Volunteer Work

I went to Ishinomaki in Miyagi this weekend to do some volunteer work with my friend Marci, who has been going every weekend since the middle of the summer. Going back to Miyagi for the first time since I left seemed like fun, as well.

Back in Sendai for the first time in a long time. It was weird being back here, but everything seemed to be back to normal.

From Sendai, we went to Ishinomaki, which is about 2 hours from where I was living in Naruko Onsen. It's on the coast and was badly damaged by the tsunami.

We went straight to the work site at about 9am in the morning after riding a night bus all night long and not getting too much sleep.

The first day we were busy digging mud from the tsunami and typhoon out of the gutters. It was pretty hard work and definitely a dirty job.

Seeing the damaged and vacant houses was shocking and the amount of damage was unbelievable.

The group of volunteers that I was working with got permission from the local University to camp on their property, and there were so many volunteers there that it looked like a little village.

The recent typhoon left a lake in the soccer field near the university!

The second day we cleaned out some more, dirtier gutters and then we cleaned up the area that used to be someone's home. While we were shoveling the wreckage, you would occasionally find something like a child's toy that would really remind you what happened here.

After working we hiked up a small hill and looked at the view of Ishinomaki from up there. It is a beautiful little town.

After a hard two days' work and no shower, I made my way back to Naruko, where I lived last year and visited my old ryokan and used the onsen, for free! I saw Mami-chan and her mother, who was really pregnant and about to pop!

I am glad to be home now, and having a normal shower was priceless!!

Sunset at the Beach

I went to the beach the other day and as the sun set, Mt. Fuji became visible over the horizon and it was really breathtaking. I took lots of pictures, but this was probably the best one.

Probably my last trip to the beach this summer, but I had fun and I am definitely glad I caught this sunset. I may frame this one.

Today is the end of a long week and I am lucky to have two three day weekends, one starting now, and one three work days away after this one ends. Tomorrow I am going to the dentist for the first time in Japan, so that should be an experience. And I am starting Japanese classes next week!

Back to School

Well, it's back to school time here, which means back to work for me. I had a great vacation and the past couple of weeks have just been finishing up summer school and doing easy work, more or less. But today was my first day back to the grind and, although I was dreading to go back, it was a good first day. It was good to see some of my students again and it wasn't quite as hot as it was before.

Here are some of my students in pictures we had to take for their report cards.