Zion Festival 2007

My love and joy comes from the gifts from above.

I am forever grateful for the gift of my life at TCU. Over the weekend, I have been out at TCU helping out with Zion Festival and meeting some good old friends from my school days. It was great and I had a fun time. I always look forward to spending time at TCU and participating in every possible event.

Last Saturday was a blast. I went over immediately after work with my gear for the weekend. It was my first time to step into the Faith and Culture Center (FCC) building and my heat skipped a beat in appreciation of the beautiful tea room there. The current Japanese tea ceremony club was running final practices on Friday night and it was an honor to meet the current members.

I stayed over at Motoko's room in the Women's Dorm and memories of dormitory life were brought back to life with the night-long preparation for Zion Festival the next day. Although I knew that some of my graduated buddies were back, I needed the rest and did not hang out with them. However, I did spent the whole night chatting with Motoko instead as we could not sleep after drinking matcha during the practice earlier. Girls slumber party... (*^_^*)

The very next morning, we prepared ourselves for the big day. I must give myself a pat on the back as I still remember and was able to put on my kimono! It has been close to a year and a half since I put the entire gear on. I helped Motoko with hers too. Not bad at all, I dare say. We went to set up the tea room on time right after we were done. Mori-san was adorned in her kimono and even Tadashi was there with his hakama. Everyone who were in the traditional wear looked their best.

I would give a salute and a round of applause to Tadashi, for I am surprise with who has become today. Although we were in different courses, we shared the same academic year back during the TCU days. I still remember vividly the shinny pair of skater jeans he used to wear with his bright red sweatshirt. He was always smiling and extremely energetic in comparison to his twin brother, Makoto. (Oh yes, there are pictures somewhere...) After his graduation in March 2006, he was admitted to TCTS, the seminary at TCI. I wasn't able to attend his wedding since I went back after my graduation. He is now husband to Shiho and will be a dad in February. Now, he is more composed and very much mature from the days of sparkly pants and bright colored tops. It is amazing when we seen each other grow through the passage of time. I am so happy for him.

The same feeling was shared with the other friends I met on Saturday. Zion Festival seems to be the best place for the alumni to catch up and meet people from TCI and church members during out internships. There were many who I was surprised to see and them me.

After we are done with the Japanese Tea Ceremony which lasted for two and half hours, I went to grab some food since I had only a banana since 7am. Thinking that I was able to freeload from Matthew's and Sunil's Burrito stand, I soon find myself helping out too! (Laughs) It was lots of fun. There were so many things going on that I hardly had time to go around and see every stall or meet everyone I wanted to. I made a quick change out of my kimono and had only limited time to spare before meeting Dr. Franklin and Jewel for our appointment.

After everything was over, we had an unexpected dinner party of thirteen at Capriccioza. I was really tired then and the spoilt baby in me turned on the anti-social mood. I was really tired at the end of the day, but I was happy. I rushed home after spending some time with Matthew and Sunil, and spent the night at Baileyna's.

Go ahead and call me sappy and sentimental, but I love my alma mater. I am glad to be back in Japan and do hope that I will be staying here longer. I would deeply appreciate your prayers as I would know the result in this week or next. Have a great week ahead!