Israel trip(episode3)

Well, as we went down from the olive mountain there was a lot of ancient Jewish tombs around the foot of the mountain.

I think that this signboard was related to that. The guide taught us a lot, but I ‘m sorry I don’t remember well.

But we can see “TOMB OF THE PROPHETS H…” on this green sign board. So this tomb is probably the famous prophet’s tomb like Haggai , Zechariah,Malachi…

I think Hebrew letters are unique. I feel their letters are somewhat similar to Japanese katakana and Korean Hangul.

 

 

We saw almond blossoms in many places.

On the way to Gethsemane, we saw a church called “Domimus Flevit Church” on our right side.
This is the place where Jesus cried sadly. Because he noticed about the end of the Jerusalem temple.

※ Luke 19: 41 ~ 44, Mark 13: 1 ~ 2

We didn’t have time to go there this time. We just kept going down the slope.

 

Well, this is the Gethsemane. The place where Jesus prayed so hard before he got caught. We imagined the Apostles fell asleep around here when Jesus was praying.

 

(The planted trees are olive trees.)

Matthew 26:40-

But the Guide said to us like this.
“They must have been quite tired. Because they drank and ate a lot at the Passover Festival.”

There is a catholic church called “Church of all nations” right next to the garden of Gethsemane.

Just around this point, Jesus fell on his face and prayed so hard.

Matthew 26:39

 

And then we went to the Church of the Nativity.

This is the place where Jesus was born.

Catholic Church and Greek Orthodox Church and Armenian Apostolic Church manage here together.

This is the place where baby Jesus slept in a manger.

Originally this place was inside of the cave.

 

This is the statue of Hieronimus (Jerome 347～420）out side of the church.
You don’t need to be scared at all.
He translated the Bible into Latin language for the first time.
A widow supported him financially to translate. But she died in the disease.
He felt very sad and he couldn’t help keeping her skull during his life.

It’s a very sad story… But maybe it’s a kind of timeless emotion.

 

Then the pastor said to the guide like this.
“Every time you come here you always sing “Hone made aishite” . Shall we sing it today?”
(”Hone made aishite” is an old Japanese popular song. It’s an Enka song.That means “Love me to the bone”)
Then the guide said “Yeah,Let’s sing!”.

Most of young people don’t know the song at all.
So some of us were bewildered.
But I knew that song somehow.
So I sang the chorus with them.

Then, some of the other foreigners mistook the song as a hymn and clapped saying “wonderful!”.

I said in my mind, “No, that’s not a hymn at all”.  XD

 

 

*Words and Pronunciation

 

tomb / túːm

prophet / prάfɪt / ​ a person who is believed to have a special power that allows them to say what a god wishes to tell people, especially about things that will happen in the future

Gethsemane / geθséməni

caught / kˈɔːt / past tense, past participle of catch

the Apostles / əpɑ́səlz / the early Christians who travelled to different places telling people about Jesus Christ

Apostolic / æpəstάlɪk

Matthew / mˈæθjuː

Nativity / nətívəṭi / the birth of Jesus Christ

fall on (one’s) face / to fall and land on one’s face

manger / meɪnʤə / an open box from which cattle and horses feed

cattle / kˈæṭl / cows that are kept for their milk or meat

statue / stˈætʃuː / an object made from a hard material to look like a person or animal

widow / wídoʊ / a woman whose husband has died

bewilder / bɪwíldɚ / to confuse someone

hymn / hím / a song of praise that Christians sing to God

praise / préiz / worship , express admiration for a god

admiration / ædməréɪʃən / the feeling of admiring someone or something

admire / ədmάɪɚ / to respect and approve of someone or their behaviour:

approve / əprúːv / to have a positive opinion of someone or something

 

 

Israel trip (episode2)

Sun. February. 11th  2018

It was 4 am when we arrived in Istanbul.(In Japan time it’s 10am)

We used Turkish Airlines and we had to fly to Israel via Istanbul Atatürk Airport.

We drank coffee or something and talked to each other  in the food court. The currency is “lira” in Turkey.

About 3 and a half hours later we changed plane to Israel.

This is the in-flight meal. It’s very simple. But I had no likes and dislikes about food.I ate all of it deliciously.

The morning sun came in from the window of  the plane.

 

It was about 9 am when we arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel.

There is a 7 hour time difference between Israel and Japan. Well…,it must be completely jet lug! But I didn’t feel sleepy because I was happy to arrive in Isreal.

We met a tour guide and his wife at the airport. He is a Japanese and have been living Israel for about 40 years! He can speak English and Hebrew language very well. I was so surprised.

As soon as checking in at the hotel, we headed for Mount of Olives  in  Jerusalem by bus.

This is the view from the Mount of  Olives.

The golden roof of the mosque is the Dome of the Rock. Originally, this is the place  where Abraham tried to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah.(Genesis 22:1-18)

(† Some people tend to have doubts in the Old Testament. I used to feel that way too. But this is the scene where Abraham’s faith is being tested. He definitely loved his son.)

Next to the Dome there is the Wailing wall(Western wall).

There was a camel in this place! It’s a kind of street business. What a cute!

 

 

*Words and Pronunciation

 

via / vάɪə / going through a place

fly to  / to go to somewhere by plane

currency / kˈɚːrənsi / the type of money that a particular country uses

uses / ˈjuwsɪz

in-flight meal / the meal that is provided in a plane

provide / to give sth to sb or make sth for sb

jet lug / the feeling of tiredness and confusion that people experience after making a long journey by plane

tiredness / táɪɚdnɪs

Hebrew / híːbruː

Jerusalem / dʒərúːs(ə)ləm

mosque / mάsk

Wail / weɪl / to cry or complain in a loud high voice because you are sad or in pain

sacrifice / sˈækrəfὰɪs / the act of offering sth to a god,especially an animal that has been killed in a special way

offer / to provide or supply sth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Israel trip (episode 1)

I went on a trip to Israel for 7 days last month.

It was a tour trip.

Sat. February. 10th 2018

It was past 5 pm when I arrived at Narita Airport.

Actually, the meeting time was 7:30 pm. But I wanted to have enough time to prepare. Because it was no exaggeration to say that it was my first overseas trip.

Strictly speaking, I went to the West Coast of the USA on a school trip when I was in high school. But that was a long time ago.

It was the first time I went to Narita by myself, so I thought that I should never be late.

I took snacks at Starbucks at Narita,and received rental Wi-Fi. And then I waited for our group for a while. It was an exciting travel tour planned by a travel agency.

When I took a walk in the departure lobby just before 7 p.m., other tourists were gathering. About 30 people in all. Most people were Christians. They came from various churches throughout Japan.

I greeted the pastor and the tour operator who hosted this trip.
And I began to feel like I truly leave Japan.

Joy and expectation, a little tension.

Well, the immigration inspection… I brought a Ponzu (a type of Japanese dipping sauce made from orange juice, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce) to eat Peter’s fish deliciously. But I carelessly put it in my baggage instead of my suitcase. It was confiscated! I didn’t know that the immigration exam are so tough with any kind of liquids.

The plane took off at 9 p.m.
From Narita to Istanbul.

It’s been a long time…..

I had no choice but to be patience at the economy seat.

It was around 4 am when we arrived at Istanbul. But there is a time difference, so it’s confusing. (Because there is a 6 hour time difference between Turkey and Japan. It’s 10 am in Japan time)

I  didn’t sleep well in the airplane.

Entry inspection in Istanbul was even more rigorous. It is troublesome, but it is very important to prevent terrorism and crime. Yeah it’s true.

 

*Words and Pronunciation

• Israel / ízriəl
• exaggeration / ɪgz`ædʒəréɪʃən

a statement that represents sth as better or worse than it really is.

• represent / rèprɪzént

to describe sth or sb.

• strictly / strík(t)li

exactly

• strictly speaking

to be exactly correct or accurate

• accurate / ˈækjʊrət

exact and correct

• immigration / ìməgréɪʃən

the control point at an airport where the official documents of people who want to come into a country or leave a country are checked.

• dip / díp

to put sth into liquid and immediately take it out again.

• vinegar / vínɪgɚ
• confiscate / kάnfɪskèɪt

to take sth away from sb as a punishment

• rigorous / ríg(ə)rəs

done very carefully and with great attention to detail