Catchin' trains

Well today I feel like I did yesterday, except now I have had over 240 little Japanese children introduce themselves to me by this point. Double whew. But I'm having fun-- time goes by quickly and the kids are just too cute (most of the time). Today was cool because all of my classes were with one of the coolest English teachers in the school (there are 5 teachers). Some of the things that sets her apart are that 1) she actually speaks English (no that's not a given), 2) she speaks English in the classroom, and 3) her kids love the class. Good day.
While at work I decided to email a friend of mine who is spending two semesters over here studying at Ibaraki Christian University as an exchange student. I hadn't seen her since I'd been here, so I wrote. She called me and told me she was going to Mito church tonight and asked if I'd like to join her. I was like, "Well sure" even though I had been planning on a night of rest. Then she told me that my train was leaving in 15 minutes! It is a good 15 minute walk to the train station from my apartment! So I hung up and *ran* out the door, and I made it with several minutes to spare. I now know that I can make it to the train station in less than 10 minutes in case of emergency. I was giving it about 75% and I made it in 10 minutes. We met in Omika and went together to church along with a woman named Susan who is from New Zeland (Zealand?) and teaches English at ICU. Church was great-- about 2 hours long, so I felt the effort was worth it-- and I got to talk to several friends for a while. Then I *ran* back to the Mito train station to catch a train back to Hitachi. I got my workout tonight, I tell you what. I don't forsee going to Mito too much on Wednesdays-- it is a lot of trouble. Not that I don't love the people there, but it is a hard commute. Oh yeah-- some of us might be going to Tokyo for the holiday weekend. Monday is a day off in honor of old people. :)
I have gotten several sweet emails lately. One from one of my aunts who wrote on behalf of all my family in Arkansas to let me know they're rooting for, praying for, and supporting me 100%. Two of my friends wrote this week just to let me know that they're proud of me and I'm in their prayers, and they were thinking of me. Sometimes when you're half a world away from the people you love most it is easy to get paranoid about the fact that people will forget you are alive, and their emails were a refreshing reminder that no, I'm not forgotten and I am still loved. I love my friends. And I thank you all profusely for your prayers and encouragement. You have no idea how much it means. Keep it coming. ;)