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January 1999
Greetings from Nagasaki!
As we approach the end of another academic year in Japan, I am
thankful for God's call to work in Christian higher education
in a global context at Kwassui Women's College. The English Department,
in which I am a professor, is about to send 57 second-year students
to Claremont, California, and 16 students to Nottingham, England,
for home-stay during March. When they return to start a new year
here in April, some of them will have been exposed to Christian
influences in a different environment, which we hope will make
them more receptive to the religious education that they receive
at Kwassui College. Please pray for their spiritual growth.
In the past year, Kwassui College has successfully started a
new Human Relations Department, joining the departments of English,
home economics, music, and Japanese literature. All are actively
seeking applicants for February entrance examinations. About half
of the entering students come in through some sort of recommendation
system, but others (including those who wish to apply to more
than one institution) take examinations in a specialized subject
and in Japanese. This year, perhaps partly because of the economic
recession, there are more applicants for the junior college despite
the declining number of young people in Japan. The birth rate
has declined, as young women are choosing employment and independence
rather than early marriage and large families. However, only about
two-thirds of college graduates are able to find regular employment
at present. Please pray that the students who come to Kwassui
will indeed be able to do find work.
This past year I was asked to speak twice in chapel in Japanese,
as well as once in short chapel in English. Speaking formally
in Japanese involves a great deal of special preparation, but
the listeners are reasonably attentive and they encounter a different
point of view than that of our usual Japanese speakers. One of
our American colleagues has been hospitalized with diabetic complications
for a couple of months. In addition to teaching her classes, as
there are no "substitute" teachers available in the
system, we are all learning a lot about Japanese medical care,
especially for so-called "adult diseases." Basically,
it seems to be good and relatively cheap, but a lot of details
of routine daily care are left to the patient and her own support
group. This is further complicated by communication difficulties,
as the nurses mostly don't speak the same language as the patient.
The big event of autumn was the renovation of the outside of
the missionary residence, which is a Japanese-style house about
80 years old. We have a new tile roof to stop the ceiling from
leaking, and new boards on the outside walls. The previous insulation
was packed red earth, which had to be vacuumed out of the roof
by Nagasaki Sewage Service trucks. Because the house is in a historic
preservation district, it requires special permission for any
construction to occur and no basic changes are permitted. (Otherwise,
Kwassui might have rebuilt the house entirely.) In contrast to
the previous weathered-brown color, however, the new wood has
been painted a cheery blue-green, accented by copper drainage
pipes. What stage of historical preservation we have returned
to is anybody's guess.
The weather in Nagasaki had been quite mild until the "little
cold" set in in January (the "big cold" comes later),
but we still haven't had appreciable snow. When I go to the women's
conference and the PC(USA) mission retreat in the next few weeks,
I hope we do not have major storms. Mostly they stay further north.
I pray that you will get through the rest of winter safely.
When it gets hot in July I expect to be in the United States
for interpretation assignment, where I will be through September,
based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at my parents' home. It is always
good to leave behind the early summer rainy season in Nagasaki,
and I look forward to catching up with people and life in America.
Thank you for all of your support and encouragement that mean
so much to workers spread across the world. May God bless you
richly in 1999.
In God's love,
Barbara Jo Easton
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