About 7 months ago, we bade farewell to dear family and friends and travelled 6000 miles away. Since that time, God has brought many new friends into our lives.  We wish we could have a big party and introduce all our friends to each other! However, in lieu of that, allow us to at least highlight some of our new friends through our blog.  Each of the folks we’re highlighting here has a blog of their own.  You may find it fun to peruse some of their blogs to get a new perspective on life here in Japan.  Each of us is unique, so we bring an individual twist to our writing and expression — each blog has a different feel and style.  We have started a collection of links to all our friends blogs in the left-hand sidebar, so you can follow up if you’d like.

Adam & Hannah ( www.xanga.com/pstrhange )
Adam and his wife Hannah are new friends that we met at Japan orientation last summer.  They are seriously considering coming to Japan to join the team this next year — so we may have another married couple to hang out with — what a blast!  Adam is currently working as the youth pastor at his home church in the States.

Daniel ( www.xanga.com/bubblegumjapan )
Daniel was a teacher with the Wakakusa English program a number of years ago.  He fell in love with Japan, and is now living and teaching in a different part of the country.  He is engaged to be married soon — congrats Daniel & Sakura!
Hiromi ( www.xanga.com/HiromiLynn )
We were really pleased to get to know Hiromi this past weekend at the youth retreat.  She is a great lady with a heart for God!  We got a chance to hear of her passion for missions in Japan, and we are praying with her that God will show her the place He has for her in the coming months and years.  Hiromi also studied in the States, so her English is phenomenal!

Holly ( www.xanga.com/Horisensei )
Holly is a member of our team here.  She is very expressive and a lot of fun to be around (she can make some of the strangest faces known to mankind if you catch her in a goofy mood!)  She is also a very expressive and talented writer.  Each of her blog entries is a work of prosaic art — very thoughtful and well-written (often bordering on the profound).

Adriane ( www.xanga.com/kireinahana )
Adriane is a member of the Wakakusa team too.  Last year, she taught at Takine Junior High, before Mike arrived and took over.  She now teaches at the Jr. High in the next town over, but she can truly sympathize with Mike’s crazy school stories, because she too has experienced the adventure that is Takine Junior High.

Patty ( www.xanga.com/iEatNatto )
Patty is a beloved member of our team.  She shares a love of art with Jen (both studio art as well as computer graphics), so Jen & Patty sometimes get together on Friday nights for an “Art Night.”  They eat dinner together and then, well… do art!  Some of Patty’s computer art creations can be seen from time to time on her blog.

Trisha ( www.xanga.com/hopenafuture )
We have enjoyed getting to know Trisha as a fellow team member this year.  She has a Mennonite heritage, so she and Jen have enjoyed sharing some fun family memories from the past. Trisha is also a very avid “blogger,” updating her site nearly every day.  She even met the man who is now her fiance through corresponding via blogs.  We had the chance to meet Trisha’s Randy earlier this year and are so excited to see them “tie the knot” this summer!

Jeni ( www.xanga.com/MyFairJeni )
Jeni is another fellow Wakakusa teammate who we’ve come to know and love.  She is someone who really loves her students.  Even though there is sometimes an intimidating language barrier, Jeni tries to approach each student as an individual and converses with her students one-on-one as much as possible.  She is a great example to us!

Carrie ( www.xanga.com/carrieteacher )
As of next year, Carrie will be the longest-standing member of our team.  She will be staying to work here in Japan for a fourth year (yes, it can be done)!  She and Jen work together at the English school — in fact, their desks are right next to one another.  Carrie has been an invaluable resource to answer all our questions as we’ve settled into our new life here in Japan.