Some three weeks ago, I went to Miyagi, Sendai with Matt G and Zach to play and teach kids who had been affected by the tsuami. I was at the start really afraid to do this, because I have never been around that small children, let alone had to be an authority figure for a crowd of them.
For the longest time I had been so in doubt of weather or not to make this entry, but I feel like I probably should, since this experience changed a lot for me.
Friday night, we had to take an over night bus to get to Sendai, and GOD I was all shades of tired when we arrived at 6 in the morning! And kids were coming to play with us at 6:30. Oh yea!
When we had picked up our group of children, we went inside a bus and went up into the mountains. We were staying at this ski resort at Mt. Zao.
- and of respect of the children and their family, we were asked not to post pictures of them on our blogs or facebook, so I cannot really show you guys that much.
Besides English lessons and word games, we also got to go outside and play a sticker game with the kids. It was kinda like catch, but each adult had some stickers to give them. I did not participate though, because I was really afraid I would hurt my hip even more :/ - yeah I am still unable to run due to a strain, so now I am just giving it a good long rest.
Our Friday dinner! In doors BBQ, and god it was SO good! But we only managed to eat our way through one of those meat plates... Waay too much food!!
After dinner, we were devided into smaller groups with our kids and taken to a hotel. We got to stay at a 旅館 (ryokan ; traditional Japanese inn) with inside and outside hot springs!
It was so nice! And our room was really nice too, we were 4 adults and 4 girls sleeping in a big tatami room. After such a long day, and a dip in the hot springs, I was so ready to sleep!
Sunday was more games and fun time! We got some curry udon for lunch, and it was really good! The kids almost made all the food, I feel so spoiled!
After lunch we had to say good bye to the kids again. It was really hard because so many of them had become so attached to us. I made the girl I liked the most cry because she would miss me so much. So when I get home, I will hopefully be able to send her something from Denmark, for her to remember me by!
After we got back to Sendai city, we got some time to get dinner, and then we went on a bus tour of the disaster stricken area. It was really horrible to see how much was destroyed and what power nature really can muster.
This is from the airport (As well as the two pictures above), and this shows how high the wave was at this point, almost 200 meters away from the shore, with A LOT of houses in between.
This trip really made me realize, that in my life, I really want to help more people. All of the things I saw and the kids I met really opened my eyes to how much I can do. The difference I can make, might in a big picture seem really small, but the smiles on those kids faces and the tears my little sweetheart cried for me, really showed me that the little good I can do, is at least making a difference in their lives.
We went home by the night bus again, and arrived in a almost dead Toyko at 5:30. Luckily the trains had JUST started to run, so we got on the first and the best line bound for Toyoda!
We got back at around 6:30 and went to McD! I got a beak feast muffin for the first time, and I must say it is not half bad!
As an end note for all of this I would like to say, that if you ever just consider going to volunteer be it in another country or your local community do it! It might take you so far out of your comfort zone, but the things I learned about myself from this experience, is worth all the discomfort I might have felt at first.
