by Mike Costanzo | Feb 18, 2007 | Scenery, Teaching
So far, Jen and I have been pretty lucky weather-wise this winter–this has been an unusually warm season. All the locals have been going on and on about how much warmer it’s been than it last year (which was one of the coldest winters for years). So our...
by Mike Costanzo | Feb 15, 2007 | Day-to-Day, Travel
So here’s something you may have been wondering about–how exactly does one get from point A to point B in Japan? I bet you could see this answer coming a mile away, but, well—it depends. When I was in school studying Japan, I got the impression...
by Mike Costanzo | Feb 13, 2007 | Culture, Holidays/Special Events, Wakakusa
Last week we had one of the nicest surprises of our time here. Turns out that every year, the city of Tamura throws a big party to welcome all the foreigners from the surrounding areas. It’s called Heart-To-Heart, and it was a total blast. Besides all the fun...
by Mike Costanzo | Feb 13, 2007 | Faith, Holidays/Special Events
It’s hard to know what to do as Christian in Japan sometimes. Of course, it’s always hard to be a Christian in any culture, because that culture will be a mix of good and bad. Plus, even committed Christians will often disagree on what is the right thing...
by Jen Costanzo | Feb 4, 2007 | Day-to-Day, Friends, Travel
Last weekend, we went ice-skating and ended up taking lots of pictures. Here are some of the highlights! Candid moment with Jen… The rink was really crowded at times. It was a little freaky with so many people, but a lot of fun. This was only Mike’s...
by Jen Costanzo | Feb 1, 2007 | Cooking, Jen, Teaching
This month, I’ve been singing the song “Peanut… Peanut Butter… and JELLY” with my 6th grade students. So, on Monday we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches together. The kids did great spreading the peanut butter. And of course the...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 27, 2007 | Mike, Teaching
Hello, world. Mike here. Thought I would take you on a little mini-tour of my day yesterday. Come along, now, come along… The day started with an unexpected trip to the Wakakusa English School to pick up teaching materials. After said materials were in hand, I...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 27, 2007 | Day-to-Day, Friends, Missions
As many of you know from reading our email updates, we’ve been wanting to visit some new churches recently, and on Christmas Eve of last year we decided to try out Koriyama Baptist Church. From the very first day, we fell in love with this church. For starters,...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 24, 2007 | Japanese Food, Teaching
One of the perks of working at a public Junior High School is the school lunch. In America, from what I remember, public school lunches were nothing special, just the same old mass-produced, high-fat content stuff over and over again (pizza, corn dogs, fries,...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 20, 2007 | Mike, Teaching, Wakakusa
Today I (Mike) would like to share a few random snapshots from the wild and occasionally wonderful world of Teaching English In Japan. Firstly, I’d like to take you on a brief multimedia whirlwind tour what it’s like to teach in Mike’s school. To...
by Mike Costanzo | Dec 29, 2006 | Friends, Vacation
Greetings from the town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture! We’re here for the weekend, visiting our friends Kevin & Rebecca Dingle. They’re missionaries with the Keiyo Mission Team, aka “Chiba Team”–the same team that Jen worked with...
by Mike Costanzo | Dec 27, 2006 | Engrish
Many of you have commented that you enjoyed our post on “Engrish” earlier this month, so I figured I would add another quick note of cross-linguistic joviality while I have the time. Enjoy! Just two things today… First, this is my new favorite...
by Jen Costanzo | Dec 17, 2006 | Cooking, Holidays/Special Events, Teaching
THE LAST OF THE BIG PARTIES This afternoon, our house was filled with the sounds of kid’s laughter, and the smell of melted marshmallows. Mike and I had my fourth grade students over for a Christmas party, and we kept them busy from start to finish. We played...
by Mike Costanzo | Dec 9, 2006 | Engrish
One of the funniest things about being here in Japan is all the Wasei-eigo that we see from day to day. In fact, for anyone whose first language is English, Wasei-eigo is a seemingly endless source of amusement and entertainment (just ask any Japanese language...
by Mike Costanzo | Nov 19, 2006 | Travel
Let it never be said that the Costanzos can’t wing it with style! This Friday, Mike says to Jen, “Hey Honey, how does a weekend trip to a ryoukan (Japanese-style inn) sound?” Jen says, “Sounds great, but where?” “We’ll find...
by Mike Costanzo | Nov 11, 2006 | Mike, Scenery
Today excepted, this whole past week here in Tamura has been a week of non-stop wonderful weather. In fact, it was so nice that I (Mike) couldn’t resist taking the digital camera to work and finally climbing up the hundred or so steps to the top of a local park...
by Jen Costanzo | Oct 30, 2006 | Day-to-Day, Jen
Hi Friends! Thanks to a great suggestion from Kara L., you are about to be treated to a virtual tour of our apartment! We’ve swept the floor, dusted, made our bed, and even done a few dishes, just for you! Welcome! Come on in! You’ll want to leave your...
by Mike Costanzo | Oct 28, 2006 | Japanese Food, Mike
It’s been a whole month and a half since the first installment of the story of Mike and his wonderful discoveries of the different foods of Japan, and when we last left our intrepid hero, he had eaten Nuts and Fish, fried squid, and natto, among other things....
by Mike Costanzo | Sep 2, 2006 | News
Hey everyone, We have incredible news!!! Remember last week when we said that maybe we would meet the Prime Minister and eat sea cucumber sushi on the Moon? Well guess what– it really happened !!! We never would have dreamed that it was possible, but in an...
by Mike Costanzo | Aug 14, 2006 | Travel
Hey everyone!!! Here we are, all four of us (Mike, Jen, Benno, Nate), sitting in the airport and waiting for our flight. Praise God; we got through security with no problems, and in record time!!! The hand of the Lord was definitely with us. It’s wonderful to...
