Isogashi (いそがしい) means busy. Tokyo is a very busy city, and Japanese people work very hard. We have also found our lives have gotten much busier. Here's what a typical week during Lent looks like for the Roths:
Sunday: Time to start the week off by worshiping God. Erik leaves first to walk the 20 minutes to Tokyo Lutheran, usually arriving around 9am. Japanese Children's service is at 9:30 AM. Tauna attends this service. It's a great opportunity to worship in Japanese and it's short enough that she doesn't get overwhelmed. Next, the 10 AM English Worship Service. Since the Japanese worship service starts at 11:00, the English worship has to conclude around 10:50. Then, we all go downstairs for coffee, tea, conversation and various amazing treats from other countries (Chinese candy, German Cheesecake, or Reeses Peanut Butter Cups!) After coffee hour a group usually goes out to lunch. Erik sometimes has a council meeting or other meetings. These meetings can last hours.
Monday: Day of rest. We have Mondays "off." We spent our morning skyping with friends and family (Monday morning = Sunday night in the US). Tauna plans for English classes and writes a weekly Bible study for the Hongo Student Center. Monday evening is when we do our Japanese homework.
Tuesday: Japanese class from 10am-Noon. Quick lunch (usually at the Japanese Italian Restaurant Saizeriya). Then Tauna rides the subway to the Hongo Student Center where she teaches English to children and adults until 9:15pm. She doesn't return home until after 10pm. Erik has office hours at Tokyo Lutheran for the afternoon.
Wednesday: Every first and third Wednesday, Tokyo Lutheran hosts "Pastor's Cafe." Basically, "Pastor's Cafe" is an invitation for anyone from the surrounding community to come and learn about Christianity. Both Erik and Sekino Sensei greet everyone and engage in conversation. A local organization that assists people with mental disabilities brings coffee, fresh bread and pastries to sell to those who attend. After a few hours, people are invited to attend a short prayer service in the sanctuary. After Pastor's Cafe, Erik meets with a small group that is interested in working on hobbies together. Erik does his flat-plane wood carving and other people bring their favorite hobbies such as calligraphy and origami.
This year is the first year that Tokyo Lutheran has offered a mid-week Lenten worship service. Every Wednesday evening people from the congregation gather for a Lenten worship followed by a community meal. Erik and Sekino sensei have been taking turns presiding and preaching at the service. Since Ash Wednesday, Erik has been making food for everyone after the service. On average, 20-25 people attend.
Thursday: Japanese class from 10am-Noon. Erik has adult Bible study in the evening. Tauna does more prep.
Friday: Japanese class from 10am-Noon. Tauna has another busy day at Hongo and comes home after 10pm. Friday is the day that Erik tries to devote to finishing his sermon for Sunday. However, that is what he tries to do, but other things or ministries usually intercede.
Saturday: We usually volunteer or socialize on Saturdays. Once a month we prepare and serve food at Second Harvest with other people from Tokyo Lutheran. There are three shifts at Second Harvest. The first shift prepares the food (This is Tauna's favorite. She is becoming the expert at cutting fruit). The second shift serves food to people in need (mostly men) at Ueno Park. The people receive rice, veggies, sandwiches, fruit, and soup. It's quite the operation. We prepare the food at Second Harvest, load a truck, unload the truck at Ueno Park and set up, serve the people (with real dishes) and then load everything back up in the truck to go back to be washed. The third shift is doing the dishes. We both like enjoy shift 3 because it is a time to get to know other volunteers. Volunteers are mostly young people (under 30). It's a mixture of English and Japanese speakers. Even though we don't all speak the same language, we are all able to communicate and serve others.
If we don't volunteer at Second Harvest, we usually have a party to attend or go out for dinner. A few things we've done the last few Saturdays include; hosting a taco party and taking our Japanese friends out for Chicago Style Pizza.
And of course, Saturday night Erik actually finishes his sermon:)
Those are just the scheduled events during the week. In between we study Japanese, make daily trips to the grocery store, and do normal household things like the dishes.
