9.26.05 - long weekend again

this past friday, we had another holiday celebrating the autumn equinox. i love these 3-day weekends! hung out in shibuya with josh on fri. went to a kaiten sushi (conveyor belt sushi) place. it was really good, and really cheap! we walked around shibuya and made stops at the apple store, the gap, a couple dept stores, and a basketball court that michael jordan donated. little did we know we'd be back in shibuya the next night.

to make a long story short, josh's dell laptop fried when he spilled some water on it, so he decided to go get a mac. we went back to the apple store, where he picked up a brand new 14" ibook. they even switched out the japanese keyboard for an english one for him. the guy that helped us out was really helpful, he even gave josh a discount and 1 year .mac service for free. woot for the apple store! stayed over @ josh's so i could show him how to use his new "toy". welcome to the mac family josh! it was also nice to play guitar again.

sunday, went to new hope with josh, mike, and justin. the pastor spoke about serving, and the costs that come along with it. it's kind of weird... i've been so used to being involved at church that i feel almost out of place not serving. i was encouraged by the drama team that put on a skit that went along with the message. i'm excited to see what opportunities God might be opening up for me. after church, a quick trip to akiba to find a connector to save the data off josh's old computer, then back home to iron my shirts and prepare for the week.

so starting this week, i'll be working in the sales department for a month. i'm a little nervous, but i'll do my best. my japanese is really going to be tested... please pray for me. sanks! lots of new pics and a video that josh took in akiba are up, so check them out. i miss you all, and i hope to hear from you!

blessings . . .

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9.20.05 - long weekend

this past weekend was a long weekend with monday being a holiday in japan. we observed "respect for elder's day" yesterday . . . so woot for the elderly!

good eats and good friends... i met 2 of the new missionaries that are going to be working with josh this year, mike and justin. got to hang out with them over the weekend as we did some wanderring, shopping, and eating. i'm excited to see what God's gonna be doing with the campus ministries that these guys are gonna be involved in.

went to new hope church with josh, mike, and justin on sunday. it was refreshing to be able to woship to familiar songs, in a familiar language. it was also cool being in a place with such an "international" feel. i met people from all over the world that are now living in tokyo. i found that listening to the service in both enlish and japanese really makes me use my brain. it's like working double duty listening and trying to understand both languages. and part of me instinctively tries to translate both, which is good practice, but tiring on the brain. i had a great time though, and look forward to worshipping there again.

monday, we spent all afternoon wanderring around akihabara, aka. "akiba" and "electric town". there, you can find anything and everything related to electronics. a brand new yodobashi camera opened up there, so we went to check it out. even though it's called yodobashi camera, they don't just specialize in cameras. imagine a fry's / compusa / bestbuy / sears / goodguys / apple store / tower records / and more, all spanning over 9 levels of an gigantic super depatment store. quite impressive.

this friday is another holiday (celebrating the autumn equinox), so it's a short work week! woot! jah ne . . .

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9.12.05 - new sights, flash thunderstorm, and a familiar face

this past weekend i set out on another adventure. odaiba is this relatively new area in tokyo, i've never been there, so i decided to head over there this past sat. it's pretty cool, rainbow bridge reminded me of the bay bridge, and the area felt kinda bay area-ish. there's all kinds of shops to stroll around. there's even a smaller scale replica of the statue of liberty! quite impressive. it's also the headquarters for fuji-tv, a major tv network out here, where a lot of the dramas and tv shows i watch are filmed/produced. sorry, no kimutaku sighting this day though!

sunday, i tried to go to tokyo baptist, but i got the service times mixed up, and didn't make it in time. as i sat at starbucks in shibuya, it started pouring rain. it was a flash thunderstorm. it was kinda interesting seeing everyone scurrying around trying to get out of the rain. startbucks is on the 2nd floor, so i had a bird's eye view of everything.

got to hang out with my friend yuka from back home. i hadn't seen her in a while, but it was great being able to reminisce about old peninsula/eastbay times. it was also cool being able to catch up and see what she's been up to. it's crazy to think how fast everyone is growing up! i had been craving mexican food, so we went to el torito in shibuya... the portions were small, but the food was good. a great end to a fun and chill weekend!

josh comes back tomorrow... oh man, i'm excited!

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9.5.05 - what a sunday

so i went to "full gospel tokyo church" yesterday. a large korean/japanese church where 2 of my coworkers go. got to experience both a traditional service and a contemporary service. i also got to sit in on a bible study, as well as an english class. i met a lot of really cool people. i was surprised to hear that a few of the young guys there went to a hillsongs united event here in tokyo, and that they love the united live songs! "one way, Jesus, you're the only one that i could live for"! i didn't quite understand everything, as my japanese is still a bit basic, but i was very encouraged and really enjoyed my time there.

getting home was a whole adventure in itself. so usually i would just jump on the express train and be home in 45min or so. a typhoon is passing by right now and it started raining last night. for some reason, the railway that i take home was deemed unsafe and was closed. i had to get off the train and take a whole bunch of detours. luckily i found a few other people that were heading the same direction i was, so i asked if i could follow them. praise God they were there because i certainly would have gotten lost. 2.5 hours later i arrived at my door, wet and tired, but unscathed.

this morning i forgot to set my alarm, yet i instinctively woke up at the last possible minute. walked into the office at 9am on the dot. talk about God taking care of me. good lookin out!

and so the adventures continue . . .

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9.1.05 - keitai

woot woot! charlie now has a keitai (cell phone). you can email me on my phone at: < charlie804 (at) docomo.ne.jp > IM me or email me and i'll be happy to give you my phone #. all incoming calls are free!

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8.30.05 - let the adventures begin!

wandered around shinjuku (where i work) last night before heading home. no matter how many times i've been there, it continues to leave me breathless.

this morning (tues) was an adventure in itself. first i accidentally got on the wrong train. it headed in the same direction, but it broke off towards the end and i was going the wrong way. luckily i caught on that we weren't going to where i need to go and i got off the train. i asked the station agent how to get to "shinjuku" and he started rattling off different trains and stations. by the grace of God, i started recognizing the stations he had mentioned. i made it to shinjuku without any more problems, but i proceeded to get lost in the station! shinjuku is like the largest culmination of commuters in the tokyo area. it took me forever just to find the right ticket turnstile exit. it's very fortunate i'm able to speak japanese, cause after i talked to a few agents, i was able to make it outside of the station. yes, trust me, it's that big! once outside, again i had to reorient myself with my surroundings (when every exit leads to a bagillion skyscrapers, they all start to look the same). i finally found my bus, and i was on my way to the office. i showed up, and everyone was amazed that i was able to find my way here from where i was at, and that i was "only" 20min late. ptl for this little "adventure"... "what doesn't destroy me, only makes me stronger". just a good reminder for me that God knows what i can and can't handle!

anyways, here's my address:

katsuhiko fujikawa
comhouse II - #101
8-20-17, tamagawagakuen, machida-city
tokyo, 194-0041 japan

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8.28.05 - konnichiwa!

i'm here and i'm well. email, aim, internet, as well as seeing familiar people/places have all contributed to a real smooth transition so far. spent my first full day roaming and exploring the city. the city here blows me away. more later . . .

hopefully i'll have more stuff up on the webpage soon. keep an eye out for updates and pics. feel free to browse around. hit up the community link and join the board.

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