virtual u.n. at the y.

...in addition to ongoing one-on-one language sessions on tuesday evenings and thursday evenings, on jan 12th we started a three-month language course at the kobe ymca...we attend classes on monday and thursday mornings...we couldn't be more pleased with the pace and praxis of learning japanese along these two lines...

...there are 10 students in our ymca class (half of whom are pictured below)...




...our class at the y. is a virtual u.n., hailing from switzerland, germany, mexico, el salvador, south korea, taiwan, china, indonesia, and the united states...while that's to be expected in a foreign language class, it has nonetheless been rewarding to learn about our classmates' respective backgrounds as we pose basic japanese questions to each other...

...today we had lunch with maria alicia, our classmate from el salvador, and her husband, donner...

...while listening to latin american music, we ate tacos (using corn tortillas!) with tangy pico de gallo...talk about hitting the spot...having minimal knowledge of el salvador, we learned so much about their country of approx 5 million as well as their shared passion to improve their country after donner finishes his master's in economics at kobe univ...on our train ride back home, i remarked to claire, "i think we may have had lunch with the future president of el salvador"...

...we're eagerly anticipating more meals and excursions with some or all of our classmates...join us in praying for opportunities to share the gospel in word and deed...