Wednesday, September 26, 2007

A Day of Patience Testing

Monday was a national holiday in Japan. That means I got to go to a meeting! Every year our church conference has a seminar on the September holiday for church workers and lay leaders. This year a lawyer came to explain the process of becoming a religious corporation, where we are in the process, and to answer questions people had about the process.

The first test of the day wasn't really of patience but of sheer stamina: could I get to Naka san's house by 6AM so we could join the holiday traffic and make our way across the peninsula to Tsu? On my way to Naka san's house I realized I had about a 1/4 of a tank of gas so would also have to try to find a gas station open at that time of the morning! As I got closer to Naka san's house I also realized that I didn't know exactly where it was! After driving up and down a couple of streets, with a one way thrown in just for fun, I found Naka san's house and we were off, keeping an eye out for open gas stations before we hit the highway.
First test survived.

We arrived in Tsu over an hour early since the traffic was not bad at all. I took a nap in the car and Naka san went inside and put her head down on the table and had a nap, too.

The second test was the first test of patience: a seminar in Japanese using legal language! The morning session I did quite well at paying attention, looking up words, and sort of following along. After lunch, however, my concentration started to dwindle. I began relying more heavily on the notes Joan was taking for us in English. Just for fun, there was an extra meeting thrown in at the end of the day-at least it wasn't about leagal things, though.
Second test barely survived.

The final test of the day came just after our stop for a bathroom break about halfway home. Just a few kilometers up the road we noticed the road condition announcement sign was saying there was a 20 kilometer traffic jam because a car had broken down. Yes, we sat on the road moving at a snail's pace for over 2 hours! We were very thankful we had stopped to go to the bathroom and get drinks and snacks! Although, those little Oreo cookies don't do much to curb hunger at 9PM! We were both very thankful to get home!
Third test finished! I guess we passed since we arrived safely and not angry at the traffic or each other!

It was dark and I did not have my camera so there are no pictures! But, I think you all know what a traffic jam looks like!:)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a challenge it must have been to understand legal information in a foreign language. It is difficult enough in your native language.
I guess living in a highly populated area a small problem can turn into a large traffic jam. We in rural America seldom see such a problem. :)
God teaches us in wonderful ways. I thank God for helping you grow in so many ways! I'm sure legal issues is not one you anticipated however.
WE Thank God for watching over you as you travel.