BEST Snowboarding ever!

The BEST club had their annual snowboarding trip... it was freezing cold and it snowed constantly during the three days we boarded.

Oops, the group shot didn't turn out so great. Let's try the group shot one more time...

now that's better.
Joanna and Masashi
The first night we tried to have discussion but the guys fell asleep waiting for the girls and one of the guys was harder to wake up than the others. So Tomoko poked him with a key... but nothing could wake him up...

Jumbo toast was an interesting new food. A jumbo piece of toast with egg and mayonaise baked on top.
Mamo, Mark and Masashi dig in.
Mmm mmm mmm so good.

Without even knowing it, Sae and Joanna brought the same pair of pajamas.

Jo, Megumi and Mamo
Snow seat. Mamo and Jo

The last picture before we left.
The snowboarding trip was awesome.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmastime here in Tokyo.

The BEST club celebrated this year with their annual Christmas party.

Thank you Mary and Jennifer for an amazing meal.

Thank you BEST club for another fun-filled year.

The food was yummy... and looks yummy too, right? Kyle and Keigo carve the turkey.
Mary and Fuyu bring the food down the hall from the kitchen.
Mikey Wang, who was visiting from America, played "O Holy Night" for us.

He's amazing.
Yasushi, Sae, Tatsu, Ayumi and Sayumi
Fuyu, Kong, Tatsu, Masashi, Chisato, Ayano

Sae, Asako, Sayumi, Ayumi, Keigo and Mary
Mamo, Ayumi, Kie, Megumi, Yuuri, Kyle and Jennifer
Mikey, Saaya, Tomochan, Tomoko, and Yasushi
Fuyu and Asako organized a fun Christmas game for us.

The whole group.
Waiting for presents...

The after-party
Merry Christmas BEST CLUB!!!!!

Fujisan

BEST CLUB CLIMBS MT. FUJI!!!! Before we head off to Mt. Fuji, we stop at a combini to prepare for the strenuous climb. Here's Ty, Masashi, Mitkun, and Yasushi. They are pumped.

Kie: "We have to drink how many bottles of water??? 3 Liters???"
Rebekka: "Uhhhhhhhhh...I'm hungry."

A Jedi Fight: Mark vs. Random Mt. Fuji Security Guard

Lisa, Meaghan, Kyle, and Joanna at the sixth stage taking a break.

Kon, Mikey, and Mamo

Ayano and Fuyu - the strong and the youthful.

The beautiful sunrise.

The reason why Japan is also known as The Land of the Rising Sun.

The steep climb.

Almost at the top of Mt. Fuji.

Mikey embracing the "top of Mt. Fuji" sign.


Although Mt. Fuji was a difficult and long climb, it was good to be refreshed by the misty rain.

Dancing For Fun

EnJOYing the SETTERS from Psalm25 and Vimeo.

Scavanger Hunt

Today we had a game called, a scavanger hunt with the SETTERS. They dressed up and hid around Tama Center. Yasushi is waiting for the game to start.
Shanghai's kakuii shirt!
The team that won! Sae, Shanghai, and Jo (Kie joined us later)
Our first "find" Lisa as a pregnant woman and Ariel as a street performer. Their challenge for us was to sing, "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys.
Mikey was dressed as a child coming from school. He wore Abbie Rood's backpack and hat. His challenge was to play a game with him.
Rebekka and Chris were hip hop dancing in Tama Center and their challenge was a "dance off".

Curt was a sports player and his challenge was to score a soccer goal against him.
Meaghan was a European tourist... oh, she looks lost.
Her challenge was that we had to perform, "I'm A Little Teapot" in front of people at Tama Center.

I missed a picture of Ken because I started getting this crazy notion that we could actually win... we were running around from person to person. Lawerence was our last SETTER to find. His challenge was to find something for his "soup" (he was a chef).

Mary
AYANO EGASHIRA!!!!!

Welcome Back from America!!

Mikey
Racing through Tama Center... Lawerence and Akio, Mikey and Tatsu, Mary and Kie

Despite their faces, I think Chris and Kay Kay enjoyed their day. Kayla had a full day of activities.
Kayla enjoyed eating ice cream, dancing in Tama Center, and playing in the dirt.Ariel, Meaghan, and Jo enjoyed their day as well.

Leaving on the train... heading out to get some sushi before calling the day "quits"!

Don't you think the SETTERS are SO MUCH FUN?

I am really enjoying their time in Japan.

Nikko and Camping

Welcome to Nikko! Tokyo BEST plus Tokyo and Utsunomiya SETTERS

Shinta (Utsunomiya), Meaghan, Rebekka, Mamo, and Yasushi

Lisa, Ayumi, and Kie
Curt, Mikey, and Chris... although I think Chris is peeking.


Thank you, Mikey Wang, for these amazing pictures.

look closely...

Meaghan and Saaya

Ayumi and Ariel
Then we loaded up...

literally and headed off to the campsite.
We had a firebuilding contest...

the nightsky was beautiful...
Dinner and settling in for the night...

The next day we had a blast playing in the river...

we all washed our hair and "cleaned up". Ken went "spear fishing"... he didn't catch a whole lot...

A great picture of Mark.... The boys dug some amazing holes and even "caught" some of our friends.

It's Sumo Time!!!

Mary and Joanna! Tanoshimi!!! We tried to stay awake in line. Mark even played us songs on the guitar.

But we were so tired. Cho nemui!
Masashi gets ready to sleep...
Soon it was time to go in.
It's Sumo Time, Baby!
We stayed out all night for free sumo tickets. We got the fourth row.
This was just a practice but it was amazing to see the wrestlers so close.
In my "box" were Mark, Kong, Masa, and Joanna.

The rooftop keeps the sand court or dohyo below clean and fresh.
After the sumo wins, other wrestlers try to go next, "Pick me!" they shout.

The famous "sumo pose". This is actually their warm-up. This is the practice between #1 Asashoryu "the Boss" and #2

Asashoryu was amazing.

Subarashii!!

After the bouts, we waited to meet the sumos.

Here is Mark and a sumo shaking hands. They were great. Some Sumos were friendly...Joanna and a Sumo.

Up close!

The brave woman who stayed out all night to watch sumo.

Cheryl and Caroline are from Washington D.C.

They came to help with BEST activities for a week. I was SUPER impressed with one of the world's oldest sports. Bravo Sumo! I learned many things today;

1. it's rare their mawashi falls off but if it happens, it's an automatic loss...

2. it takes a lot of talent and dedication to be a sumo

3. the biggest controversy with sumo is their exclusion to women participants. In fact, women are not even allowed in the dohyo because it is believed it would violate the purity of the dohyo. Whoa. This was brought up by a Governor who was a woman and wanted to do her governoral duties by presenting the prize at the end, she has thus been denied. (wikipedia.com/sumo)

4. they live a strict regulated life, are restricted from driving, they must wear traditional Japanese wear (yukata/kimono/wooden shoes, etc.) when in public...

5. they live in a house called heya to be trained together. Currently there are 54 houses for 700 wrestlers. Sumo is regulated by an association. The members of the association, called oyakata, are all former wrestlers, and are the only people entitled to train new wrestlers. (wikipedia.com/sumo)

6. they are not allowed to eat breakfast but eat a large lunch washed down with beer followed by a nap. This ensures that they will put on weight more effectively. (wikipedia.com/sumo)

7. matches often last only seconds as the opponent is usually thrown out of the ring or touches down within seconds.

8. it was fun to stay out overnight and watch the sumo competition

9. and finally, a Sumo was first mentioned in a text written in the 8th Century, it is considered one of the oldest sports.

I (Joanna) had so much fun learning these new facts. For more information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumo

BEST BBQ 2007

This year's BEST club BBQ was so much fun. We had a blast.

This is Madoka, Yumi, and Megumi with Joanna on the train.

These three girls are freshman at Shuto Daigaku. They are SO much fun. BEST club boys take care of the cookin'!! Ty, Kyle, Mikkun and Masashi!
The group gather for introductions.
We ate yummy American style hamburgers.
The BEST club ladies gather on the riverside for lunch.

After lunch we played skits.

We had to act out different machines; here is Team #1 with their act of the television.
Here is the team that acted out a fan. It was really cute.
Here is the team that acted out the escalator.
Our BEST BBQ has a great location. Here Jennifer, Abbie and Joanna look at the water...
Taka and Kyle
Jin shows us, she has "skills" on the skateboard.
Takayasu is showing us a few of his tricks, too. Wow, Ty, you are CHO cool!

Mary gives Abbie a ride after the long day.
I love BEST CLUB BBQ!!!!

2006 Tanoshikatta... 2007 Tanoshimi

Tokyo BEST 2007 on Vimeo

Snowboarding 2007

Here is the group that went snowboarding (Tomo is not pictured. He was having too much fun!) Some of the guys!
We made friends with local staff.

 

BEST Snowboarding

The snowboarding trip allows us good time to talk to each other.
Here is Mamo and Masashi! Trips also give us opportunities to play games and try new challenges.
Here are the girls trying to "untangle" their arms.
Masashi, Jennifer, and Joanna loop arms and try to stand up, using each other for support.
Discussions at night are lots of fun.

 

Christmas with BEST club

We had the BEST club Christmas party. Mary and Tomo organized the whole thing. Subarashikatta ne? Merry Christmas BEST CLUB! We had a fun party December 15th with amazing food, three speakers, and some new games. Dessert was amazing. Thank you Mary's sister Jean, for the cheesecake and peppermint bark. Joanna wrote a speech and then Yuri translated it into Japanese.

She talked about her first year in Japan.

Everyone enjoyed talking and eating together.
Thank you Mary, for organizing the gingerbread house making contest. Tanoshikatta!!




















The gingerbread houses were judged by Abbie and Josiah.
The winners were "Mommy" (Jin) and Kie (picked by Josiah)
Abbie chose Yuri and Dan's gingerbread house.
We had two speeches; the first one was given by Himeji, a Christian student from Utsunomiya BEST club. He talked about his personal story and how he became a Christian.
The second speech was given by Tomo; staff from Utsunomiya BEST club. He talked about Santa Claus's history and how it ties into the gospel. (Saint Nicholas)
Later we moved outside to exchange gifts and say goodbye. Dan, an exchange student from U-Nebraska Lincoln, is leaving this Monday. Everyone is sad as for the past three months he has been able to join our B.E.S.T. events.

Dan will graduate this Spring with a degree in international studies and then will serve the United States with the Marines for four years. We are so proud of him and wish him the very BEST at what God has for him next. PLEASE come visit us again, Dan.
Here the students are giving him a farewell gift.

BEST club guys (minus Yuri who had to catch his train)
The BEST club girls
Mikkun, Joanna, Ty, Masashi, and Mamoru
Sooo.... Dan's leaving and all the girls are sad. Ha ha!! It was a great party. THANK YOU MARY and Tomo who organized a wonderful Christmas party. Thank you Tomo and Himeji for coming to speak to our BEST club.