(Almost) 1 week

We have been in Japan for (almost) one week!  I can hardly  believe it... the time has gone by really fast.  Today was a nice change of pace for us; instead of ripping out walls and flooring, we set up for a free concert in Ishinomaki.  It was held in a empty lot that the landlord graciously let us use (it was originally a parking lot).  It only took a few hours to clear out some weeds, then set up a ton of tents and chairs.  We had been worried about rain, but it held off; although it was cloudy, the weather was perfect for the concert.  The singer was Asiah (pronounced more like Ajya... hard to write), and sang several beautiful songs and also shared some of her testimony.  It was all in Japanese, but between Gil translating and talking with her after the show, we got to hear some of it as well.  At the end of the concert we served shaved ice, and had a lot of fun after everyone had gotten a bowl by mixing flavors and stacking the ice rather high.  We got some great pictures of all of it!  Gil, our translator and experienced missionary, had to leave after the concert and we were all very sad to see him leave.  Anyway, we then went out to eat at 'Kappo Sushi'- a sushi-serving restaurant chain with mythical turtle-like mascots.  It was very similar to the first restaurant we went to, on Monday.  Today I tried seaweed rolls with nato (fermented soybeans), sea urchin, and fish eggs.  All of it was alright (not my favorite), except for the sea urchin which I found waaaaaaaay too salty.  We got back to the base about 7:30.  I always find it funny to think how my day is opposite of everyone in the States- I'm eating breakfast late in the evening, and having dinner before anyone wakes up stateside.  All in all, the people have been super friendly, the food has been both familiar and incredibly strange (I had a Big Mac from McDonald's and fermented soybean sushi in the same day!), and I have just had a lot of fun.  Pray for those who went to the concert today that they would be open to more information about Christianity (some appeared to be), for safe travels for Gil and for our next week of work.