Monday i started cleaning and packing a bit, then that evening 5 girl students from Waseda took me out for a farewell hangout- i have grown very close with these girls and unfortunately won't see them again until next June because they are all studying abroad in the fall, so it was sweet to be able to hang out with them one more time. we did karaoke for 3 hours (while eating dinner) and then took "perikura" (picture stickers).
this is perikura 
we're rather silly sometimes 
all my girls- from left: miko, chibo, manami, yuuri and natalie (she's 1/2 Japanese) Tuesday i had a pretty full day, most of which was spent at Waseda University. that morning i spent some time organizing and cleaning, then i went and played soccer one last time with my friends from Paddy (i scored 3 goals! though one was because my teammates basically kept the ball for me til i could run up and kick it lol... definitely need to practice this summer...)
Paddy Football Clubafter soccer i went to Paddy's English club meeting, then met up with my friend Saori for coffee. our mutual friend Jenna joined us and we got to have great discussion about love, guys, marriage and our future goals. i've shared the Gospel with both of them before so it was a good time of casual hangout in which i was able to incorporate my testimony and go deeper about God's love.
Wednesday morning i woke up early to finish cleaning- 2 of the JCCC staff came over to check out our rooms and make sure they were clean. thankfully i'm staying in my room next year (i had a choice to switch but it was so much easier just to stay in my apartment...and i'm lazy) so i didn't have too much to pack up. after our inspection, i went to Waseda University to have one last hang out time with my pseudo-disciple Claudine. she is studying abroad in the fall so i won't see her again until at least next July. after meeting with her, i went to my last Odori Samurai practice. we started learning a new dance which i have definitely already forgotten, but it was still fun. at the end of practice, we always get in a huge huddle and do this Samurai chant thing- we were all gathered together and my leader calls me into the center and tells everyone i'm leaving but coming back in September and everyone said "awww we'll miss you" (in Japanese) and then they all sang Happy Birthday to me since my birthday was the next week and it was really sweet and i felt very loved. then afterward when i got to the train station about 20 of the freshmen were gathered and had a birthday cake for me and sang again! i was so surprised! and it was really the confirmation i needed that i was actually an influential part of Samurai, that i could leave for 3 months and people wouldn't forget me and that i could come back and continue the relationships i had begun to establish these past 2 months.
Thursday morning we all went to Waseda University for one last Unity prayer time with KGK and YWAM- it was really sweet to be able to hear more about each others' ministries and pray for one another. i can't wait to continue Unity in the fall! after that i had lunch with my friend Suzuka from Samurai. i got to share a lot about Student Impact with her and talk about Christianity because she grew up in a Catholic school. she's interested in helping poor and homeless people so i invited her to homeless church on Saturday and she was really excited about it, which of course made me excited. after lunch my whole STINT team celebrated my unbirthday- since my birthday is June 29th i would be in the States by then and wouldn't be able to celebrate with the other STINTers so we designated June 23rd as my unbirthday celebration day (ironically i would be turning 23). we went to the Ghibli Museum (), then to Sweets Paradise, an all you can eat in 70 minutes sweets restaurant, then took team perikura (it was difficult with all 10 of us but finally worked!) then we went back to Mitaka and watched Star Wars and they all gave me presents. it was so sweet and such a great way to celebrate with some of my favorite people.
Friday i cleaned and packed a lot, then went to my last Paddy meeting. i was a discussion leader, and my topic was "Are you truly satisfied with your life? If so, why? If not, what would you need in your life to be satisfied?" i got some pretty awesome discussion out of it too. some people said they needed a job or a girlfriend to be satisfied, some said they had friends and school so they were satisfied, so i had them dig deeper and asked if they could still be satisfied if they didn't have money or friends or family. it led to me being able to share a lot about how God satisfies completely, which made me happy. afterward the leader announced that it was my last Paddy for awhile so we were all going to dinner in my honor which was really sweet and made me feel loved. it was awesome to hang out with everyone one last time. after dinner, i met up with the other STINTers at our favorite ramen shop, then went home to finish packing and write notes for everyone. stayed up all night, then at 5:45 am went to see Henry off- his bus to the airport was at 6:15 am so we all stayed awake to say goodbye. it felt surreal. my brain couldn't even process that we were leaving. after saying goodbye to Henry, Mike and i went to the homeless church in the park and met up with Yusuke and my friend Suzuka. it was great to go back- i haven't been able to go for 3 weeks so i was excited to go one more time before i left. afterward, said goodbye to Suzuka and Yusuke, went home, gathered up my things and was off! once again all the other STINTers and some of the staff came to say goodbye to Michelle and me...it felt even more surreal that it was happening to me. the plane ride felt like a dream (possibly because i hadn't slept in so long) but anyway, i'll write more about that in my next post. for now, know that i am back safely in America!
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