On the Road

Matthias and I have been on the road for almost two weeks visiting family and spending time with friends visiting from New Jersey. We had a very blessed visit with our German family but we had to say some very sad and painful goodbyes. As excited as we are about moving to northeast Japan, saying farewell to our families is by far the hardest part of living abroad. Honestly speaking, we are greatly comforting by looking forward to heaven (where there will be no more goodbyes ever again).

Our friends arrived from NJ on Monday and tonight was our final evening together. In the past week we’ve been to Heidelberg, Marburg, Wittenberg, Eisanach, Buchenwald concentration camp, and Berlin. We’ve been to lots of museums, walked in historic towns, and learned many new things about German history. We are still in Berlin for a few more days and then we will head back to our home in Hessen and prepare to go to NJ on June 5th. Here are just a few photos from the past two weeks (there are so many more but it’s bedtime).
Matthias and one of his brothers, Andi
having fun shopping with mama-in-law
beautiful view in Heidelberg

John and Christy enjoying wonderful German food (note that it’s white asparagus season)
Wittenberg & Luther statute

This is the gate where prisoners entered the Buchenwald concentration camp. Visiting Buchenwald was truly one of the most important and meaningful things I’ve ever done. There really are no words to adequately describe our visit there, yet I feel that I ought to to write an entire post about our visit there.

TCK videos & a tearjerker

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TCK third culture kids

I recently heard about these interesting videos about TCKs and thought I’d share them both. From Wikipedia: A third-culture kid (TCK) is “someone who, as a child, has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture.”

I am interested in this topic because I find it fascinating to imagine spending my childhood any place other than New Jersey. I know many children who have been/ are being raised as TCKs. I find TCKs to be quite interesting people who are usually living rather extraordinary lives.

Video #1: Click here to see the “Neither Here Nor There” trailer
Website for the movie: http://www.neitherherenorthere-thefilm.com/

Video #2: So Where’s Home? A Film about Third Culture Kid Identity

I also watched a marvelous video about a couple named Ian and Larissa – they got married even after the groom was in a terrible car accident leaving behind a man very different than the one Larissa once knew. You really need tissues nearby for this one!

From Larissa: “Marrying Ian meant that I was signing on to things that I donʼt think I ever wouldʼve chosen for myself — working my whole life, having a husband who canʼt be left alone, managing his caregivers, remembering to get the oil changed, advocating for medical care, balancing checkbooks, and on. The practical costs felt huge, and those didnʼt even touch on the emotional and spiritual battles that I would face.

But in light of all the practicals, and emotionals, it was so very simple: we love each other. And we love God. And we believe He is a sovereign and loving God who rules all things.”

The video is also available with subtitles in Spanish.

A year older and possibly wiser

Last Wednesday I celebrated my 35th birthday with the Pietschmann family! Can you see that inside the cake is a handmade drawing of me on a stick holding a 3 and a 5? We enjoyed a real Filipino feast and a had a wonderful evening of fun and fellowship.

Simon and Joedel, a German-Filipina couple, with little Samuel

I was so moved by Joedel’s hard work to make my b-day so special – it fills my heart with such joy. It was a good lesson for me about loving others! I truly hope I can love people in Japan as well as this couple has loved me. Everything was perfect – the balloons, the Filipino food, the amazing dessert, the cool presents, the homemade game, the love and care, the funny jokes, and the relaxed atmosphere.

We took a walk on Friday night and got a spectacular view of a nearby village as the sun was setting.


On Saturday evening, we were invited to a friend’s home in Frankfurt. Rebeca is Salvadoran and her mother and brother came to visit her all the way from El Salvador. A lovely friend named Erika joined us, a gregarious German woman who was raised in Chile and fully bilingual in German and Spanish. We had fun sharing lots of stories and photos of Japan. It was a wonderful evening, despite my ever-worsening Spanish abilities, and we both really enjoyed hearing stories about each of their lives.

Tomorrow we will visit Matthias’ family in southwest Germany and on Sunday his home church will hold a farewell service for us. After that, friends from NJ will visit for a few days and then we will travel to Berlin to visit a church and meet up with German, Peruvian, and Japanese friends there. What an international life!

Random stuff

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blogs El Salvador, Christians in Ishinomaki, peponi piano guys

Today’s post is about the random things I found this past week on the internet that I thought were very cool/ moving. ♡

#1: I saw a cute post on a blog called latinaish.com entitled, “How Bilingual Siblings Argue.” It reminded me of the way Matthias and I talk, often mixing up English, Japanese, and occasionally German. If we have kids, will they mix up English, German, Japanese, and Spanish – yikes!

(Overheard conversation between my two sons yesterday.)
13 year old: Ugh! My hair is being so stupid! It won’t do what I want it to!
10 year old: I hate when I can’t style my hair, too.
13 year old: Ha! I wish I had your hair! You have good hair!
10 year old: Does that mean you think I’m bonito?
13 year old: No, you’re still feo.
10 year old: What?! … Well, you’re feo-er!
13 year old: You’re the más feo del mundo.
10 year old: Well, you’re feo to the luna and back!

[bonito = good-looking, feo=ugly, más feo del mundo = ugliest in the world, luna = moon]

“You realize how badly you want your kids to be bilingual when you make no attempt to break up the argument but instead smile that they’re insulting each other in Spanglish.”

#2: I love Coldplay, the piano, the cello, and African music – this song has all of the above! I simply cannot get this amazing song out of my head. With 5.7 million views on youTube, I’m not the only one absolutely loving The Piano Guys‘ version of “Paradise.”

From The Piano Guys: “We took a risky, but oh-so-valuable turn when we called in helicopters to air-lift us and our instruments where none had gone before! (Please excuse the Trek reference). . .We don’t mind telling you that when that helicopter began lifting our brand new-never-before-played grand piano into the air we couldn’t help close our eyes and cross our fingers. We consider it a blessing of Heaven that it worked!”

#3: I found a way to study Spanish even in Ishinomaki, Japan! There is a website called 123 Spanish that provides Spanish teachers who can teach online via Skype at a reasonable price. I was very worried about losing my Spanish completely since the chances of meeting a native Spanish speaker in northeast Japan are slim to none.

#4: I read a very moving post by a missionary friend in Ishinomaki with loads of photos of a drive through the disaster area. Even though it’s been over a year, many parts of northeast Japan look absolutely terrible.

#5: I found several really cool blogs about El Salvador – yeah! Who would think that my birth country would attract so much attention from bloggers? FYI, all of these blogs seem to be updated quite frequently, except for the last one.
Mission to El Salvador
What’s Up El Salvador
Tim’s El Salvador Blog
Gringa in El Salvador
The El Salvador Gringo

Quick update on my dad

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parent with dementia

I realized I haven’t written much about my parents since we left for Japan. My dad took a very bad fall about five weeks ago and has been in a rehabilitation center in Voorhees, NJ ever since. I’m actually very happy about this, because he is well and in a safe place with plenty of staff to support and care for him. Mom is rather tired from visiting him every day, but it’s good to know she no longer is attempting to care for him by herself. Matthias and I want my dad to be in a long-term care facility in the worst way, but my parents are very resistant to the idea. We are hopeful that this summer we can talk with them about the idea and that eventually dad will be able enter a long-term care facility, the sooner the better. I can hardly wait to hug my parents in a few weeks!

I suppose most people who are going through this stage of watching your parents fail are a bit older than me. Five years ago, I had a talk with a friend (who was only in her late 20′s) whose father was elderly and on the brink of death. She said to me, “Danielle, people don’t usually lose their parents of old age in their 20′s. It’s usually in your 40′s or 50′s, right? There aren’t many like us, watching our parents grow old and frail when we’re still so young. It’s not easy. It’s nice to be able to talk to someone my age about this.” Yeah, it’s not easy. I really miss my dad the way he used to be, so vibrant, goofy, and funny. He went downhill so quickly – within about two years he went from somewhat stable to just awful. I feel so young and yet so old at the same time. Even though I just got married and life feels so new and fresh, I feel old because I am losing my beloved parents. I know I probably don’t have much time with them, especially my dad, and I am so thankful for my dear husband’s support during these very sad and emotional days. I have my good days and very bad days.