At MeySen School

We woke this morning to find Joshua Quinn's fever down slightly. So he's better, but still weak and a little warm. Thank you so much for praying. We ended up spending an extra day here in Sendai. We'll leaver later today for Tokyo on the bullet train. Yesterday we got to wander around their school grounds, complete with petting zoo and the most incredible playground I've ever seen, and also watch a rehearsal for their Christmas play. We also did some shopping in downtown Sendai. Here is Shannon's post from yesterday morning, and then some photos to follow...

We're here in Sendai. This place is about 7 hours from where we were when we were at the conference, and about an hour north of where where we just were at the Marumori Church. I just woke up after a long Nyquil-induced sleep, so I am feeling a bit foggy today. Josh, Sono, Grandma and the kids are up and at 'em today, so they left me a note to say they went walking. I am enjoying a cup of café latte. Every room has a hot water dispenser and, beside it, a basket with a plethora of coffee and tea options. Every other day I have the English breakfast or Earl Grey tea that I brought with me. I can't see anything from my window, because the glass is the kind you can't see through, but I know that the MeySen school is right next door and, from what we saw last night, it looks pretty amazing. This is a private Japanese/English school run by the Marumori church that helps to fund their missionary work. Josh just came up to check on me and said that the kids are amazed by the playground and wishing they could use it, but it's all wet. A little later...

Okay, well, I'm trying guard my heart, as we just returned from watching the MeySen kindergarten Christmas program. It was very impressive and John Broman says it's the roughest he's seen it. Backdrops galore, costumes down to the last detail, and a gazillion songs, each with it's own choreography. And NO teacher, repeat, NO teacher in the front mouthing and flailing her arms, reminding the children what to do. And need I mention that half of what the kids are singing is not even in their own language? I thought to myself "surely these kids have been practicing since April for this." No, John says. Just for about 5 weeks, for an hour a day. Oh, bother!

Here are some photos from our trip to the school:

The MeySen school was founded 40 years ago. Today it has 3,800 students.

This is a view from a small portion of the playground looking back at part
of the school building. The school was designed by an architect from
Seattle.

Joshua Quinn and Emma in a moment of tender sibling affection...quick--take a
picture!

Here we're walking behind the school at the start of a path that leads to
the really amazing part of the playground. It's located on a beautifully
landscaped hillside.

My pictures don't do this playground justice. It literally covers the
hillside and has the longest slides I've ever seen. The silver line you see
in the background is one of them. It starts up by the red building and then
goes out of the picture on the bottom right. It goes on forever!

Here's a shot from the top of the one of the slides! John Broman told me
that they don't have as many lawyers in Japan, so they can get away with
slides like this here.

The kids walking on a raised walkway.

A shot of the Christmas play rehearsal.