WooHoo...

Hello All,

Well! What to say? We are doing ok!

Travis is currently heading out on a rafting trip this afternoon, the company has been busy on weekends and today is Sunday.

Oh, sunday...I sure am missing the church services! Mark Driscoll, Paul Washer, and various other preachers have been filling our cravings. Although, we have to remember that it is also very important to read the Bible ourselves and let the Holy Spirit teach us directly. It is hard sometimes because we download the sermons and then run out of em before we are able to go and get more. We can only download when we go to the wireless internet which is not very often. We have been listening to sermons on Proverbs lately, and it is amazing how much direction and practical advice is found there.

Since the trip to Tokyo Travis was able to get his driving license so that is super good! We are now able to grab a company vehicle and go and get food when we need it. Unfortunately we are not able to just go freely but that helps to at least get food.
Last week I was able to put a day in on the lake with Nao-San and guide some english customers. It was great! In the morning we had a famous person from Japan, I had no idea who she was but everyone else sure did. Anna Chichia was her name, I think. It was neat going to the mall next day in Takasaki and seeing her picture up everywhere in clothing stores and on makeup ads. Also, it is interesting how so many people change in the presence of someone like that, it really suprised me. Some of the people I knew just couldnt focus, it was kinda funny.
In the afternoon the trip was even better, as I was alone with just two people and able to just see, smell and hear God`s nature. It was beautiful. We are using a lake named Naramata Lake, and it has the biggest dam I have ever seen, I should take pictures to show you all. I love it there; so peaceful!
Travis has been working every other day, and this weekend has def been busy for him. We went through a few days of blah this week as well, as I said on some earlier posts the management has been not so good. Well, this week the boss was able to see some favortism going on with the scheduling. There is a group of three who seem to like to just take the limited spaces for guiding. This has resulted in them having say...30 plus trips when others will have just over 10. So, the boss seen it and was able to say the others need more work. It has been a few days now where it has been a lil more even so we will see if it stays. We try to just go along with it, but it is difficult at times to not take it personally.
Two days ago Chieko one of the managers offered me a part-time job here as well. From what I understand ( which is very little so far) I will be working on creating signs around the new camp area. I am thankful for the work, but I think they^re idea of part-time is different. So I need to clear a few things up before I start.
Oh, yeah. I didnt end up getting my driving license here yet. When you arrive in Japan you need to get a Foreigner`s card and we both did, but they sent me one with my maiden name on it, so when we went for the drivers license. They would not allow me to get it, so I have ordered a new card.
We have also been thinking of the future lately, but without making permanent plans. Many of you want to know, but we really dont have an idea yet and are just trusting in the Lords will. We are very good at making up our minds and then changing them at the last minute anyway...lol.

Well, that is the jist of what has been going on...not too much exciting stuff!
Remember to let us know how youz are too!

Much Love,

Sam and Trav

Tokyo Trip

Hey Yall! How are you? We are doing good. At about 9am this morning we arrived back from our trip to Tokyo. The trip was good, although the trip home sure made it difficult. We were postponed till about 8pm in tokyo before we left for home which is 2-3 hours away depending on what train you take, there is the really fast ones which make it 2 and then the local slower ones which make it 3 or so. We took the fast one for the first part so we could catch the second part before there last train left...and ended up missing it anyway. WHile we were upgrading our first half of the trip into a express ticket I left our shopping bag full of our new stuff on the ticket counter. I realized once we were on the train. It was hard because it was about 200 dollars worth of stuff....fortunately we were blessed to be able to someone find it and they are sending it to us now. So, because we missed the last train for the last hour of our trip we had to stay in Takasaki for about 7 hours...so we tried tof ind a hotel but they were all 90 dollars or so, and we didnt want to spend any more $. So....we walked around for quite awhile, we actually slept on some city benches for the first time. ( lol, fun fun!) At around 230am we found a 24 hr restraunt that had unlimited beverages for 4 dollars, so we played SOS and hangman for a few hours. haha, so it was quite the experience. We took the first train back home here to minakami at 614 and ended up getting home at 9 after our walk from the station. It was neat, but we were sure tired and we slept most of the day. We are still tired though and will be heading off to bed here right away again! Tokyo was great, although we could of spent more time there. It seemed a bit rushed because we seen so many things. Travis was able to spend an afternoon watching sumo, i watched for a bit but didn:t keep super interested. We also went and seen Cirque du soleil which was absolutely amazing. It was about 2 hours and the performance was second to none. They had a tall gov`t building which was nice, and some museums that we enjoyed. I can:t believe how many ppl are everywhere...especially when you go shopping! Whew!Tokyo has the most amazing electric streets with the big screens and electronic stores. We have many pictures and once we find wireless we will put some up. We would like to go back because there is so much more to see. We stayed in a hostel which was good, it was small but comfy....well unless you had a floor bed...those can be hard. We bought a external hard drive for our computer so we wil be able to put our pictures and videos on that...which will free up a ton of space on our pc and hopefully make it faster. It is so tempting to buy a laptop here as they are at great prices. As for work, the company is a bit slow here, we sure were hoping for steady work but we are happy for the opportunity. We have met some great people, and they are from all over the world. Kiwis, Aussies, many!English classes are going ok, but many are cancelled if ppl are tired or busy at the last moment, so it is difficult to have it go smoothly. But it is an experience as well! Travis` birthday is right away, and I hope to make it a happy day for him here. Too bad we can:t have a big old family and friends ho-down together...lol. The summer is finally in full bloom here, all the trees are green and many afternoons are hot. When it is a bit cloudy it feels very humid. The rain is amazing as well, it either mists ...which is quite pretty and makes a person confused,lol. It is as being in a cloud, and it looks as if you would stay dry but you get soaked without thinking you would. Sometimes the clouds open up in a second...with terrantial rains. The roofs just thunder and there is no more quiet. I love it. Anyway, travis has gone to crash and so Id better tag along! I will try and put more details of our trip up on the blog.... Let us know how your part of the world is! We miss you all! Much love!Sam

Updatity DO Da!

Konnichiwa,

Hope this email finds you healthy and well. Travis and I are doing good, we are slowly getting more accustomed to Japanese life. I have had many people ask me questions about our time here and I understand there is many questions in need of answering, so I will try and answer them one by one. Both of us send our thoughts your way, we think of you often.
We are currently located in Minikami, Japan. It is on the main island of Japan which is called Honshu. Minikami is north-west of Tokyo <3hrs>, about a 35 minute train ride from Maebashi. There are mountains, creeks which remind us much of the Jasper area. This area has a few ski-resorts and snow-parks as well as a handful or more of onsen’s. ( Hot Springs) The area reminds us quite a bit of home too, the weather is very similar to the Albertan Spring, minus the blizzards….so far. At night we need about three layers, and the gas heater on every so often, especially on the rainy colder nights. Travis is very happy that he brought a few extra layers for his river rafting, he says the cold water is glacial and definitely wakes you up in the morning! I have not been on the river yet myself but I have been on a short canyoning trip, and the creek water was BRR-R! I don’t believe I could ever be a canyoning guide..lol. Anyway, upon arrival in Japan we started a half day journey by train from Narita to Minikami. The trains were very fast, and just as my brother-in-law Steve told us before we left…perfectly on time! We stood out from the crowd because of our luggage, we had so much it almost looked ridiculous! I am glad we didn’t bring more. Upon arrival in Minikami we had no idea where to go, and no idea who to ask. A local taxi driver said we were an hour away which ended up being a lie, and the place was a 7 minute drive. The companies name is Top Group Minikami Adventure Company. The company does quite a number of activities and also offers accommodation, tipi, and camp packages. Travis’ boss is named Mitsu or Mitch, he does not speak much English at all but enough to get by. The Japanese employee’s here are very hard working, many times they arrive in the early morning and then leave late at night. We have also just found out that employee’s aren’t usually paid until they guide on the customer trips. So if there is a week with no bookings, everyone still works but do not get paid hourly or for the work they complete. It is quite different for us to understand, but it results in much work being completed. I have been offered a few hours of work this next week coming as it is a holiday week in Japan and the company is very busy. I will be helping out the customers with wetsuit cleaning and putting away, so I am glad to be up to something. Mitch has also offered me a English teaching opportunity at the rafting base as well. I will be doing three classes a week for a handful of the employee’s who need some help conversing with customers. My first class is in a few hours, and I am very nervous! There are many different levels of proficiency which might be difficult.
Our place here in Minikami is probably the biggest change, it is very small and cramped. Our room which we rent for 300 dollars a month, which is cheap is quite odd. It is a 12x15ft room with tatami mats. There is no furniture other than a small 1.5ft high table for eating on. We are currently sleeping on four thin blankets and our blow-up mats. The owner is named Oba-san, she is an elderly woman who lives on the first floor. The rooms, building and even set-up is so different from anything I have ever experienced. It is impossible to explain so that it really makes sense. We have a shared bathroom in the next room which is handy. The kitchen, shower, and washing machine is all located at the rafting base which is about a 2 minute walk down the road. It is very inconvenient but we make due. The first few days we were here we were very uncomfortable. Unfortunately we had come with higher expectations all around. God has put us here for a reason so we are willing and able to do his will and go where he directs us. There is no internet here, it is probably one of the worst parts as both Travis and I have grown to rely on it so much in our transient lives. The raft base does have internet and that is where I update my blog and such, but it does make it inconvenient. There is usually many customers and people around so it makes it difficult to be on for longer periods of time.
The company here is much different than expected. Actually, last night they had a huge argument over the management and our good friend D-Pac stepped down from his position into being a normal raft guide….so we were some-what glad to of missed that. I think there is much confusion due to the language barrier, I think expectations on both sides were much different when it comes to work and seniority. We have visited another company here named ‘Canyons’ there are many English staff and it is also managed very well and organized. While talking to one of the guides there the question came up why Travis wasn’t with them instead of the company we are with. It seems as if they would of really liked to have Travis work for them, but because we are only here for a short while we will stay with this company. It does make it hard though…but once again we know we are where we are for a reason.
Well, I have run out of time for now, I am going to teach another English Lesson. The lessons are going well, and I enjoy it more than I’d thought I would.

Much Love! Trav and Sam

Ahh, the life!

Oi All,
Sorry its been awhile, most people who have been curious over our whereabouts have been responding to updates via email, but I figure I may as well keep this up as well. What I am going to do is just copy and paste the last two email updates to this blog and that will fill in the gap since my last one. Remember that we always love comments on here, but emails seem to get to us faster, and make it easier to do a personal notes back. I really do need to update the picture on this blog since Christmas is way over. Lol.