2011-09-19 – Day 7

7:50
We got picked up by a JAR staff and are on our way to the volunteer center now. The car has a lot of advantages over riding on a packed bus... but I guess that is obvious ^^
The weather looks rainy but at least it's not so hot any more. I'm looking forward to what work the three of us will be assigned for... Maybe we will go back to the factory?

13:00
We were assigned to a field close by the sea. We basically cut the grass and plants and collected the trash we found in-between. The weather was perfect for working but we had to finish very early today at 12pm. A typhoon will hit the area and I guess the people from the volunteer center didn't want us to be in the middle of it. It's really a pity because work went quickly and smoothly...
Around 11am, a small group of students from the Kansai-area joined us and we could get the thing done before leaving..
Now we have to give the tools back...

14:00
I met the man Cecilia and I were talking to on our second day again and who actually gave us a orientation speech the other day. The man who made the photos for the volunteer center. He didn't recognize me even when I said we met before. In a way it was very strange because normally you remember the people you talk about the death of your sister, especially because I'm a foreigner and therefore easy to remember. But maybe it just makes clear how badly the people in RT need to talk and to share their pain and pressure. I remember when I was younger and something bad happened to me, I would write it down and when I would re-read it, it was like another person wrote it. It wasn't my story any longer and it helped me a lot to get over things. Maybe talking works for other people better than writing and maybe every time they say things aloud they lose something of this desperate brutality and pain. Bit by bit until they can accept what happened and start to recover...

18:00
So, we are back in the ryokan. After getting to Hanamaki we went with the other JAR staff to the camp and helped a little bit with the preparation for the group coming tomorrow morning. Will make a short stop at the onsen... Not that I got dirty today, but you can't miss out a chance to go to onsen  :)