Sunday, May 15, 2011 Low Tables, White Robes, and Crazy Chains

It’s Sunday morning so we’re all in the living/dining area of the dojo. Charlie gave a devotional thought from Luke 14 about counting the cost, except he took the angle that God is not like the man who started to build but couldn’t finish and was mocked by the neighbors. God has counted the cost of everything from beginning to end, including the biggest cost of all, his Son. Even the disaster in Northeast Japan was in his mind. And we are part of his heart’s response to all the tragedy. And he will not be mocked, because his ways are right and true, and in the end every knee will bow and confess that Jesus is Lord.

(The thought crossed my mind that here we are eating breakfast and then fellowshipping kneeling on mats around low tables, much as Jesus’ disciples and everyone in Bible times “reclined at table.” Funny to find such a connection with the Gospels in a time and place so far removed.)

The rest of the day was planned by Chad and the sensei as a special treat for the dojo students and their families. First the kids had a kind of demonstration/practice, and we were invited to meet and mingle with the parents. Meanwhile the barbecue grills from yesterday came back out and we started cutting up the meat (3 kinds), cabbage, eggplant and mushrooms to grill (poor Danica—all these barbecues, and she’s a vegetarian). By the way Japanese charcoal literally is charred wood—random-sized chunks that come in a box. The Kobe team had brought a couple of gallons of frozen sloppy joe mix which works just as well if not better on hot dog buns.

So the grilled meat (bite sized pieces and thin strips) and vegetables are getting done and 40 kids in their matching white karate robes are lining up and the sun is gloriously shining (perhaps too gloriously for those who chose to wear black).

Ian who is standing next to me and handing out plates loves to get the kids to practice their English, so he’s asking every kid their name, and telling them his name and asking their age and telling them he’s from New Zealand that that my name is Ken. Until someone says “hey, who’s holding up the line?”

So the kids go through the line, then the moms, and a few short speeches and the kids get to each pick a donated book or toy, and then we go inside for games. Some of the team members are playing with the kids too: the number circle game (like musical chairs for a large group), bingo, the balloon stomping game (Matt cheated because at the end we all tried to pop his balloon and it wouldn’t pop), and crazy train with jan ken pon (scissors, paper, rock—which is a little different in Japan). In every game the top 5 or so get a prize; one of the moms is a bingo winner and we have a laugh at her picking a kid’s prize.

Lots of fun, lots of pictures, and if we were tired after the last kids left and cleanup was over, it was the best kind of tired you can be.

Notes: In Japan jan ken pon is a little more complicated than in US. See Yahoo answers: “How to play scissors, paper, rock in Japan.” It is widely used, quite helpfully in school, to settle ties. In the crazy train game, the winner of each jan ken pon becomes the front of a “train” and the loser goes to the back; then for each train the front person from one plays the front person from the other; then the losing train goes to the back of that train, until it’s all one big train with the person in front having never lost.