
impressive 360 view

We also got some city views from atop Nagoya Castle. Nagoya Castle was built in the early 1600s, with much of it being destroyed during WWII and then reconstructed years later. One of the rulers who either lived in or helped build the castle (this was one of our first stops and I think we were still jet-lagging so the history is a bit fuzzy!) strongly opposed Christians. His influence helped stamp out much Christian influence in the city.

Less than 1 percent of the city is Christian. I was told from friends living there that the family structure in Japan is on the weak side. Of course this isn't true of all families, but just as a whole, the family is not the most important thing in Japan. It's the job and career and being professional. So in a a sense providing for family is important, but the actual loving your spouse and spending time with your children, not as much.

If you look around the subway stations, it's filled with people carrying briefcases, wearing blue/black and white, and walking straight and tall (no slouching). They are people who work hard and want to excel in what they do, and I admire that quality of excellence.

They are also a people who have mastered living in small spaces. Side note: A friend there told me to picture it like this: Take the United States, divide it down the middle and now shove all those people into the state of California. See why Japanese must be experts at living with no personal space?

In this home, the sink actually sits on top of the toilet:

And in this public restroom, you have a soap dispenser AND hand dryer all in one station!

So efficient. They even thought about what would happen if you were an out-of-shape tourist not used to walking around all day in the heat:

This is in an elevator. The sign
says, "Take a little break.
Have a seat."

Their city streets are SO incredibly clean. And quiet. Lots of people ride bicycles and, being Japanese, you'd never just leave your bike lying on the street. You would, of course, place it neatly in the bike rack:

Their buildings are clean too, probably because they often take their shoes off. We also do that where I live, but the slipper thing was new to me. At schools and at a community center we had to take off our shoes and wear the slippers they provided. They were always way too big for me.

The last night of our visit we attended one of their big festivals and enjoyed some of the parade. This may be a hard-working culture, but they do know how to have fun!

Great place for a fan!

Speaking of fun, the high school we visited had some interesting options for afternoon "club" time. The first photo is our boxed lunch at the school, the second photo is of Kendo practice:

Everything was pretty good except the pasta, which
tasted too fishy for me.

A few other photos from the trip:

Drink machines are everywhere! So handy. 

It's universal!

One of the rainy days. The long area in
the middle is a flat water "fountain" of sorts.
Still not sure it's purpose, other than to look cool. 

This is chicken, rice and Japanese curry. I'm not one
for seafood, but I do like curry. 

Just a short walk from our hotel. 

This "golden dolphin" image with the head
of a tiger is a symbol in the city. Legend has
it that this animal could cause rain to fall. Thus,
temples and castles were often adorned with the
dolphin statues in order to protect from fire. 

The "bullet" train that brought us to the airport. These
trains are so precise, down to the second.

Laos

Over the July 4th weekend I visited a friend in Laos. It’s still hard to think that in just one hour on a plane I can be in a different country for the weekend.

My city sits within the valley of mountains, but in my friend’s city it’s like you’re actually living among the mountains. And it’s beautiful. I just soaked it in during the arrival, but on the return trip I tried to take a few photos from the airport and my seat window, working around my wing/propeller view:

Nearly 80 percent of the Lao population lives in rural areas. My friend’s home is up a hill on a dirt road, no street name or house number. Her washing machine is hand-operated. When she wants drinking water she waits for the truck to sporadically come by her house during the week and honk the horn. She goes to the market or minimart for groceries:

But just a few minutes from her house is the touristy part of town. It’s a scenic, quiet, quaint town situated along a peninsula: 

The library was one of our first stops. 

Cute cafe where we ate 4th of July lunch

Of course the lunch was burgers!

So many charming restaurants and hotels

Where we ate 4th of July dinner and tried
different Lao dishes

View from hilltop after visiting a museum 

It's kinda hard to tell, but this is an outside restaurant where we ate dinner one night. You can sit in different "huts" and seating is on the floor. 

One of the main attractions is a waterfall about 45 minutes out of town. The songthaew ride through the country side was just as worth making the trip:

The water was so blue!

 We also got a great view from a popular look out point:

But first had to climb so many steps! We climbed
many more staircases like this one before
reaching the top.

The worths were worth it!

One of the best moments was the ride back to the airport. I felt like such a local carrying my suitcase while riding on the back of my friend’s motor bike. I wish I had a photo, but I haven’t graduated yet to that level of motor bike riding skills. Maybe next time.

They're coming!

In about two weeks a team of high school and college students (including some from my home state, yeah!) are coming to volunteer at the school where I help English. They'll teach in the mornings and do outreach in different villages in the evenings.

Last year about this same time a similar group came to volunteer with us and they proved a tremendous help in building relationships and making progress with outreach. They bring lots of fun and energy and, most importantly, love for Him.

Please ask that He would use this team in mighty ways. Please ask that during their time here we'd see hearts turn to Him.

Vietnam

I posted awhile ago about Halong Bay, but hadn't gotten a chance to post other photos from the trip. These are a few from a friend who went with me:

Lake in the historic/old city area of Hanoi. 

Fruit and vegetable sellers everywhere!

I was impressed with the bike riding ability
of Thais until I saw the Vietnamese. Who knew
you could carry so much on a bike?!

They really do wear these hats. It's not just for
the tourists. 

Sitting down for a meal on the sidewalk. Very common
sight throughout the country.

The famous Temple of Literatue

Beautiful cathedral in Hanoi

Pagoda known as the One-Pillar Pagoda

More fruit for sale. 

They love cinnamon! 

One of the craziest intersections I've
ever seen. 

View from across the street 

We found the secret to crossing the street: Wait
for a local and go with them :) 

View from the tall (really tall!) towers