2011-09-22 – Day 10

18:30
We finally arrived in Tokyo after 26 hours on the bus. It was quite a long time... I'm really happy to be back and I just want to get home.
It's a pity that our trip had to end like this... Nature feels so much stronger in Japan...
I don't want to describe the way back home further but I seriously hope there were good reasons for not sending the bus to pick us up earlier. Not that I think it was foreseeable... but... I'm exhausted... I wish everybody a good rest... We all deserve it now :)

Otsukaresama deshita!!!

Those photos are from our way back around Fukushima...

2011-09-21 – Day 9

9:30
I woke up around 5:30 and tried to get back to sleep but it didn't really work well... When you are not sleepy anymore, every single noise wakes you up again and in a camp with 35 people and no sound proof walls, there is a lot of noise.
But, well... I can sleep on the bus ^^
Now it's Onsen-time!!!

19:00
The highways are closed and we are somewhere around Sendai on a small street. I think we haven’t moved for almost an hour. The outer parts of the typhoon are clashing around the bus, making me wonder if we will meet the main part too. Actually it's already bad enough. Maybe the situation wouldn't feel as uncomfortable as it does if my battery wouldn't be about to die again and we had a toilet on the bus :(
So the hours are getting quite long.
The only good thing is that we don't have to face the cyclone in tents...

2011-09-20 – Day 8

7:30
The new volunteers arrived. We had to get up at 5am to be in the camp to welcome them. It's raining like crazy and the whole camp is muddy, wet and cold. It's neither a nice coming back for us nor a good first impression for the new people.
With the new bus, two people I'm so happy to see have arrived. The first one is Satoshi. I think he did a very good job on the first group and after the problems with the female leader, I appreciate his skills even more. The second person is Nyuent-san. The older gentleman from Myanmar we met when we came the very first time.
35 people is quite a lot but the group makes a very friendly impression on me... Let's see what we can do today.

14:30
We got assigned to work on some rice fields which were cleaned before but the group could not finish the work completely and we tried to sort their pile and to get the last bits from the fields. Some time must have passed between the former group and us because some plants were already growing and large parts were covered by soil. I thought with so many people it would have been easy to do the job but since it was raining, the fields and the pile were so muddy that we had real difficulties working there. Satoshi decided to finish work a lot earlier than normal because it really didn't make any sense to get more wet and dirty than we already were to do the work of 5 people on a sunny day. Luckily the bus has a really strong heating system and the things which got wet are almost dry already. There would have been no way to dry them in the camp.
It looks like the volunteer center will be closed tomorrow. The weather is supposed to get even worse and I guess there is no point in sending people out there until it stops raining. The typhoon is really messing things up :(
Since the volunteer center will be closed, Satoshi is trying to organize a bus back to Tokyo earlier than planned. It was actually Ruben's idea and I really hope we can leave soon. Maybe by tonight, which would be nice... I wouldn't mind skipping a rainy typhoon night in our tent camp.
So, but first supermarket and onsen :)

20:00
The bus can't come before the morning, maybe even lunch. Well, at least the group is really cool. Guess we can get over the time... ^^

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  :)

2011-09-18 – Day 6

9:50
We are waiting for a woman from JAR to pick us up. Ruben, Patrick and I will stay at another place the next two nights since just the three of us will be here. I wouldn't have minded staying in the camp but a proper roof while sleeping doesn't sound bad either.
We all have to do some laundry. The humid and wet weather makes even the unworn clothes smell like a cellar. If the rain stops we will try to take a bus to the Tono valley close by. They have a matsuri there today and my mum sent me some information about this area when we were here the first time with the strong recommendation to visit it if we have a chance. Which we haven’t had  but maybe this time...
We had Cecilia's cooking left overs from last night for breakfast. I will miss her cooking maybe as much as I will miss her...

22:00
We had a good relaxing day. The ryokan JAR is in is small, a little bit old but very lovely. They rent two rooms there. One for working and as sleeping place for the women and one as sleeping place for the men. The best thing is, the ryokan has an onsen. No 15 minutes walk... It's directly there. It's small but again really beautiful.
After doing our laundry, we took a bus to Hanamaki station (it's about 30 minutes), had some lunch and walked around for a bit. There is really very little to see (besides the beautiful nature outside of the town), so we ended up at a hill where you have a good look over the city and where a former castle was. Unfortunately there is just a piece of the castle wall left, the rest is gone. In the small park next to it, we made the surprising discovery that Ruben is very loved by caterpillars... But I guess they were basically the exciting things of the day... We went early back and will go soon to bed. A good and nicely boring day...
And my clothes smell fantastic ^^

2011-09-17 - Day 5

7:50

I'm a little bit annoyed. The new people arrived quite early and the first thing they did was shouting around and going through the tents to ask how many people are in each tent. If three pair of working boots are in front of the tent and just three women are in the camp how many people do they expect to be there when all other tents were empty? I know math isn't everybody's thing but please... So our night ended early. We had a few earthquakes this morning and it started to rain again, so my mood isn't exactly the best right now.
But the very funny thing was that they made the orientation a few minutes before the bus left. Why couldn't they do this after arriving and BEFORE they made us get up. Sure they will stay just two days but we are staying 9 days and the worst thing which can happen to us is not getting enough sleep. Then you can’t concentrate as well and accidents happen more easily besides that you feel sleepy which isn't exactly the best motivation to crouch through the mud. I don't know why JAR chose such leaders... I hope from now they do a better job. To say hi or good morning would have been a nice start too... no idea with whom we are dealing here with…

16:10
Today wasn't a good day. The work was boring and totally inefficient. Unfortunately the four new leaders wouldn't ask Kato-san or Ruben for help and had no idea how to deal with the things. We spent one hour in the volunteer center before getting all things done. We arrived at the site after 11am and worked until 2:45pm with one hour lunch break and 3 small 10 minutes breaks. That makes a total working time of 2 hours. Considering that we need around 4 hours for the way to and from RT... It's really frustrating. Ruben, Patrick and I decided to take a day off tomorrow. The group is too big and we have too many people in it who think volunteering is a nice adventure weekend holiday. It's really sad especially because there are of course also good and motivated people but the whole group will just stay until Sunday. I think if I would be here for just two days and then my time gets so wasted like today, I would be really angry. The main leader adjusted quickly but especially the female leaders is really annoying... The one who made us get up in the morning without reason... She is also one of the chatting non-productive ladies who really doesn’t get anything done. I wouldn't mind her so much if she didn’t make things even more difficult for us. I asked her in the beginning of the work day how to separate the trash and she said we should put all non-burnable things together in one sack. I reminded her that we would always at least separate the glass but she insisted that ALL goes together without checking back with the others... One hour later they decided that it would be better to separate the trash... Yes, thank you, we weren't inefficient in working before. And I guess you can imagine how much fun it is to separate trash out of a bag in which glass is... I'm a really patient person but the female leader got me on the wrong foot. I hope JAR won't send her again. To be in RT and doing this work is difficult enough, I don't need an annoying person to tell me what to do when she has no idea about what is going on. Maybe Satoshi set the standard for leaders quite high but this woman would be better leading a book club than a volunteer group.
Ok, now I feel better :)
The work today was similar to the work we had to do at the old couple’s house. Picking trash and take out plants with their roots. The soil was nearly sand, so a lot easier to lift. Ruben and Patrick found some heavy rocks and poles to make them happy after they had to sadly dig in the sand for an hour. I think they need a challenge and sweat to have a good working day.
In the volunteer center they warned us of bees but I was seriously surprised when a whole hive suddenly made it's round over our working side. As quickly as they came, they were gone without hurting anybody or showing any interest in us but still... Quite impressive...
It was our first time on this working site. It is a bit far, maybe already the next village. They have tsunami breakers directly on the coast which are nearly undamaged, so the wave must got over it easily which is really disturbing because the wall was really high... And I had better not think of what would have happened if the wall would have broken... The owner was a funny old man. He was joking a lot with Cecilia and the guys... He said the volunteers are the reason why he gets up in the morning. I wasn't surprised that he smelled like alcohol already when we arrived. I read a few essays about post-disaster problems besides the obvious destruction and alcoholism is one of the bigger issues. Sad but who wants to judge the hopeless?
When we arrived in the volunteer center it started to rain. I hope for the others’ sake it stops soon otherwise they will have to work in mud tomorrow and that is really no fun.

22:20
Today is the day before our day off, we should do something special but I feel already so sleepy and kind of relaxed that I might go to bed very soon. I thought the others would stay awake longer since it's their last night but no party mood until now and most of them have already disappeared into their tents.
Tonight on the way to the onsen Cecilia dropped her phone. We went back to get it but another girl had already picked it up. Aya... She seems to be really nice and I hope she'll write something for our homepage. As soon as we are back and I had a chance to upload the new diaries and the video, we'll start to spread the link. I should try to install a counter for people who view the web side... Let's hope a lot ;)
Ok, now it's really time for the sleeping bag. We are 4 in the tent tonight... Might get a little bit warm ^^

2011-09-16 - Day 4

6:35

Half of us left the camp yesterday (including the leader). It was the first sad good-bye and I wished they could have stayed longer... It was a very nice group... 7 of us are left and the next group will arrive tomorrow morning. As far as I heard 25 people are planning to come which makes us 32. The bus will be crowded but more work gets to be done :)

Yesterday night after the others left we talked again with Kato-san. I think Cecilia and Ruben shared his opinion. It is so Japanese to think about the emotional impact rather than on the physical work. I'm not sure how it is in other countries but I was always so limited to the work which has to be done and of course I realized that people are grateful and happy that we helped but beyond this I didn't think of any more effects our work could have. I'm really thankful that Kato-san opened our eyes to a whole new layer of volunteer work. I always tried to stay away from the effected people. I didn't want them to feel ashamed that they need help and actually JAR told us to not ask them questions etc. But I think the situation has changed... I think that people want to talk now. They need people to share their emotionally pressure with... I will try to adjust to this... Like Cecilia did. She is free of former experience and so friendly and open-minded that she was able to directly jump into the new situation. Let's see what the other days will bring...


7:50
The fog is still all over the mountains but I have a bad feeling that won't protect us from the sun long. I don't even want to imagine how it was to work here in August...
I'm wondering if we get teamed with another volunteer group. 7 of us is probably not enough to clean the size of sites we are used to...
Kato-san and Ruben are the new leaders of our little group until the new leader arrives with the next bus. I know that Ruben takes it quite seriously and that he thought a lot about his position even if it is just for a day. Let's see what kind of leader he is and if we are still friends at the end of the day... Just kidding ;)


18:30
Today was really hot so the volunteer center cut our working hours by one. But we were lucky anyway because we were working under a roof protected from the sun. The roof belonged to a former production hall of the same company we worked for on the first day. The tsunami hit the building and ripped off all walls. We were assigned to clean the goods which were still left. The three girls of us did clean a kind of metal thing maybe for doors? I don't know but we used petrol and some metal brushes to get rid of the rust as good as possible. The work was quite easy. And even if we wouldn't have had a roof I don't think it would have been too bad... Just boring again...
In the lunch break Cecilia gave us an interview. I'm basically out of the documentary project and just update the homepage but Ruben and Patrick chose to make another documentary for their graduation project. The focus won’t be the same as the first video but a close angle... Satoshi was giving them an interview yesterday but I think that's it so far. For the other interviews they'll try to get people from the volunteer center, the city, maybe schools and temples... I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished video.
After the lunch break we went on with the work and before we left, the 6 men told us that they are the managers of the company. The company is basically bankrupt and they are working part-time to get the last things done. They had to fire all people because they didn’t have enough money to employ them any longer. It is really sad. One important part of the recovery of RT should be the maintenance of jobs. Cecilia was negatively surprised that such action isn't part of the government program. But I'm not sure if the company wasn't insolvent even before 311. Well, I didn't want to be so impolite to ask but if I consider the condition of our first work place, it's more likely that they must have had financial problems for some time. Which isn't surprising since Tohoku (except for Sendai and a few other places) was never especially rich.
One really unusual thing at the beginning was that one of the managers told us where to go in case of a tsunami warning. I never expected another tsunami but he is right... Especially because we were directly at the coast and the wave breakers are all damaged. He lost 9 members of his family... I start to wonder if there are people left who didn't lose a beloved person. I hope nobody of us has ever to experience something like this...

22:30
Ruben cooked for us an interesting but oishii version of Spaghetti Cabonara. Tomorrow 27 new people are coming. It's difficult to imagine how we can all fit into the bus... And more importantly into the tents... I am kind of looking forward them but at the same time I am sure I'll miss the calm atmosphere of the nights. Guess so many people won't be calm ;)