Toyota, Triumph, and Fun!

Welcome back to a new and long overdue blog post. The last few weeks have been pretty intense as expected because we have a spring vacation next week. There hasn't been too much that's been noteworthy, with school work dominating the scene, but there have been some hidden gems of fun amidst all the business if academia. With that said, let's move to the next leg of this incredible journey!

February 27, 2013
Today the Center of Japanese Studies had a field trip to the Toyota Factory and the Toyota History Museum. In reality, I have absolutely no interest in vehicles, but I figured I would sign up anyway just to see what went into making a car. I can tell you right now that I wasn't disappointed in what I experienced that day. I got to learn every aspect of how Toyota makes vehicles and how they test them. Previously, I knew that robots did much of the assembly and welding work, but I was surprised to learn that robots actually do 90% of the work on the cars. We were able to walk on paths above the work that was going on below, so we had a bird's eye view of everything. We could see the robots welding different car parts together and assembling them precisely. I marveled at the precision with which these robots were programed  to assemble the car, each robot having its own unique function. We saw very few human factory workers in this part of the plant. We were able to see that there were more people in the second plant, where all of the quality control and safety checks were done. I was very impressed by the standard of excellence that Toyota maintains for its vehicles. It certainly gives me the peace of mind that if I ever wanted to get a Toyota vehicle, I would be getting a high-quality and safe automobile. Plus, the car designs look pretty cool as well.
 After we finished the tour of the assembly plants, we went to the Toyota History Museum. We were allowed to take pictures in here but, unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera because I thought we would be unable to take any pictures at all for the entire day. This museum was much like any other museum, but this museum had some pretty cool things. First, there were these high-tech looking chairs that looked like a vehicle. The chair had all kind of controls on it that would allow it to be driven with just simple wrist movements. To be honest, I though it looked like the kind of chair that a supervillain would have. This thought brought much amusement to myself and to others. There were also cars all over the place to the point where it almost looked like a show room floor. They had classic cars, racing cars, sports cars and what I would call modern cars. The cool thing about the modern cars was that you were allowed to get in them and see the interior as well as pose for some fake driving pictures. It was a very unique experience and I'm glad that I was able to experience it. The coolest part of the museum happened shortly before we left. They had a robot standing in a display holding a trumpet. At certain times of day, this robot would play a song with the trumpet. This was one of the coolest thing things that I have seen since I have been here. The robot played Somewhere Over the Rainbow and actually played it. There was airflow and the robot's fingers were moving the valves just like a human being would. Like I said, this was astounding and I wished I had brought my camera with me to take video of the performance. I'm thinking about going back at some point so I can take pictures and take video of the well-programed robot's performance. All in all, this was a very fun way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.

The Toyota trip was indeed fun but that day was not the only fun day of the week. The next evening there was even more fun to be had. Let's get into some more detail, shall we?

February 28, 2013
At the beginning of the month my friend Maki had texted me asking if Nick and I would be available to have dinner with her, Yuna (another friend of ours), and the Japanese students that would be going to Oakland as exchange students next year. Of course Nick and I agreed and it was decided that we would meet up for dinner on the 28th. We all met up at Kanayama Station, which happens to be one of the larger subway stations in the city of Nagoya. There we met Maki, Yuna, and one of the new exchange students, Minori. Minori is a very nice person and her English is very good, so we felt somewhat comfortable with each other right off the bat. However, as always, I got nervous with my Japanese speaking ability. For some reason, I have no problem speaking Japanese with other exchange students but, when it comes time to speak with Japanese people, I get so nervous. I think the reason for this is probably because I don't want to make a bunch of mistakes and sound like an idiot. Obviously, I need to get over that, but it's still there. Anyway, we went to this nice little Okonomiyaki place that Maki reserved for us. The best way for me to describe Okonomiyaki is that it is basically like a pancake with lettuce, egg and/or other ingredients inside. For those of you that know me, I'm a very picky eater, but this time it didn't seem to matter. However, before we ate the Okonomiyaki, we received this other dish that I cannot for the life of me remember the name of, so I will just do my best to describe it. It resembled a dip and was placed on a hot plate on the table, where it proceeded to bubble. It had vegetables, I think cheese, and who knows what else inside. It was very delicious though. Then came the Okonomiyaki. We ordered two of them and when they were placed on the table they had the appearance of a medium-sized, frosted cake. It was almost too pretty to eat, almost. While it appeared small, the slices were thick and quite filling, so my eating slowed down quickly. I think it appropriate at this point to once again bring up my lack of skills when it comes to chopsticks. Maki had seen my failure countless times back in America when she was there, so she wasted no time in picking on me about it. When we got our food she would watch me and see if I was able to use them or not, with no fork available as a crutch. I was happy to say that I was quite successful, and thus upheld my honor. The updated scorecard now reads: Me 5  Chopsticks 187 I'm slowly catching up, but, needless to say, I have a long way to go. After eating, we just sat and talked, reminiscing on good memories from Oakland and telling funny stories. I of course also had to add picking on Yuna and Maki, as it had been a very long time since I had seen them both. Nick and I were also able to tell Minori a little bit about Oakland and the Rochester area. We left the restaurant a little after 9:00 and walked back to the station. I was kind of sensing that we were getting some strange looks from some of the other people that were around. They seemed to be wondering why two gaijin (foreigner) were walking around with three young, attractive Japanese girls. I mentioned this to Nick and we both laughed at the irony of it because I am married and he is in a committed relationship, so clearly we are not looking elsewhere. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Once we got to the station, we talked for about another half an hour about relationships and other more deeper things. It was nice to have this discussion, especially since it was in English this time. It is always interesting to hear what Japanese girls think about relationships in comparison to American girls. After that, we parted ways and I made my way back to the dorm. This was a very fun evening and I look forward to doing it again sometime.

Now I suppose at this point you might be wondering where the triumph part of this blog comes in. Well, allow me to explain. The week of the Toyota trip and the dinner with my Japanese friends I also had my second tests in each of my language courses. Due to the lower than expected grades on my first tests, I felt a lot of pressure, all self-imposed, to do well on these tests. I studied very hard and asked God to keep me humble in all aspects of my study. I took the reading and writing test and felt that I did extremely well on it, however; I would not allow myself to get too excited because I wouldn't truly know how well I did until I received my score the next week. I had my grammar test on Friday of that week and also felt that I did very well, but again, I didn't allow myself to get too high. I have been learning to be humble in all circumstances regardless of how I feel I performed. I remembered the Scripture, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble," as well as the idea that pride very often comes before a fall. With all this in mind, I'm very happy to report that I earned a 100% on my reading and writing test and a 93% on my grammar test, vast improvements from my first tests. I'm happy with the results but my focus is singular, give 100% every time to do the best that I possibly can. I got even better news when I learned on Friday, March 1st that I had been accepted at the University of Michigan for graduate studies. What a great God I serve! This was huge for me also in that it was an affirmation that I'm heading in the direction that God wants me to go. However, with the knowledge that I'm going to grad school, I must work even harder to do well and bring glory to God in all that I do. I also had a conversation test in my grammar class last week, of which I was also able to earn full marks. Again, I'm happy that my efforts are paying off, but there is still a long way to go. But I can safely say that I'm on an academic upswing and that is indeed a triumph to be pleased with.

I just want to mention one cultural aspect of Nagoya that I learned about today. All of the 500-level students met up today to learn the Nagoya dialect. Contrary to what I thought, Japanese has many regional dialects based off of standard Japanese. My grammar class teacher is a native of Nagoya so she knew the Nagoya dialect perfectly and she taught it to us today. This was one of the most fun and funniest class days that we have had all semester so far. This dialect literally sounds like cat language, with different variations that sound like different meows. I was joking with some friends that I would come home and speak Nagoya dialect to my cats and they would be able to understand me perfectly. Finally, a way to communicate with cats has been discovered! Anyway, it was quite enjoyable and a nice change of pace from the daily grind of regular class sessions.

The last thing that I want to mention is how God has really been growing me lately. I have been learning a lot about what it means to have joy and peace in all circumstances. This has indeed been the hardest thing that I have done in my life up to this point. I have never been in a position where I was truly on my own, let alone in a foreign country. It has cultivated a true reliance on Christ that I had not allowed myself to experience up to this point. God has been using this tough experience to teach me that there is nothing that anyone or anything can do to separate me from Him and His love for me. With that in mind, I have had joy in my heart on almost a daily basis and I have been growing a lot. Jesus has been teaching me how to be a more patient person as well as honing the gift of teaching that He has blessed me with. I cannot truly express how much love and joy that I have in my heart for the Lord. Plus, Jamie and my marriage relationship is growing stronger as well, even though we are apart from each other. As we both are pursuing Christ, we are both growing closer to one another as well. I just can't thank Jesus enough for all He has done and is doing for Jamie and I during this journey. All praise and glory and honor to the Lord God Almighty!

Alright, that is all that I have for you today but stay tuned because in the next couple of days I will be writing a new post about the Japanese kabuki play that I'm going to see tomorrow night. Thanks for continuing to share in my journey with me and will be writing to you again soon! God bless everyone!