SUNDAY March 6th

Hi all!  I am going to write about Sunday.
First I take the bus at 8:04. to Nagao station. It takes 15 minutes. Then at Nagao station I buy a ticket for Tamatsukuri station.
If you are wandering about the details of trains in Japan, I will try to explain a little.
1.) You walk into the train station, there is usually an area alonga  wall, with ticket vendors for different train lines. I usually use JR.
2.) You look at a map that is almost all in kanji, ask the person next to you which one is Tamatsukuri station, hope they give you the right answer, and on the screen you push the price. On the map under each station is the price. Usually three stations next to each other will have the same price. To get to Tamatsukuri cost 450 yen, about 4 dollars and 50 cents. and takes 35 minutes.
3.) You put your money in, your ticket comes out and your extra change.
4.) You go through a gate. You put your ticket in one side the gate opens and your ticket comes out the other side.
5.) There is a screen up above saying which train lines are at each track. This station is small, so it only has 2 tracks. I go to track number 2 becuase to get where I am going I need to talke the ..something line....
6.) On the screen it says what trains are leaving for where and at what time. Problem is, it doesn't give exact station names. It will say the the train is bound for Nara, but your stop is on the way to Nara, so you have to know that. If you don't know the where the final stop is, you'll need to ask someone becuase youll never figure it out on your own. Also, you can either take the rapid service or the local. The local stops at every station along the way and the rapid stops only at the mager ones. If you accidently take the rapid, you will miss your stop and then you will have to get off wait another ten minutes or so and take a train back. I know.
7.) You go down some stairs or just outside to the baording platform.  Read the sign (they have another electric sign saying where all the trains are bound for) for the 5th or 6th time to make sure you are in the right place. Ask someone just in case, end up freeking out becuase they tl you somthing totally different. Calm down when you realize you were just saying the wrong word and then stand there and occasionally look at the clock as you wait for the train. Then you hear this sound, ding, ding, ding. And then awomans voice starts saying that there is a train arrive and what kind and such in Japanese of course.
Then you board the train. Depending on what station and what time, you may wither have to squeeze yourself on, or all the seats will be taken and yourll just stand by th door, or you can rush to beat the few other people to sit in one of the empty seats. If you have a very short ride, maybe just one or two stations, please do not sit, let others who might have to rise for 30 mintes or more.
8.) I ride the rapid train to Kyobashi station. I have to switch trains here, becuase it is a different line0 the Osaka loop line. Transfers are fun, becuase you usually have about 4 minutes to get on the next train unless you want to wait another ten minutes, becuase you missed it. I get on a local train that is orange. This one is usually a little more crowded since it is just past 9 in the morning now.
9.) I get off at Tamatsukuri station. Walk  the bathroom, and then go out the ticket gate. I put my ticket in , but it never comes out. Its kinda sad.
Then i walk for about ten minutes to get to church.
Churh service starts with music the whole band and everything. they have announcements and then about 5 minutes hwer eyou greet the people around you or whoever. It is really neat, becuase Amy, my new freind, one of her friends wasn't there, so she set her laptop up on the side of the isle and she watched the sevice through skpe.
Actually the pastor isn't there, not sure exactly what he is doing right now, so they have been having the assistant pastors do preaching. Amy's husband preached today. It was pretty good. He is going through 1 john and talking about Christ covering our sins, what taht means we have to do and about having the truth of God in us. More worship, communion, which is abou the same as here, and then thats it. After is I talked to some more people and then went to a womans meeting. What are the odds, tha they are all older Japanese woman and I am the youngest one there. i'm getting use to it now. Its kinda wierd to come to Japan and make friends with and talk to old people the most.
Couple of interesting facts I learned. One of the ladies is from Korea. She said that in Korea it is a law that you have to be cremated when you die, they don't do barial. When they asked me about America I said that hes, most people are buried. They were like, "wow! you must have lot of room in America!" Guess so.
After that I someohow got pushed into the room where the Philapino people were finsishing up a bible study. I felt like I was in a whole new world! People hugging me, shakingmy hand, tyin to force to eat foo, and talking way to loud. Yep!
After that I walked to a park were I planned to read my bible and eat my lunch that I had bought the night before. Well, it was raining slightly, so I just ate my lunch under my umbrella and watched two boys play airsoft. Oh, ya and I fed a pigeon that wouldn't leave me alone.
Then I took the train and bus home. I got back at about 7. All he other WWHOOFers had gone shopping in Sannomiya, so I was alone! Yay! Or so I thought. Turns out Oshimasan (he's really serious) was there and he was taking soil samples in the kitchen. I tried to look as serious as possible and asked him about it. Basically different colors show how much minerals and accids and such are in the soil.
He also said he was leaing that night. When I asked why not in the morning, he said becuase it is cheeper on Saturday and Sunday to drive on the Highway. Cheeper? Well in Japan you have to pay to use the Highway. And on the weekends it is cheeper. He said they charge you becuase they need to use the money to biuld the bridges and stuff. I guess it makes sense considering that in Japan only about haf the population uses
cars.
Well, thas it!
Oh, wait- one more thing.
For those of you wondering I think I got the answer for why you can take a name like Tomoko and change it to Tomo when you add Chan. -Tomochan. Basically it is like taking Samual and calling him Sam. Or Christina and calling her Chris. Same thing. It isn't done as much when you are adding san to the end of a name just bacuase most people you use san with aren't people you would nick name. Unless they introduce themselves as such. That's about it!
Also, chickens here don't make the noise,"cluck cluck, or bauk bauk." the y make the noise, "Ko-kekoko." So instead of calling chickens their real name- "tori" they call them "kokochan"!