Kimono and Ise English Camp

Spring is here at last! The 30 and 40 degree days have finally given way to pleasant 50s and 60s and the rain, while still coming in hordes, is no longer biting but almost (almost) pleasant. I was a little disappointed visiting home two weeks ago to realize I would be missing one of my favorite flower spectaculars, the azalea bushes in Tulsa`s Woodward Park. But when I came back to Japan, in turns out my town Nabari is famous for them too, and they`re right at peak season! There are huge blankets of bushes all along the roads. Here`s a picture of my favorite bush on the way to school:



Flowers bloom at weird times in Japan. The irises finished nearly two months ago, the roses won`t start for a few months, and the azaleas just finished! Some flowers bloom all through the winter and others, like the cherry and plum and peach, only one week at the very most. And a difference of just thirty miles can mean a month difference in blooming times (with the exception of tree flowers).

Boy, I`m tired! Last week was jam packed with editing and quite a bit of stress at work. First of all, they made me work two Saturdays in a row with barely any notice, one right after my trip back from America which was exhausting to say the least. I`ve also been lectured by my supervisor several times that I shouldn`t take off so much time, but I only take off the time that is allotted to me and I always ask permission first. She only tells me after the fact that the other teachers are annoyed at me for taking off so much time. This is the Japanese way. They don`t tell you that what you`re doing upsets them until after you`ve done it, then they get really mad at you. And they never bother to tell you the rules; they just assume you know them, until after you inadvertently break one. If you ask what the rules are, they give very vague answers. Like my supervisor keeps telling me “when in Japan, do as the Japanese do.” They`re even reducing my pay over a mistake they made in the accounting books, time that should have been counted as summer vacation counting as regular time off. They said they can`t fix it, but if it happens again, I`m fired. Sometimes I get so frustrated with certain Japanese people I work with I just want to scream at them! But that, of course, is totally unacceptable. So I just nod and bow with my eyes to the floor, whispering, “sumimasen” over and over until they are satisfied that I am being humble and sorry enough. Any arguing only makes them start the lecture all over again with “American culture may have different values, American culture may allow for laziness, but when in Japan…”

The weekend too was crazy, but fun! Friday evening I stopped by the kintetsu department store to buy some whole wheat bread (called “genmai pan” or literally “whole grain rice bread” even though it`s actually wheat and sold in only one store in my entire town of 90,000 ). I had just got my paycheck and had an unusual hankering to do some clothes shopping, (I haven`t bought clothes in over nine months) and low and behold what should I find but a giant kimono sale on the first floor! Here`s a picture of what a kimono shop looks like:



I was never planning on getting a kimono in Japan because from what I heard from other teachers, a good kimono can cost as much as three months of paychecks, but these were a lot cheaper than that! There was a lady there who helped me put them on and even showed me how! It`s quite complicated, but I think I understand. I got a very beautiful purple kimono (my favorite color!) with four-foot long sleeves, a pink silk under robe and ubi (six-foot bow) and all the ties for a very affordable price! I`m a little embarrassed to say the exact cost; it`s more than I`ve ever spent on a single outfit before, but that`s not saying much since I almost always shop at Salvation Army stores or Walmart. Anyway, you can judge for yourself what it`s worth might be, but in this picture you can`t see the back of the ubi and I`m not wearing the beautiful pink silk under robe, just my white T-Shirt:



I`ll be wearing it to all the winter festivals and school ceremonies. It`s a bit hot for the summer, but that`s what yukata (cotton regular-sleeved kimono) are for! I should be able to get one of those for $50 or less once they go on sale.

Saturday morning I got up early to go to an English seminar in Ise, about an hour and a half train ride. It was basically an English conversation camp for first year high-school students. We held it in the retired folks` community center. (Yes, there are so many elderly in Japan compared to the rest of the population that they have their very own community centers.) Here`s a picture of the set-up just before we started. The two English teachers standing up front are “Dan the man” and Annette from Singapore. They organized the event.



We started out with a “you are my destiny” game, pulling on tangled strings to determine what English teacher was paired with what team. Mine was the “kitson” team, named after the British designer company. Some other interesting names were “We love meat,” “one piece” (after the Japanese pirate comic) and “white command” because everyone in the team liked the color white for some reason that eludes me. Here`s a picture of that game, followed by one of my team.





Notice there is only one boy. Each team of five people was like that, pretty typical for any English-speaking event. Speaking English just isn`t cool.

After that we played “fruits basket,” the game where you have to describe a characteristic and everyone with that characteristic has to get up and run to another seat. For example: People who are wearing blue jeans. That was a really great game and I think I`ll use it as a warm up for one of my classes and for English club. Broken telephone was fun too, but you really need at least five people to play that as a competition, seeing who can transfer the most messages from the front to the back of the line with the most accuracy. Sometimes you get a lot of funny mix-ups. “I love pizza” becomes “Aia loves Freeza!” and stilly stuff like that. My team was pretty good at it though and only made a few mistakes. Of course, we only had five people. It gets really crazy when you have to pass it down a line of ten or more.

The second part of the day we wrote, rehearsed, memorized, and performed three-minute skits. At least, they were supposed to be memorized, but my group was the only one that actually attempted to perform it fully memorized. What a disaster that was! Consequently, we got last place. But it was fun! In our scenario, which was chosen for us, we were on a tour and got lost in a jungle in India. How appropriate, since I just got back from India last month, but never got to visit a jungle. So I got my jungle fix! Here`s a picture of our guy declaring that he has a compass:



And here`s our group “walking in circles.” The girl in the yellow jacket is supposed to be a tiger:



And here`s a crazy picture of everyone who participated in the seminar! The blond girl pointing is Charlotte from England. She`s really fun:



Saturday night I got home about 6:30 and was planning to order pizza for the first time and watch a movie with my Pilipino friend Karen. But I was so tired I lay down to take a “short nap” and didn`t wake up until 11:00 that night! By that time it was too late to call her, and I just went back to sleep and slept until 7:00 the next morning! And I was still tired. I don`t know what`s up with that, maybe all the rain.

Sunday morning after some chores, I went to church. We had a glorious Pentacost service. Pastor Toshi brought a DVD from a revival church in Australia so we “wouldn`t be lonely” and we sang with the people on the DVD. Then he gave a sermon about the power of the Holy Spirit to inspire revival and we prayed for revival in Japan.

Prayer requests for this week: For revival in Japan! The population is less than 0.5% Christian and that hasn`t changed in years and years, but there are rumors of stirrings. A recent Gallop poll showed that over 30% of teens are open to learning about Christianity and see it as a positive influence on society. The Japanese suicide rate is the highest of any developed country in the world, twice that of the U.S. and many are so hopeless. They lose themselves in their work and forget all else. Please pray that in God`s way and His time, wonderful change will happen in Japan.

Also, my friend Sam from Bible study asked us to pray for her aunt who is in hospice. She`s not sure if she`s Christian or not, but of course she and her family will need comfort and peace during this time, regardless. Let`s pray that they feel God`s love surrounding them.

My Crazy Trip Home Part II

The first thing I noticed getting off the plane in Chicago was how beautiful the people looked. Not that Japanese people aren`t beautiful, but they all look pretty similar. Americans have such a rainbow of complexion, hair, and eye color, the differing clothing and hats and bags and languages, sizes and everything! America is beautiful because it`s so diverse! And finally landing in Tulsa and hearing my native Oklahoma drawl, I actually fell back into it a bit while I was there. It just sounds so…homey! And all those free open spaces, green fields and flowers and that huge Oklahoma sky as far as you can see. Everything is bigger, wider, taller, cheaper. Of course, the people are all supersized too but that`s not so bad. Gives you something to hug besides skin and bone.

I was planning to meet my mom at baggage claim, but as soon as I stepped out of security I saw her running toward me, arms outstretched. She grabbed me and hugged me tight, tears trickling into my hair; she couldn`t even speak for a moment. The first intelligible words out of her mouth were “You`ve lost weight. Let`s get dinner!” Who could have asked for a better welcome home?

Unfortunately, she had to go with the Owasso high school choir to play the piano for them for a contest in Chicago, the place I had just left! She would be gone until Monday night. But that worked out all right, because I had a writers` conference I had to leave for the next morning in Oklahoma City. So I dropped Mom off at the high school and it was good to see it again, how much it has grown and changed. Not to mention prove to myself that I really can still drive, on backwards American roads no less!

But I wasn`t so confident to think I could drive myself all the way to Oklahoma City at 5:00 in the morning suffering from severe jet lag. Dad was thankful for that, because that gave him some time with me on the way there, and he had to go to OKC anyway to help my brother Tony move from Edmund to Tulsa. Did I tell you he finally got a job at an architecture firm? Thanks for praying!

The conference itself was phenomenal; I learned so much! My favorite sessions were about how to set up a virtual book tour (posting successively on other author`s blogs and literature websites) and “Bleeding, Scabbed, and Scared” a motivational presentation on how to use personal experiences from your life to enliven your writing. The latter was taught by a woman pilot, quite a character and really fun to listen to, but what a life! Some of the things that have happened to her that she`s fictionalized and turned into best-selling stories are simply unbelievable! Here`s a picture of the enthusiastic Southern Bell Christian motivationalist. You would never know she was “Bleeding, Scabbed and Scared.”



But far better than all the wonderful presentations on polishing and marketing were the contacts I made! They had said there was only enough room for me to have an appointment with one publisher, but I sat outside the appointment room for an hour on Friday and an hour on Saturday, and whenever someone didn`t show up or there was a free spot, I took it! That`s how I had one agent ask me for the first fifty pages of my middle grade novel Dargon, another agent ask for a proposal for Treasure Traitor, and a publisher from Simon and Shuster ask to see the full manuscripts of BOTH! I really liked her; she seemed like a really fun person dedicated to developing her authors` careers. I also talked to a travel publisher who asked me for a proposal for a non-fiction travel-essay book on Japan (basically I`d be publishing something like these blogs!) And best of all, a Christian magazine publisher accepted one of my stories on the spot! I had it along with me, gave it to her and she loved it! She also asked me to send more of my stuff! I`m soooooo happyyyyyy! So it was a very good, productive conference. Maybe nothing will come out of any of it, even the acceptance. She still has to get it past the head editor of the magazine. But even if none of these avenues work out, I will not give up, I will just keep writing, just keep fighting, just keep believing! I am a writer and what do writers do? We write, write, write!

Saturday at lunch break I had the wonderful opportunity to have lunch at Panera bread with my brother Tony and his wife Emily. Best of all I got to see my nephew Hayden for the first time! Here`s the little angle laughing:



He is the cutest baby in the entire world. I am willing to fight anyone who wants to contest this fact.

Saturday night was the awards banquet. As I said before, I was disqualified from the contest this year, but I`m through being angry about it. It was nobody`s fault. Next year I will just be sure to email them way before the deadline to make sure they got the entry fee. And a little bird told me I would have won first place in one of the categories, so when I submit it again next year, I`ll have more things to look forward to, that is, unless the Simon and Shuster publisher decides to buy the rights first, in which case, all the better!

So since I knew I wouldn`t be winning any awards this year, I left early with my friend Jason, who came up from Broken Arrow to accompany me and drive me home. On the way back we stopped by the lab where he works and I had a really interesting time seeing all the latest science gadgets used in medical testing these days. It wasn`t at all like I pictured! There were more computers than petri dishes, and it looked more like a regular office, even the school office I work in, than the high school science labs with the shiny counters, pipettes, beakers, Bunsen burners and square lab stations I remember.

Sunday I got up early to have breakfast and go to church at Christ Presbyterian with my friend Lu. We ate a Village Inn, and boy was that a lot of greasy, sugary food. I only ate half of it, but it made me so sick I had to lay down in one of the pews outside the sanctuary. I didn`t realize how heavy American food is and how much trouble my body would have readjusting to it! Fortunately one of the church ladies made me some peppermint tea to settle my stomach and we were able to join the service at the start of the sermon. Afterward I skipped lunch and went to a coffee house with some of my old college friends, but I was a little disappointed at the small turnout. Only three of my friends showed up, and they all left within an hour. Well, I guess everyone is busy with finals and graduation. And Lu stayed with me through the afternoon. He took me around the University of Tulsa campus, showing me the changes, and we studied some Bible together.

Monday I went back to Oklahoma City with Jason to see the zoo. It wasn`t that great; I prefer the Tulsa zoo, “America`s Favorite Zoo.” But there were some cute animals out. Here`s some:

A red panda lounging:



A giraffe doing the splits:



A crazy laughing chimp:



And a beautiful peacock:



The coolest thing was the cuddle fish, which kept changing colors and bumping up against the glass as if it wanted to get at us. But I didn`t get a good picture of him.

For dinner we went to cheesecake factory. Did you know American cheesecake is soooo much heavier than the Japanese version? But I went easy on it this time; I didn`t feel sick afterwards. The best part of the day was going to Jason’s house to see his pet fennec fox!　His name is Cody and he makes the cutest chirping sounds! Here`s Jason holding him:



Check out those huge ears! Here`s Cody climbing on my shoulders. I had a flower in my hair and he pulled it right out and ate it!



Here`s a video of Cody doing a trick! He really likes green beans. He`ll flip for them!



Flippin` fox, Batman, it`s a flipping fox!

After that we watched the movie District 9 on Jason`s awesome home entertainment system. Pretty good, though I really feel it would have been better as a TV miniseries, just because there were so many questions left unanswered, so much unexplored!

Tuesday I was so exhausted from all the excitement of the past few days (plus extreme jet let; we`re talking fourteen hour times difference here, people). So after my eye appointment, I slept until 3:00, then went to see How to Train Your Dragon in 3D with Mom. It was a great movie, with a plot almost exactly opposite to my story Dargon the Human Slayer. This could be good or bad for me. For the next few months, dragons will be very popular, but soon they will be passé. According to my marketing friends, I have to sell Dargon in the next six months or the window of opportunity will be shut for a very long time. Gambate! (Do your best!)

Wednesday Mom and I went to the Tulsa zoo and my friend Lu joined us. Everything`s closer together and just laid out better than the Oklahoma City zoo. (Besides, we have penguins. What can beat that?) Then I went to John Knox church, the place where I grew up, and I played handbells and sang in the choir for the first time in many months! It was great to know I could still do well in music, especially since I want to train as a church music director when I get back to the States for good. For dinner I enjoyed a gigantic steak and ribs dinner at Lone Star Steakhouse. Nothing like good ol` American food!

Thursday I had another doctor`s appointment in the morning, then Grandma and Grandpa Joling (my mom`s parents) arrived all the way from Michigan after lunch. We spent the whole rest of the day talking and catching up. We concluded with Mom`s famous spaghetti dinner and my brother Benjamin and his wife Raina showed up at the end to chat. What a great day!

Friday the whole family came together, my parents and grandparents and brothers and their wives and Hayden and my best friend Heather! Here`s everyone together over an amazing Mom dinner of lasagna, chocolate moose pie and peanut butter pie. My wonderful family!



We played uno and my brothers showed off their latest architecture and computer projects. I wish I had more energy but I was still so out of it I had to take a nap in the middle of the day. Then everyone had to leave early! That was more than a little disappointing. I really only got to see my family for one day! Well, I`ll get to go back for Christmas. Seven days was just way too short, especially with the conference and Mom being away in Chicago for half of it.

At least that made me realize this: America is my home. I know I said the world is my home, but going back made me realize just how much more at home I feel in the place where I was raised. Eventually I want to settle back there, in Tulsa Oklahoma or thereabouts, and marry and have a family close to my parents and brothers. That`s where I belong. I love gallivanting around the globe now, but really, truly, there`s no place like home.

But alas, Saturday morning I left at 4:30am for Japan. The journey back was a lot smoother, and I arrived at my apartment at 7:00pm Sunday night. Only on the train, I realized I`d lost my apartment key! I had to call my friend Li who had my spare and wait for him to come all the way from Kyoto. Then I lost my cell phone on the train! I was so exhausted from the travel and super long day that I just lay down on the steps leading up to my apartment. 8:00 came and Li still hadn`t arrived so I very pathetically and stereotypically started to cry. I just couldn`t help it. I must have looked like a complete idiot to the Japanese walking past me up to their rooms! Luckily, Li came soon after that and I was able to get into my apartment. But can you believe it? The next day I found my key and cell phone in my backpack! They had been there all along, even though I turned out all my bags several times and overturned the entire contents in the train! I even dumped out my suitcase in desperation and riffled through my underwear in front of all those strangers! Isn`t that how it always is?

Well, at least I`m safe and sound back in my second home (not quite the same as my American home, but it`ll do). Now it`s time to get busy on the final edits of Treasure Traitor and Dargon. I want to make sure they`re perfect before I send them to the publisher!

Prayer Requests for this week: That I actually grow a brain and stop making these stupid mistakes! Ok, seriously, I need prayer for wisdom and guidance. Also, Pastor Toshi just put an advertisement in the paper for my Thursday night English and Evangelism class, so tonight I should be getting new members! Pray that many people come, that the Holy Spirit gives me the right words to say, and that those old members in the class who have just professed Christ will not get bored with reviewing the basics of the faith. It is my hope that their faith will grow stronger and they can help guide the new folks. And of course, please pray for my writing! I know that someday, in God`s way, I will succeed!

Until next time, keep reading and keep praying,

Laura Jane Popp (L. J. Popp)

School Feild Trip and My Crazy Journey Back to America!

Wow, what a whirwind! In the past two weeks I`ve been on a school field trip, attended a conference, visited two zoos, traveled over 20,000 miles, and that`s just for starters! Where to begin?

Let`s start with the school trip to Universal Studios Japan on April 21st. I was along as a “cultural ambassador” to explain about all the American culture, since the theme park is based on American movies. But apart from playing English word games on the bus, nobody really wanted to listen, of course. They just wanted to have fun! So I found myself alone, which I was thankful for because I wasn`t feeling so great. I mostly just wandered and watched the shows. The most interesting one was the statue dance. I didn`t get any good videos, but here`s a picture. Can you tell she`s alive?



Here`s a close up; I bet you can tell now.



Basically a “living statue show” presents men and women dressed and painted to look like metal or plaster sculptures. Sometimes they just stand there and wait for innocent passerby to play tricks on. Other times there`s a story that they follow. In this show, the woman was supposed to be the statue attached to the ship. At noon every day, she comes alive and dances with one of the sailors, but he has to get her back to the front of the boat before the ship sets sail or the magic disappears. Something like that. It`s all pantomime. Pretty interesting.

I spent Saturday being sick, and Sunday went to church with Li to check out the Catholic church he likes. It seems like a good place, which he was relieved to hear. Christian cults and strange doctrines are really common in Asia, and he wanted to make sure this wasn`t one of those churches.

The following Thursday the real craziness began! I didn`t have to catch my flight until noon, so I was planning on not leaving my apartment until 8:30, but I couldn`t sleep past 6:00am, and something told me I better leave early. Boy am I glad I did! Because I had the Osaka Kansai 3-day pass that only works with private railways, I decided to use that instead of my standard Japan railways and bus to get to the airport. And stupid me, I looked up the directions for Osaka airport instead of Osaka Kansai airport! So while I was getting lost on the private trains, I happened to run into another American and asked him for directions to the Osaka airport.

“Oh, my friends and I are just headed there ourselves,” he said. “Where are you going? Tokyo?”

“Well, eventually Oklahoma,” I replied. And then it clicked. Osaka airport is for domestic flights only. I had to go to Osaka Kansai, KIX. How could I be so dumb! I nearly burst into tears but the man pointed in the right direction. I took the Nankai airport express train and got there in another hour.

It was 11:00, exactly one hour before my flight would leave, and I was in a panic. Since I had an international destination, I thought my check in would be closing. I went to my airline, ANA, on the second floor and they told me to go to the fourth floor. I went to the fourth floor and they told me to go back down to the second because my first destination was to Tokyo.

“Oh, but there is no flight going to Tokyo Narita today at noon,” said the check in lady.

I could feel the blood rushing from my face. “What?”

“There`s no such flight.”

That`s when I actually did burst into tears. I had bought my tickets online, and they were unusually expensive. Most likely “I had been had.”

The poor Japanese woman bowed several times. “Don`t panic! I`ll go get help!”

So I stood there waiting, trying to control my emotions for the next ten minutes until she finally ran back. She tried to explain some things in rapid Japanese, but I barely understood a word. Finally she said in English, “OK, go back down to the second floor and they will check you in.”

“Please come with me!” I begged. “I don`t understand what`s going on and I can`t afford for this mix up to go on any longer or I`ll miss my flight!”

She finally agreed and took me back where she explained the situation in Japanese to the attendant. She nodded and almost made me get in back of the line, but I simply pointed to my watch and she let me go in front. They checked in my bag and I headed for the gate number they gave me. It had the right departure time listed, but I noticed the destination sign read “Tokyo Haneda.” My connecting flight to the U.S. was from Tokyo Narita.

Wait, does Tokyo have two airports like Osaka? I wondered. Not this mix-up again!

I went up to the flight attendant waiting in front of the gate and asked her, in Japanese, where is this flight going?

“Tokyo,” she said.

“Tokyo Narita?”

“Tokyo Haneda.”

Don`t panic, I told myself. Just breathe.

I struggled to tell her I needed to go to Tokyo Narita. In my panic I forgot the construction for“need to go” (just add "nakedebanaranain desu" to the end of the conjugated verb "to go") so I simply cried, “Tokyo Narita hosindes. Watashiwa Tokyo Narita o idimas!” (Want Tokyo Narita; I need Tokyo Narita! probably with totally wrong grammar) and showed her my connecting flight information. Her eyes widened and she looked very worried. She got on the phone and there was more rapid fire Japanese, more running flight attendance, more panic and worry until she finally turned back to me and said I would have to take a bus from Hanata to Narita.

“How long does it take?” I asked.

“About one and a half hours, maybe more.”

My only hope for seeing my family and not loosing $2,145 was to catch the 2:10 bus. But by this time the plane was already running half an hour late (not because of me, but a delay in it`s previous departure). Even if by some miracle I caught that bus, it would give me less than an hour before my plane left. And that was if things ran smooth as silk and I didn`t get lost trying to find the bus station in downtown Tokyo or in the airport or anywhere else. In my experience, this was a 0 to 100 bet. International flight check ins close one hour before departure.

Still, what could I do, turn back? Furious with cheapo air (yes, that`s the name of the company I bought the tickets from, and they were anything but cheap), I boarded the plane. No where on my ticket information did it say I had to change airports like that. The whole way to the Haneda, I panicked, praying constantly that God would somehow make this work. And as soon as those plane doors opened, I shot outside to the bus that would take us to the international terminal. I almost missed the Japanese flight attendant, and would have if she hadn`t grabbed my arm.

“Are you the girl bound for Narita?” she asked in perfect text-book English.

“Yes!”

“I am here to guide you.”

What comforting words! I breathed such a sigh of relief I probably lost a pound of air. She led me through baggage claim to the bus station, which was luckily inside the airport itself, and then to the bus. The bus had been delayed by ten minutes, and I caught it at 2:20. With little traffic, we arrived at 3:30, exactly one hour before my flight. And by another miracle, the woman I sat beside happened to also be going on a United airlines flight to the U.S. We spent a pleasant hour on the bus conversing in Japanese, and then she led me where I needed to go.

But when I ran inside the terminal, I nearly despaired again. A colossal line half a kilometer long stretched from the United Airlines check in to the doors of the terminal. And it was moving slowly. Very slowly.

I rushed to the front and tried to petition the attendant. She waved me away. “Must get in back, okaksama (honorable costumer). Must wait turn.”

I have a theory. As we grow up, we don`t shed our past ages. The elderly still have their middle years inside them and one could easily blame mid-life crises on a resurgence of the teenage years. At that moment, as I so embarrassingly and often do under stress, I reverted to my three-year-old self and once more burst into another rather pathetic sobbing spell.

A note to stressed and delayed travelers: the Japanese can`t handle tears. If you want something bad, really bad, just turn on the leaky faucet. Works every time.

“Ok, Ok, go, go!” the woman practically pushed me through the roped barricade. And it`s a good thing too, because at that moment I heard the United attendant shout,

“Last call for United flight to Chicago.”

“That`s meeeee!” I screamed, and sprinted to the counter. I can`t imagine what the calm, patient Japanese people waiting in line must have thought. Crazy gaijin. Always running late. Why can`t they just get a good dose of zen like the rest of us? Of course, they`re one to talk. The Japanese run everywhere they go. Before I came to Japan I thought that was just something people did in video games and anime. Nope. Most of what you see on Japanese TV is true. Minus the gigantic humanoid robots.

So I got to the gate just as they were closing the doors. By yet one more stroke of God`s grace, the plane was late. I thought my panic time was over, only to realize that due to all the delays, I only had a one hour layover time at the Chicago airport where I would have to uncheck and recheck my baggage. And the line at customs was almost as long as the previous check in. But can you believe it? I ran into another American couple in line and they drew me a map exactly where I needed to go. All I had to do was throw my bag on the conveyor belt and run. Once more the flight was delayed, and I made it just in time.

And so it was that after many prayers, tears, and ounces of sweat, I made it to my home in Tulsa, Oklahoma in one piece. You`ll find out what I did when I got there in my next, hopefully “coming soon,” post.

More India Videos and Beautiful Sacura!

Ah, I just found some more videos I took in India that I just HAVE to add. Here`s a snake charmer:



Here`s some good musicians and a dancer at a little side show:



And now, on to the sacura! Perhaps you`ve heard of the famous Japanese cherry blossoms? They are a symbol of life to the Japanese, beautiful, but short. They only bloom for a few days. One of the best places to see them is ancient Himeji castle, a world heritage site. As with most Japanese castles, it was built almost entirely of wood. Completed in 1346, it is the only castle in all of Japan that has never burned down. Only, it`s closing for the next two years on account of renovations! This was my last chance to see it. So on April 10th I went with my friend Li to have a look. What a spectacular place! Here`s some pictures of sacura:













Here`s me at the very top of the castle; you can see how the inside really is made entirely of wood:



Here`s by far the best picture (I can`t take credit for any of the ones I`m in, of course; Li took them):



Here`s a video of “sacura rain.”



After that, we went to the Himeji zoo. Not much there, but it was fun to watch the penguins play. Then we went to the famous Himeji castle gardens. Gorgeous! Here`s some pictures of that:





The next day after church, I went sacura viewing with Pastor Toshi and his family around Shorenji Lake. Here`s some of the sacura around there:



Here`s me, Pastor Toshi`s father, Pastor Kumi, and Aitan on "Sacura Street."









And last of all, here`s Pastor Toshi, me, and his daughter Aiatan:



And now you`ve seen the best of Japan`s glorious spring! And in less than a week, I get to see spring in my home, Oklahoma! I`ll be visiting during “Golden Week,” the week of Japanese holidays, then heading back to Japan for another sixteen months. I`m so excited!

Prayer requests for this week: Safe journey home! It`s not going to be a fun journey; two transfers, one through Tokyo Narita, and over sixteen hours on the plane. But it will be more than worth it! While there, I`m going to attend a writers conference in Oklahoma City and already have some appointments scheduled with agents and publishers. Please pray that good things come of them! I have three books I`m trying to publish right now, Dargon the Human Slayer, a humorous middle grade fantasy, Treasure Traitor, a serious young adult fantasy, and “Twas the Year of the Census,” a children`s rhyming picture book about the first Christmas. Actually, my dad wrote the last one and I just edited it, but it`s a really good story and I believe in it, so I might as well try. Tomorrow I will know if Treasure Traitor made it to the next round of the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. Other than that, I`m also trying to publish “Tapestry of Time,” an adult sci-fi short story. So far nothing but rejection letters…but some of them were nice…

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention my Thursday night English and Evangelism class! With a new school year starting (it begins in April for Japan), it`s my prayer that many new students will start attending! Also, Pastor Toshi is starting another round of advertising, so hopefully that goes over well!

Until next time, keep reading and keep praying,
Laura (L. J. Popp)

My Spectacular Trip to India Part IX (final!)

Monday my driver and I started out bright and early, 5:30am to go to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal! The journey took about five and a half hours. Have I mentioned that India traffic is absolutely insane? There are no traffic signals, no lanes, and no rules. Everyone just weaves in and out of traffic, even into oncoming lanes, blaring their horn. And no seat belts! But by this time, I was used to it. I slept just fine in the front seat beside the driver. Fortunately he didn`t have to slam on the breaks very often.

A new guide met us at the road leading to the Taj. He was really good and told more stories. Everyone knows, of course, that the Taj Mahal is a symbol of love built in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. (OK, so I stole that straight off of Wikipedia, but at least I site my sources.)

It`s not a palace like some people think, but a mausoleum, housing the queens remains along with the king. She was his favorite (among the three that he just HAD to have, because, of course that was the minimum requirement for a king in that day) because she followed him everywhere, from the grandest palaces to the bloodiest battlefields, in sickness and health, poverty and wealth and all that jazz. They say that after she passed the entire court mourned for a whole year. She died in childbirth to their fourteenth child at the age of thirty-nine, and on her deathbed she made the Sultan promise her three things.

1.) He would take care of her children.
2.) He would never remarry.
3.) He would build her a mausoleum so great none could ever rival it in all the history of the world.

He kept all three promises.

The mausoleum is built in the middle of nowhere and nothing has ever been allowed to be built around it, just so it stands out that much more. It`s designed after the Quoranic vision of heaven, with eight rivers and lovely gardens and huge, carved slabs of black marble citing the queen`s favorite Quoranic verses are inlaid within the pure white marble of the overall structure.

Come on, Laura, pictures speak louder than words! Ok, Ok, here you go:

Here`s the whole set up:



And here`s an interesting optical illusion:



It looks small, huh? Guess again! I was standing over a half mile away from it. Here`s a close look:



And a closer one. See those tiney, tiny little people? Not the two just under the shadow, the ones just under the windows. They look smaller than ants. That`s how big it is:



And closest:



How was this massive monument constructed? By 20,000 workers over the course of twenty-two years. There are lots of conflicting stories. Some people will tell you the Sultan had the workmen`s hands cut off or the eyes gouged out later so they could never build another like it and they found out about it so they created a flaw and all that. But there were over 20,000 skilled workmen on this project, not exactly low class, so you`d think there would be some official mention of that somewhere if it happened. No, according to the guide, this particular Sultan was a very good man, and one reason for carrying out with his wife`s request was actually a very practical one. The region was experiencing a severe drought and hence an economic depression, so a lot of people were out of work, especially artisans. And of course the 20,000 workers had to be fed and clothed by other workers so it produced a huge boost in the economy, sort of like the public works projects of the Depression. The king of Agra actually gave the Sultan the marble for free because he was very far-seeing and saw what this monument would bring in a lot of money from tourism, or in those days, religious pilgrimages.

Another legend claims one of his other wives demanded to have a Taj Mahal built for her too, and the king finally relented, but he wanted it done in black marble. His wife found out and prayed that it would never be completed. Sure enough, the next day the king was captured by his own son. There he spent his last days in the upper tower of his palace, overlooking the Taj Mahal, and was eventually buried there beside his beloved queen. But another legend claims he intended to have the black Taj Mahal built for himself, directly across from the white, but his son locked him up so he could never put such a burden on the people, in a time when black marble was very rare and precious. Either way you look at it, his son was a usurper, and the generations to come squandered the prosperity that their forefather had worked so hard to earn, and their kingdom fell into ruin.

By the way, a third legend goes that his last and final wife said she didn`t need anything but his love, but he wasn`t willing to give her that, so he built her the red sandstone mosque beside the Taj Mahal.

The Taj itself is really something to see, the outside so pure and simple, perfectly symmetrical, but also grand and beautiful, with just a touch of color in the white. I can definitely see why it’s one of the “eight ancient wonders of the world.” I`ve seen two of them now, the Taj and the Great Wall of China. And it`s not just the beautiful outside that took my breath away. The inner, detailed designs are really something to see, especially the sculpted marble and inlaid jewels. There`s quite a bit of cornelian used in the Taj, so at sunrise and sunset, the Taj appears to glow yellow or orange. I didn`t get to see that, but what I did see was absolutely amazing. You couldn`t take picture inside, but here`s a picture I took of a workshop nearby, where “descendents of the workmen” still practice the old art of jewel inlay.



That`s not painted! They show me how they did it. First they have to draw the design they want on paper, then cut the stones, then carve the marble, then put in some sticky stuff, then lay the jewels in the marble, then polish it. With five people working, it takes a whole day to create one of those panels the guy is holding. Here`s some of the craftsmen at work:



After that, I had a really nice lunch lamb kabob lunch at a local restaurant. Here`s what that looked like, all unexpectedly fancy on the plate (sometimes I feel soooo spoiled).



There were a surprising amount of Japanese around the Taj area, especially in that restaurant. I chatted with a few of them, small families and mother-daughter pairs mostly. Their guides were Indian but spoke Japanese. It`s good to see them getting out; there`s a stereotype that Japanese never travel outside of Japan and when they do, they only visit Japanese spots, like little Tokyo in New York and California or in the very least, they`ll go only with a Japanese guide and only eat at the local sushi bar. Ha, now that I think about it, Agra did have quite a few sushi bars, more than it had “Western” restaurants like McDonalds, now that I think about it. So I guess it`s still there if they want it.

After that we were planning to see Agra fort, but the driver said we didn`t have time if I wanted to catch my flight. At least we got to see it at a distance, and he told me tales of the various ancient security systems, such as wild animals, bobby traps and what not. Might utilize that in one of my books!

I wish I could have seen it for myself, but my driver turned out being absolutely right. It took us six hours to get to Deli through that crazy traffic! We enjoyed chatting about all kinds of things from Indian politics to his own crazy antics as a child. Once when he got in trouble for skipping school to see movies far too many times, the principle asked to see his father, so he paid a man to play the role! He ended up getting caught but nothing bad really happened to him.

What`s interesting, actually India did have a really great recycle system in place with color-coded barrels, but in 2009, some Islamic Pakistani terrorists in New Deli put bombs in the cans and fourteen blue up, killing many people. How stupid! The government had no choice but to remove the bins. Talk about ruining a good thing for everyone; how the heck are you helping your cause by pulling a stunt like that? Secondly, they don`t know who they`re killing, maybe some of their own people! Taking hostages or targeting specific buildings I can understand from a logistics standpoint, that`s leverage, but blowing up random people? Where are they even getting this idea? It`s not in the Quran. Anyone who would do that must be criminally insane.

Now I understand why everywhere we went, be it a shopping mall or public space, we were patted down and wanded by the police. (It`s very convenient that over 10% of India`s military is female. The military spends a lot of their time and resources on check points like that, and there`s always a female officer to pat down the women.) And on my visa application, I had to say whether I`d ever been to Pakistan, or if any of my family was from Pakistan. I know the history and politics behind that conflict, but I still don`t get it. What are they actually trying to accomplish?

When we arrived at the airport and I got through everything, I ended up still having two hours to spare, but I didn`t begrudge my driver that. If there were an accident it would have taken a lot longer, and it would have been awful if I missed my flight! No refunds. I would definitely recommend that tour company. India Holiday Mantra. Very professional, very cheap, very flexible.

And that, my friends, was my most amazing, spectacular, awesome trip to India!

Prayer Requests for this Week: Definitely, definitely pray for the Dalits in India and the discrimination they still suffer. Pray for development in India`s rural villages and that the government will take responsibility for helping the large portion of their citizens that don`t even have their basic needs met. Pray for the work of ARV, longitude, and other NGOs working in India. On a more personal note, please continue to pray for my Thursday night English and Evangelism class that is so low on numbers right now. For the last few weeks we`ve had only three students show up. Pastor Toshi is going to do some more advertising soon and hopefully that will increase interest. But, praise God, now all three of those members have accepted Jesus and want to get baptized! Now we just need to expand outwards…

More good news: My brother Tony got a job at an architecture firm in our home town! My other friends who were looking for jobs also found them. Prayer works!

I personally need prayers for guidance. Not just in terms of what to do for work when I return to the States, but aspects of my writing career, evangelism efforts, relationships, a lot of stuff. I`ve been re-evaluating a lot of the dreams I had as a child, such as publishing my books and making comic books and even having my own TV series based on my sci-fi universe. I was really disappointed to see how little I`ve come down that road in the eight years since I started. Not because I`m not writing or submitting. Because nobody`s taking. I need a new strategy other than just submitting to one book publisher or agent every week (most want exclusive submissions so I can`t do anymore than that) and getting fifty-two rejection letters by the end of the year. I know what I want, I just don`t know how to get it.

Until next time, keep reading and keep praying,

Laura (L.J. Popp)

My Spectacular Trip to India Part VIII

Friday night we took the night train from Eluru to Hyderabad. Not smart. We were all exhausted after a week long of heavy construction work and there was no sleeping on that train. The berths were very cramped and uncomfortable and the baby across from me wailed half the way there. Poor kid, I felt sorry for him. Note to self: never bring your young child on public over-night transportation, be it a train, plane, or bus. It`s a strange new place accompanied by strange new sensations and they can`t sleep, of course they`re going to inevitably scream their heads off. The parents ended up making a cradle from him out of a bed sheet and the rocking eventually quieted him down.

Just a note for those who are curious: Indian trains are unreliable, late, slow, uncomfortable, and you can`t see much anyway. I suggest taking a plane when possible.

We arrived in Hyderabad about 5:00 in the morning. I was so groggy and disoriented in that huge, busy station I had no idea what was going on. A man just picked up my bag and took off. I nearly freaked out but Vishal assured me he was just a station employee, doing his job. Then we drove to our hotel and got there about 6:30am. I slept until about 9:30, then went down for breakfast. I wanted to go back to the zoo, but everyone said it would be dangerous to travel by myself, so I just went shopping with everyone else. I bought a really nice but inexpensive pearl necklace (yes, it was real, they showed me the fire test) for my supervisor and some earrings for my mom, but can you believe it? I lost them! I had them on the bus in Japan to take the school and left them there, and when I went back at the end of the day the station employees didn`t know anything about them. I`ve called back several times but no luck. I am soooo dumb. Oh, well, at least I helped the Indian economy…and someone else probably found themselves some really nice jewelry.

Saturday night I caught my flight to Jaipur. I was originally going to Deli with everyone else, but with my tour I would then have to drive six hours to Jaipur the next day, so what`s the point in that? Indigo is a nice airline, by the way. Anyway, I arrived in Jaipur around 11:00 and my driver met me at the airport. His name was also Ravi, interestingly enough. I wasn`t really worried that I would have the same trouble with this company that I had with the one in Hyderabad, because they had been so professional over email, often answering questions in less than ten minutes, very kind and compromising. I was not disappointed. My driver spoke very fluent English and as soon as we arrived at the hotel, I got settled right in, no waits or delays. And as we were driving into the city, I got an added bonus. A famous female politician was also coming that night, so I caught some fireworks and cheering crowds through the window. What a welcome!

The next morning at 8:30am, we left for Amber Ft, an old capital in India from 1592 to the 1727. Here`s a great picture from a distance; can you guess why it`s called “amber” Ft?



Actually, the name has nothing to do with it`s yellow tinge! That was the name of the King`s clan! Notice the huge plain of dirt in front? Normally that`s filled with water. But for the last thirty years, India has been experiencing severe drought. The fort had a really ingenious water lifting system to provide water for the entire castle from that reservoir, but the drought wasn`t why the king relocated. He moved hundred of years ago, to a grander spot.

On the way there, there was a snake charmer along the side of the road, taming a cobra. Honestly, it wasn`t quite as impressive as it was in the movies. The snake didn`t actually dance, and I felt kind of sorry for it. The guy kept hitting it and it would flare it`s head skin for a second, then sort of hunch back down. I think it was drugged or defanged or just really, really tame. But I did get to touch it, and that was fun:



And here`s me trying out the guy`s nasally flute:



On the way up into the Ft, can you believe it, I got to ride an elephant! Here I am!



A warning, though, as you`re standing in line and even riding, EVERYONE will try to sell you something. I ended up buying a hat an umbrella to help with the sun, but if you don`t want something, just walk away. Don`t even ask how much it is! Ignore them! If you ask, they won`t stop following, pestering, or pushing (both verbally and physically). I should have known better; I`ve been to Africa for Pete`s sake! But if you do want to buy something, offer them half their original price and don`t settle for anything more than 2/3 their original. You are not cheating them; they are trying to cheat you. The umbrella I bought broke after two days. That`s all I needed it for, so it doesn’t matter, but just be forewarned.

Here`s some really pretty paintings on a gate to the inner fort:



And here`s a nice view from the top:



Note that all those little black things on the roof are bats. There were lots of wild baboons too. They even jumped right at me once while I was watching them! But they never actually attack tourists. They`re too shy. Also notice the lattice work. There were lots of places throughout the castle with this, so the women of the court could look down and see what was going on in various places of the palace without being seen. I suspect they were also used for espionage purposes too and places where archers could shoot out at an invading enemy, but my guide insisted this wasn`t so. No conspiracies or attempted take-overs in this palace. Really? Come on, the king had thirteen separate royal chambers for his wives; there must have been some sort of intrigue going on. The guide’s insistence of a perfect, boring royal home was slightly disappointing.

That`s the thing I wish my guides on Sunday and Monday talked more of. Stories. I like to know the tales of a place, the legends, myths, whatever. I don`t care it they make them up. Most of what my guides talked about was architecture. Sorry, that`s my older brother`s department, I really couldn`t care less that this arch is of the Moglian school and supports the main building by centering the majority of its weight…yada, yada, yada. What happened under this arch? A love affair, a struggle between the king and his crown-snatching son, was an enemy intruder shot through the heart by a poisoned arrow, did the princess look upon her one true love, did an elephant trample its corrupt royal rider as was prophesied by some ancient mystic? So when they don`t tell me stories, it leads me to imagine my own which, as you can see, may or may not be kind to the people involved.

By the way, here are some lounging baboons Don`t the look funny?:



Here`s where the king lived, in the Palace of Mirrors:



Why is it called the Palace of Mirrors? Take a close look. You can see the reflection of a guy`s hand in one of the panels:



Pretty cool, huh? I could use that in a story as some type of defense mechanism of a desert castle. Why not blind the enemy? Ambassadors have to be given special glasses in advance and slowly acclimated or approach backwards or something. Or maybe they just don`t want ambassadors? India was a closed nation only recently.

On the way out of Amber Ft, there was a little performance you could pay extra to see to get a glimpse of traditional Indian music and dance. I paid the money, and it was pretty good, but I was a little disapointed since it was supposed to be 15 minutes but it was only 10 minutes, since one of the dancers had already gone home. But I figured I`d get a chance to see a longer show that evening as was planned in the schedule. Unfortunately I was further disapointed, but more on that later.

After we left Amber Ft., we stopped along the side of the road to see the Lake Palace. Here it is:



It was originally a summer palace and the royal family got there by boat. Now it`s a luxury hotel. We didn`t go there; there wasn`t a boat running and the water smelt awful anyway.

Next we went to a museum/art store to look at some handicrafts. So beautiful! Here`s a peacock tapestry:



An embroidered rug:



A hand-carved marble chest of drawers:



I ended up buying a marble chess set for my friend Li. He used to be a chess champion as a child. It`s a really beautiful set.

If you want to buy something nice in India, I definitely recommend one of these emporiums. You don`t have to hackle, barter, they don`t push you, there isn`t a big crowd, it`s air-conditioned inside, they`re really nice, they serve you tea, if you don`t want to buy something they don`t insist, and they show you exactly what you want to see.

For lunch I had a lamb curry and nan lunch at a nice little restaurant. Lassies are great. There`re a sweet or salty yogurt drink that really help an upset stomach. That and lemon drinks.

Next we visited the observatory where all kinds of astrological and astronomic measurements were taken. The instruments were huge; there was a sundial so big it could tell time with an accuracy of two seconds. Here`s one for telling the alignment of the planets:

Turns out astronomers have most of their information about the universe hundreds of years ago from the records of observatories like these. It`s kind of amazing to think that this one was built back in 1727. But mostly they were used for astrology, not science, to figure out the future path of some noble child, who he should marry, what he should do etc. based on when they were born, what the planets looked like, silly stuff like that.

Then we went to the City Palace museum where the current Sultan lives. I wasn`t interested in paying extra to see his personal residence. I just hung around the outside, looking at the art work. He patronizes a lot of really good artists and they have workshops just outside his home. One of them drew me a little sketch for free. I also bought a pair of sandals to go with my sari.

Then it was time to go to a little theme park for dinner and a show. I was expecting to see an actual dance performance, a nice, sit-down affair that would introduce me to traditional Indian performing arts. That`s what I had asked for, anyway. But it was really, really lame. There were a bunch of stages set up, but they were just filled with tourists swinging their hips with some local girls. A good place to go if you want to dance yourself, but I was so exhausted by the end of the day I couldn`t manage it. I just wanted to see a nice relaxing show, you know? It was loud and noisy and dirty and I wouldn`t recommend it. Rajistan folk village, or something like that. A good place for kids, I guess, with camel rides and kiddy shows. It was definitely “family oriented.” When I told this to my guide, he said I should have asked to see a “performance” not a “cultural show.” I`m pretty sure I was plain about what I wanted to see, but I didn`t argue with him. At least the dinner was good. And I had a nice chat with an Italian tourist who filled me in on a little local history and culture.

Anyway, here`s two of the dancing girls, in the rare moments they were alone on stage:



The guide was surprised I didn`t like it. He said it was to give tourists “a glimpse of traditional Indian village life.” I laughed. “I spent a week in an Indian village working beside the people. That was anything but traditional Indian village life.” One thing I noticed was a huge contrast between the India the tour guides wanted to portray, and the “real India.” They were always trying to shield me from the beggars, from the poor areas, the dirt, the smell, anything like that. I asked them what they thought of the Movie Slum Dog Millionaire which I found to be a very true depiction of India, and many other Indian volunteer workers I`ve known did too. Hands down, every Indian I asked hated that movie. “Not the real India,” they said. “Only showed the bad things.” It showed a lot more than the bad things. It showed the rich side of life too, but it was from the perspective of a slum dog, and that still bugs them. You can`t have a story from the point of view of a Dalit (untouchable). What they have to say isn`t important.

The thing is, the side of India they want to portray is the movie paradise side. Glamour, glitz, beautiful jungles, pristine palaces, sexy, sultry, yet innocent, fresh. Maybe a better way of putting it is a cross between Richard Kipling`s India (author of The Jungle Book) and Bollywood. If something bad does happen, no big deal, let`s jump up and sing and dance about it! Of course, that`s what most people want, and it is nice to see. But it`s a lie, or at best, a half-truth. But then, America did the same thing during the Great Depression. All nations do it. They don`t want to really address the issues of poverty and pain to their own people, and they certainly don’t want outsiders to know about it.

So I also asked them another question. Everyone I met who spoke English, I asked them if they thought the cast system still existed in India. Guess what? Every single person with lighter skin wearing a suit or nice clothes said no. Everyone with darker skin wearing rags said yes. Guess who were the Dalits?

A little history for you. The original inhabitants of India were called the Dravidians. They were of African decent. They had a very rich culture, the oldest known written language in the world, the oldest form of musical notation, beautiful art, and thriving trade. Then along came the Arian Muslims out of Persia and they pushed the Dravidians down into the South. Now they weren`t all bad, of course, they brought science, mathematics, infrastructure, and a lot of beautiful art themselves. The cast system itself already existed, but the Arians intensified it, canonized it, made it a part of every day life and utterly, hopelessly inescapable. It was formally banned by the Indian government when they became independent of Britain after World War II, but do you think something that ancient, thousands of years old, reinforced by race and religion is going to go away in just two generations? How long did it take African Americans to gain rights after the Civil War, after less than two hundred years of enslavement? Let`s not kid ourselves here.

And that`s all I have to say for Sunday. Monday will have a more positive note, I promise. That`s when I saw the Taj Mahal!