what ive been up to

hello everybody

ive done heaps of stuff in the last few days... one night i met a young woman called Mai who at a guess is in her early 20s and her friend. mai is friends with yuichi and she just recently came back from a year in england so wants to keep her english up and obv i want to practise japanese and i want friends my own age haha... but yeah were gonna get together sumtime for speaking practise for each other and she seems like a lovely person anyway

i went to marugame, the next "town" from takamatsu one day (i say "town" cos japanese peoples idea of a town is like half the size of cairns) cos yuichi had to do some architecture meeting thing there and i spent a few hours at marugame castle which is on the top of a hill/mountain and quite old. it had a lovely atmosphere and gardens and i didnt go in the actual thing cos im not interesting in history or sightseeing so i didnt wantto waste my money but i loved the surrounds and i got given a beautiful small painting by a lady selling paintings there, and met an old man as we were sitting on the same park bench but he talked at a million miles an hr at me in the local dialect so i was like aaaaaaahm yes. ok. hmm. but he was friendly and nice.

i spent yesterday dusting and cleaning the hirano's place which functions as the bahai centre of takamatsu in a sense so it needs lots of cleaning for people who come over esp as japanese people are very tidy. im doing lots of housework atm but i really enjoy it. prob cos its not at my own house, i dont think i would so much at home

i went to the local bahai childrens class on saturday morning which was beautiful. its held in a community centre and there were like 5 kids and then their parents also came and were really into it. they learned this prayer which is for when youre going through difficult times in your life:
Is there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God! He is God! All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding!

but they learned it in japanese and ando-san made a beautiful song to it which was very japanese-ish.

bahais around the world are encouraged to participate in "study circles" which are supposed to help you become more spiritually insightful etc. they operate on the basis that transformation of the individual is necessary for the transformation of society. these study circles most commonly use a series of workbooks, the first of which is called "Reflections on the Life of the Spirit". anyway that took longer than i thought to explain but i started the first of those workbooks last night in a group with 2 of the fathers of the childrens classes kids and yuichi acted as tutor of it , while cathy translated for me. i got heaps out of it and was really impressed by how deep the conversation got, i like how japanese people seem to be on the whole deeper than australians.
i liked the quotes we learned too, each one seemed quite simple but conveyed so much meaning.

Say, O brethren! Let deeds, not words, be your adorning.

this afternoon we went to a local primary school where cathy teaches "english and international understanding" to the grade 6s. cathys been teaching them about how there are other countries in the world where people don't even have enough to eat. today they gave us a performance which they did for the grade 5s on the weekend about what theyve been learning about different countries. i was actually really touched by their performance, you could tell for some of them it was really from the heart. at the end a few of the kids gave speeches about how they really want to make a difference in the world and how its not fair that countries arent equal when they should be. they said they were pleased that this performance was mostly organised by the kids not the teachers as per usually happens so it was from the heart. they then sung a song, "We are flowers of one garden and the leaves of one tree. Come and join us in our quest for unity, it's a way of life for you and me" It was so beautiful.
after that i gave a self-intro in basic english with pictures of my life up on a projector screen. then i answered questions of theirs about australia.
oh- and i almost forgot when asked about what australia was famous for, did they say "the harbour bridge" or the great barrier reef? no. they said wheat, wool and meat. wow they were such knowledgable grade 6s!
but yeah- it was quite funny some fo the questions they asked. "what is your favourite word in japanese?" um- whaaaat its a word not a poem or something! but they seemed to take it seriously so i said flower (hana 花) which seemed to be acceptable.
i also got asked by a boy whether i had a boyfriend and then straight after that by another boy whether i liked anyone. so much for japanese people being reserved haha.
then one boy asked me who throughout history i admired the most which i thought was a very mature question and i said probably Baha'u'llah

anyway im writing way too much again and i want to go to sleep now so i hope everyones well back home and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the bushfires over in victoria at the moment.

love,
sonia.

xx