Greetings, everyone! Happy Post-Halloween! Sorry for my very late update! Trip planning is going well! Been busying finalizing tickets, times, COVID tests, all that fun stuff. Knowing that I'll be in America less than two weeks from now fills me with simultaneous excitement and anxiousness. So much has happened these past three years, it'll be shocking to see how much (or how little) has changed. Nevertheless, I'm so happy to finally be seeing family, friends, churches, and supporters face to face!
Even though I sadly didn't write a Halloween special on time, I'll still tell you all a quick spooky story about me hearing a mysterious haunting sound in the distance during my first year in Japan...
Back in the fall of 2019, I was in my current apartment, typing on my laptop having a normal evening. All was quiet, even though the walls of my place are practically paper thin, making sounds from the street always audible. I was just finishing up an email when far off in the distance, I heard... This:
Now, I was still a complete rookie at Japanese at the time, so hearing this mournful, wailing voice in the still quiet of a cold night chilled me to the bones. Was it some kind of Shinto ritual? A cultish call to prayer? Or perhaps a wandering "gashadokuro" coming to bite my head off? Either way, I was slightly unnerved by the strange voice crying out from the street below.
I quickly messaged my team, asking what the noise was all about, and if it was normal. And guess what? They told me it was the "yakiimo" cart, a truck that sells baked yams in the fall and winter.
Kind of like the ice cream man in America, but sells tasty yams baked on coals instead of frozen treats. The voice is simply saying " やきいいも! (baked sweet potatoes!)", trying to entice the neighborhood with its baked root treat. Having tried some myself, they have a sort of cinnamon flavor and are quiet filling. Below are some I bought:
Nowadays, I feel pretty silly being scared of such a thing. Oftentimes, our fears of the unknown are far more exaggerated than the reality of it. A good lesson to remember, especially living in a country where there's still so much to learn and discover. Still, can't say I would be comfortable hearing that yakiimo call if I was lost in a vast mountain forest in the middle of the night. Or, if that was the case, I would still be open to buying a hot potato to warm the body and spirit. Even if it was being sold by a grinning Gashadokuro...
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support! So close to my big trip back to the States! Have a most wonderful November and I'll see many of you soon!
2 Timothy 1:7
"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."
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