Japanthology: What they don't tell you in the news

New Japanthologies

2006-06-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

Since the arrival of my new Macbook, I decided to support the Apple company by trying out their new iWeb feature. It's pretty cool! And two hours later I'm craving a bowl of ramen, which I have been eating all day! So unhealthy! Anyway, if you have time to spare, check it out:

http://web.mac.com/anjero

God bless!

Happy Graduation!

2006-05-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

To my wonderful sister, though it's not much, I put this little picture slideshow together as a graduation present for you. I love you, and congratulations! God has an awesome future for you, just you wait! :)

J-Impact Youth Camp

2006-05-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

Whoaaa, long time no see, sorry! I just finished finished my dvd project, so today I have to ship the hard drive back to Tokyo so that Ken can get it ready for the press. So anyway, how's everyone been? It's raining today, and I hope that soccer practice will be cancelled, haha.

Okay, this video was taken during Golden Week from Thursday through Friday; it was LOADS of fun! Basically every year churches all over Kyushu gather at some hotel and spend three days learning God's word, fellowshipping, eating, devoting together, and things of that nature. The Hawaiian team was responsible for this camp, and it was such a pleasure getting to know some of them, especially 16 yr. old Timmy (long hair, glasses), a great encouragement and man of God. He praises, and you notice; it's great!

So here's the video! The theme is called J-Transformation; 2 Co. 5:17 is the theme's verse. I hope you enjoy it! God bless you indeed!

Tokorozawa Video!

2006-04-12T00:08:00.000-07:00

Here it is, all finished and ready for viewing. The Matsudaira family is awesome, and they took care of me while I was staying with them. Mappe and Rachel and their five kids are moving to America this coming June just for a year, but they will be back in Japan not before long. I'm going to Tokyo again to help with a spring gospel concert, so it should be fun, and I'll be able to see the Matsudaira's again before they leave.

School started yesterday...it's fun so far, and I'm in a different class so maybe it'll be more interesting. I'll be a little busy with DVD project until the beginning of May, so I won't have any other videos until then. Anyway, talk to you guys later, I hope God blesses you indeed! Love you!

Back!

2006-04-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

Kay, I'm back from Tokorozawa; it's great to be home! Well, there's still that lingering feeling of missing people, but that'll go away once school starts next week. I took lots of video so I'll make that movie soon. I miss Matthew; we had so much fun together! I think the highlight of my trip was just hanging out with him, playing Stratego, soccer, and reading books to each other. :) I'll see him again in June before he leaves for Connecticut!

There will be another gospel concert at that time so the Taylor family whom I met through the Matsudaira's invited me to come back to help with the concert (film the event and such). They're Filipino and I had adobo at their house! Oh what's even more funny is that the mom cooked sheperd's pie also, I was shocked and thought of Mom. I love you! :)

So I took a placement test this Friday and I did pretty well, I'm moving to the C class but I hope it won't be so stressful. There are so many projects that I have to do and finish this month, it's crazy! Oh yea, Dr. Agnese came and had lunch with me and Jennifer at this fancy restaurant where there was a never-ending basket of BREAD. It was amazing, and it was great to meet him. Dr. Agnese is the President of Incarnate Word University in San Antonio; I think he's going back on Sunday. Anyway, that's it for now; see you guys later, GB!

Sarah vs. 熊本

2006-04-04T00:04:00.000-07:00

Hey gang, it's been awhile since I've posted something, but I did finish this video before I left. I'm still here in Tokorozawa, I'm going to go back to Kumamoto on Thursday. The Matsudaira family is cool; Matthew is awesome. But please pray for him, he hit his said and has a slight concussion; he's getting better but still has headaches. I know he's a victor and will get well soon! I'm going to create another video about my trip next week, so stay posted!

This video is for Sarah; one full bloom day we decided to go to the castle and have some fun. It was a nice day! I hope you guys enjoy this video; I don't know the title of the song, but the singer is called Bennie K from Japan (duh, hehe).

God bless you indeed!

Harvest Church 4年間記念

2006-03-29T09:16:00.000-08:00

Pastor Yoji asked me if I could make a video commerating our church's 4-year anniversary this coming Sunday. And, here it is! It's not much, but I had a lot of fun making it. :) That's Pastor Yoji with a weird face holding his youngest daughter Yume.

Nathan, my friend from Washington who I also met at Karuizawa last week, and his bro Josh finished making a little movie on their own. It's hilarious and well made; it's a cop and robber film. I won't be able to provide a link just yet (cough cough), hehe. We're all little filmmakers aren't we?

On a side note, I'm going to Tokyo this Friday to visit friends I met from Karuizawa! The Matsudaira family is AWESOME, and I love little Matthew! Expect another video. ;)

Karuizawa Video

2006-03-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

The long awaited video is finally here. Okay, here is the short story of how it finally got on my Mac. The clips were taken by a DVD camcorder, and apparently they're not compatible with Macs (yet). I was really disappointed that I couldn't edit these clips while I was still in Karuizawa. Anyways, after a long process of converting and importing, the clips made their way into iMovie from which thence I had the joyous opportunity of finally editing them and creating this movie, voila. I hope you guys enjoy, please turn up your volume and laugh freely. Love you!

Slideshow Up!

2006-03-22T04:17:00.000-08:00

Yay, it's finally uploaded to Video Google for the whole world to see! It's not much, but whenever I look at it I think about all the fun I had at Karuizawa. Just click on the picture to see!

Long Silence Ends

2006-03-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

Back! Sorry that I haven't updated this recently. It's been busy, and I think it'll get more busy since school will start back soon. I still need to finish some projects, and hopefully I'll have time to study for my placement test, bleh. Anyways, my monthly highlight was at Karuizawa this past week, and I'll upload a video slideshow thing in the near future; Google is verifying it or whatever as we speak. There are like 46 pictures, and I'm not about to upload all of them on here! So until then, God bless you abundantly, and I love you all.

A Different View of Life

2006-03-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

Long time no post, I'm sorry! Today has been a busy week. As you can see, I've been helping my friend Mark get adjusted to life in Kumamoto. Mark has minor Cerebral Palsy, which means he can still communicate very well and get out of his wheel chair. I first met him on Saturday last week, then again on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and I will meet him again next Monday.

From the bottom up:

1) On Tuesday, Mark, his coordinator Mr. Yamashta, and I went to visit another Filipina in the city. Her name is Alma, and she's from Luzon. She's only staying until April, and then she's going back to the Philippines.

2) This is Mark Espesor! The sun was glaring so...

3) That same day we visited Kumamoto Castle, and here is Mr. Yamashta and Mark in front of a samurai statue.

4, 5, 6) Wonderful castle; it'll be prettier by the end of this month, due to the cherry blossoms and all...

7, 8) On Wednesday the three of us went to see another Filipina in town. Fortunately, I knew her, haha! Her name is Lani (in the white) and her husband in blue is Allan. We met at Kumamoto University, not my university, and there we talked for 2 hours. Mark andn Allan are from Iloilo, so they were having a good time. Lani is from Visaya and Michelle, who just happened to show up (she's another Filipina I met through Lani), is from the north of Manila. And there's me, goofy.

It's nice meeting Mark, but by the 18th he has to go back to Tokyo to finish his leadership training. Then in July he will go back to the Philippines and utilise his training there. Okay, that's all for today!

Next week: Karuizawa! Finally~

これ、秘密：先週の週末、軽井沢の旅のために僕が新しいDVDビデオカメラとMDも買ったばかりです。そして、DVDをアメリカの家族に送ってあげて、みんなをびっくりさせたいだからです。こういうことは内緒でも、日本語がわかる家内の人はいないし、へへへ。

Goodbye!

2006-02-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

Leon (Australia), Ruby and Chris (New Zealand) have returned to their respected countries. I miss 'em! Now the dorm is a little quiet until the new students arrive in the middle of March.

Recent news? My mom taught me how to cook Filipino curry and I cooked it once for a group of friends, and after Leon left, cooked it again for my friend Chris (another Chris from New Zealand also). It had good results! :)

February is supposed to be the coldest month of the year in Kyushu, but today was a wonderful day! I taught my English student on campus this time, and we both enjoyed the cool breeze and a change of environment (usually we study at the dorm).

Today is a rest day; going to read and read and write; no study! Love ya, goodbye!

Proficiency Exam Results

2006-02-12T23:12:00.000-08:00

やった！落ちたと思うんだけど今ほっとした。
でも、受かったのに聴解は何だよさ！？
マジキレェ。

I'm naturally gifted at not listening. :) I pray to God that he'd change that, hehe. I'm really glad I passed this exam I took last December, but I still can't believe I got 48/100 in Listening. It's really funny, it's like the summary of my life. I think I'm going to go celebrate by studying.

兄ちゃんの見送り

2006-02-05T22:01:00.000-08:00

寂しい！

Here are some final pictures with me and Yuichiro before he left for New Zealand on Saturday. We went karaoking for the last time on Friday, and then I went with my friends to see him leave the next morning. We we're really cool together. For his present, I gave Yui a shirt of mine; I hope it fits him. But before he left he also gave me a present: a brown corduroy jacket. He's awesome, I'll miss him a lot. :(

On Saturday night, me and some friends went to this omelette rice shop in the middle of nowhere, but the food was delicious. :) We enjoyed each other's company, and after we had finished eating, we drove up a mountain and saw the stars. I had such a wonderful time, and now it's Monday.

Sunday was fun too! After church we hung out at Pastor's house, and he invited me to dinner. We had a dish called okonomiyaki; it was so tasty, and Pastor Yoji made me finish the leftovers. :)

Today was interesting, too. After teaching English to a friend of mine, Greg came over and we talked for a while. It was great seeing him out of nowhere. :) And now it stopped raining and I just finished lunch, so I'm about to go write and relax and do absolutely nothing this fine day. God bless you guys, love you! :)

Farewell Party

2006-02-02T19:56:00.000-08:00

Hey ever'one! Today is an awesome day here in Kumamoto. The sun is a little out, and it's not cold at all! Just Right. Today is a prayer day at 7:00pm, and I'm always excited about that.

So the pictures! They're of the farewell party we threw for the students who will be leaving this month. It was a lot of fun, and I'll miss them a lot. :( I cooked on this day, and everyone liked my cooking; it was all finished! Yesss~

1) Ruby in the pink skirt will be going back to New Zealand on Sunday!

2) My big bro Yui is leaving for New Zealand also to study abroad for a whole year. He's leaving tomorrow Saturday morning. I will miss him a lot! :(

3) Chris who is right smack in the middle will also be returning to New Zealand on Sunday with Ruby.

4) Son-kun, a good Korean buddy of mine, will go back to S. Korea on the 23rd, my Sis's birthday!

5) This is Tomomi; she studied abroad in San Antonio and attended my university for a year. It's so cool that we're still cool friends even today! :)

6) An-kun is another Korean dude and we get along well; he's fun!

7) A group picture of the exchange students this year. The guy in the light blue in the last row is Leon; he's going back to Australia later this month.

8) And then a major group picture! All the Korean exchange students, two Chinese students, and a student from Vietnam will all go back to their respectful countries this month.

9) Here's me and two of the workers at the International Office. Nahoko, to my left (MY left, not yours), is a good friend of mine, and she's interested in Tagalog; she loved the Philippines when she visited a few years ago.

10) Finally here is my host brother Kota and I from when I first came to Japan and stayed at his house for a weekend. It's cool that we're still cool together!

Okay that's all; hope the pictures turned out okay! Love ya guys, GB!

Church

2006-01-22T04:52:00.000-08:00

I had such a wonderful day today, I think I'll cry happy tears again tonight. My roommate Frank came with me today, and he was really blessed by that experience as well. Greg was even teaching him from the Bible. And lots of food! We had a great pot luck, we were all celebrating Ru-chan's recovery (God's miracle that she didn't need surgery), Kota and Kaori who became Christians two weeks ago, and me for becoming an adult! Even though I didn't really qualify for the occassion since I'm already 21, there's a holiday here that celebrates the coming of age when the young people turn 20. Oh I can't write much more, my heart is leaping with joy and good things at the moment. I'll let you enjoy these pictures, take care everyone! GB~

Famiri-!

2006-01-15T15:39:00.000-08:00

Hullo folks, here are some pics of the Davis family. Greg and Lori are the parents, and Matthew, Steven, and Elisa are their kids. And there's me, the adopted child! :P Matthew and Steven are wonderful; they're awesome brothers. Ah, I miss my own sister. I love you sis! :) Okay, gotta get ready for school. Have a wonderful day, ye faithful readers! Until next time~

Belated

2006-01-13T00:30:00.000-08:00

Late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful winter holiday, celebrating the birth of Christ with enthusiasm mehopes. Today however, is Friday the 13th. Fun!

The winter break proved to be very awesome. The Davis family, whom I stayed with for about 2 weeks, accepted me into their family as their own. They are really nice people! Greg and Lori (Dad and Mom) are missionaries from Ohio, Texas. They have 3 beautiful children, Matthew (13), Steven (10), and Elisa(9 mo.). Matt and Steve asked if they could adopted me. :P And I love having little brothers! The Davis's are a lot of fun, and you can never get bored at their house. Sometimes at the dorm I get family sick, and I think about my family back in the States. The Davis's always seem to cheer me up, which is good. I'm like the big brother in the family, and what a nice feeling it is to be a big brother. :) Okay here are pictures of Matt and Steve. We took a family shot a while back, but I've yet to upload it to my computer.

So how's everyone? I have some really good news. Angeli and Nick might come to visit me during their spring breaks! We're still ironing out the bugs though about the details. It'll be so much fun! :)

Today I got an 18/20 on my Kanji test, which is okay. There's so much to study for for next week. Our lasts tests will be on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Friday will be our last day of school. Then it's a two month spring vacation! I'm still baffled really. Objective: Find a part-time job, workout and not get fat, and continue to study Japanese. I'm happy that I'll be seeing more of Matt and Steve and Elisa though. Wow, so much ramble! This should happen more often; it will I tell ya, during the two month break! :P

God bless all ya'll faithful readers, have a nice day! Love ya!

Happy Birthday Tita Grace!

The Morning and Snow!

2005-12-21T20:50:00.000-08:00

The snow stuck, and it's continuing to drizzle with the white stuff this morning. Oh, what a wonderful white Christmas this is going to be. :) I hope it snows on Sunday!! Wow, it's snowing a little harder now. I hope we have a feet of snow by Christmas! That would be so cool!

An update on my studies: Today is the last day of school, and then Winter holidays start! I have one class and one test today...I hope everything goes well! That is, if I study which, I'll do once I log out of here. Then I'm heading off to the Davis's and spend a night. God is soo good! On Friday there's a children's Christmas concert, and two of my really good friends Risa and Son are coming! I hope we'll have a good time, I just know it! :) Okay, I'm going to go study now. Hope you guys are doing well. I miss you all and love you still! God bless!

Snow Is Nice

2005-12-21T20:41:00.000-08:00

Snow snow snow!!! How awesome is that! When someone pointed out that it was snowing outside and the ground was covered with the white stuff, I ran out with an umbrella and started jumping around like a 4-year old kid. Then I went upstairs and woke up Jennifer and told her to go outside. You don't see snow in San Antonio or Houston frequently, if not at all, so you can imagine how both of us felt. It was so exciting and refreshing, and it was just a wonderful night!

Fukuoka!

2005-12-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

Isn't this pretty? I took this picture on December 4th, but I finally downloaded it from my camera. There were a lot more of these light displays where I was, but this was the prettiest I think. Fukuoka was so much fun, and I think I'll have to go again! The nurse (Holi-san) who gave me free bus tickets to go to Fukuoka for my test has a daughter who lives in Fukuoka, and when I was done taking it, Kiyomi (Holi-san's daughter) took me around the shops and we had an awesome time together. I got this cool jacket, and it's brown and it's just the most awesome thing! I got it just in time too...it's cold!

Playing at the Park

2005-12-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

Our class went to a park after we played around during our class field trip. Look at the big windmills! Nice views too, wish I could upload some more but it'd be pointless because most of them don't include me! :P These were fun times but I'm never doing a field trip on Sunday again. I love spending time with the people from church, especially the Davis family. I cooked for them yesterday! And their kids always love the food I cook, hehe. I'll take pictures of them as soon as I can! And now I'm off to my classes, have a good day! God bless!

Reigan-Do

2005-12-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

Here we are at Reigan-Do right next to Mount Kinpo. Beautiful landscapes and awesome views! This is where Miyamoto Musashi wrote his famous 'The Book of the Five Rings: The Art of War'. There were many statues of buddhas there too, and each one had a different expression. It was a nice break from school, quite relaxing too.

Suizenji

2005-12-12T17:25:00.000-08:00

Suizenji Park; I went in the beginning of November. The landscapes are just wonderful; most of it was built by human hands...the pond...the little Mount Fuji...the hills and what not. I think it was built by human hands...but anyways, Suizenji is relaxing and if you want to get away from school or work, this is a good place to go to. That or Daiei. Whatever your immediate needs are. :P

I have a ton of pictures left to upload, but when will I find the time? I guess I'll just upload the ones that I think are worth uploading. I miss you guys, I love you and God bless!

Long Time No See!

2005-12-07T03:33:00.000-08:00

Here you are folks! An Eastern-style toilet. Sorry I haven't posted anything lately; things have been busy in school and I have to prioritise my time again. I've been in my room mostly studying; I seldom go into the study rooms downstairs because at times the people are watching movies and I can't concentrate. So yea, things have been going well; the exchange students and I just got out of a meeting with the president of the university, and afterwards we had free food! Yay! Okay, I'm gonna go study and such; the night is young, and it's time to party (in the books)! :P

Baby Got Book

2005-12-01T23:25:00.000-08:00

Hahahaha, I couldn't stop laughing after I saw this. I haven't laughed so much in a long while. Great great great. Click the pic!

iPod Nano

2005-11-25T00:41:00.000-08:00

彼はアイポッドナノを食うか？
Will he eat the iPod?

もちろんいや、要らない！物価はチョウ高すぎたよ！
Of course not, no thank you! The price was too expensive yo!

I finally figured out how to correctly fix the orientation of pictures, so no more looking at pictures sideways! Ha!

Movies

2005-11-24T23:27:00.000-08:00

The number 1 movie I want to see is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, which comes out this December! The series has always been a favourite of mine, so automatically it's a must see, even if some people don't agree (cough). C.S. Lewis is an awesome storyteller, and he's a big influence on my own story plot and writing style. I'm writing a book series too, you see...

The second movie is Disney's Chicken Little, and even though it has already been released, my 3D graphics department is urging the students to see the movie because of interesting and risky animation techniques. Even though the story sucks, as some of my friends have said, I think it would be still good to watch the movie to observe all the wonderful graphics and animation.

The last movie that I want to see is one that I heard my friend Andrew recommend. Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit looks really funny, and the stop-motion animation is always interesting to see! It's a lot of work, but I believe the creator of the characters, Nick Park, has won many awards for the amount of effort he's put into his creations.

Drawing!

2005-11-24T22:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, it has been awhile since I've drawn 'Sailor Moon.' The series in the United States was the reason I got into drawing anime. I still love it a lot, especially the very very last series. There's a good message about hope and love and not giving up; you only fail when you give up the fight. Man what a word! I cherish the Sailor Moon series so much because there's so much parallel about what it says in the Bible about the promised victory and fighting the good fight of faith. Praise Jesus I love Him!

Pictures of Mount Aso

2005-11-20T05:39:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we climbed one of Kumamoto's mountains, Aso-san. I have more pictures, but here are just a few! I love the colours! Excuse me for the off-orientation of some pictures; I tried fixing it, but it seems that the computer has taken a liking to it...sorry!

From 9AM until 5PM, the trip to Aso was a long one. My legs hurt afterward, and I injured a big toe, but I'm doing okay. I had so much fun, but it was too much walking! I think it was well worth it though...the experience was great, and I took great pictures!

What amazed me was that all of God's creation surrounded me, and I felt so much peace while I was up there. There was a nice breeze, I had my music on, and I just felt so high (literally up in the sky, too!). I couldn't help but praise Him for all His awesome wonders. It has been awhile since I've been able to experience a time with the Lord like that. It was such a wonderful experience, I wish you (those of you back home) could have been there. So that's why there are pictures! Hah! God bless you guys, love you!

Whoa!

2005-11-20T04:29:00.000-08:00

A new blog has been born!