Kessenuma at last

Yesterday and today were spent with Haga-sensei, the pastor in Mito (Dan's grandfather's old church). The drive took about 7 hours (we tried not to pay too close attention, actually... counting hours seems to make it feel longer!) but Dan and I could not have asked for better company. Haga-sensei was fascinating to talk with and he got good English practice and we got our Japanese brains revved up for the trip. As a Japanese pastor in a 99% non-Christian country, he had very interesting perspectives on Japanese culture and history. We talked for nearly the entire trip! He has 3 boys of his own (the youngest sounds like a very lively 6 year old), so he and Kai became friends pretty quickly as well. I loved watching Haga-sensei chase Kai around the parking area we stopped at for a stretch break.

It was great to cross into Miyagi during our drive and recognize the exit names. We even got to point out to Kai the city where he was born. Both boys did really well on the drive (Niko slept for a lot of it) and by the time we arrived, we were already for dinner and bed! We ate at a restaurant at the local Aeon and did a little bit of preliminary shopping for breakfast items. Dan laughed at me as I walked through the grocery store with the grin on my face getting bigger and bigger... it was awesome to see all the familiar snack foods that we can't get in America! We're going to have to pace ourselves though... Dan did get us melon-pan (a sweet bread treat) for breakfast our first morning and I savored some niku-don bento (it's a pre-made lunch of grilled meat on top of rice from the conviencence store). My mouth was SO happy!

The boys are doing well with the time adjustment so far. We've had 2 mostly full nights of sleep. Niko is having the harder time with it of the two, mainly because he naps during the day, so in the middle of the night he wants to play. However, we've been able to keep that to only about an hour at a time (usually 2-3 a.m.) and hopefully those will start to taper off quickly. Kai is refusing naps during the day, so he has a few meltdowns intermittently. I guess if it helps him get on a regular sleep schedule, I'll count it as a victory where I can. (Ha-haaaaa!!! He just started snoring. It took about 40 minutes of him fighting it, but looks like he's going to get a nap after all! Yay!)

This morning we unpacked into two rooms at our western-style hotel. For now (unless it proves to not work very well) we are all sleeping in the same room. Dan and I each have our own twin bed and the boys are sleeping on a daybed-style twin that Kai is sleeping at the end of the bed and Niko is at the head (perpendicular to the bed). The other room holds our extra suitcases, etc. and serves as a place for Dan and I to hang out after the boys go down (once WE get adjusted to the time zone, that is!) It also is the "morning room" since we are all waking up early. This morning Dan got up at about 5 a.m. with Niko and let Kai and I sleep some more in our room. Kai and I were up around 6 a.m. and Dan corralled them in there while I moved in to the big room without kiddos in the way. I think we'll start feeling a little more settled quite quickly.

Around 10 a.m. (which seemed a lot later than it was due to the early hour we got up!), Haga-sensei picked us up and took us over to the Community Center space. We met Mr. and Mrs. Sato (we will call each of them Sato-san, but I find it confusing because there's no gender distinguishing when referring to them that way!) We began to set up the room. I think we'll officially start next week, but we are planning to get set up this week. There are church members coming from Tokyo Tuesday and Wednesday of next week to do some canvassing and handing out tracts regarding the center and the English classes that we will be holding, so we're not expecting things to be overly busy before then. Our primary job is to get the center up and running and ready for the volunteers who are following us.

After we left the center, Haga-sensei drove us to the disaster zone along the coast. I will most likely do a dedicated post on this later with more pictures... I think both Dan and I need more time to digest what we saw there. As we said to some women we met at lunch today, there are no words for the feelings we have and thing things we saw. It was humbling, even 8 months after the earthquake and tsunami, to see the evidence of the raw power of the earth. Cars crushed like aluminum cans, buildings stripped bare, boats blocks inland, fallen traffic signals totally mangled... piles and piles and piles of rubble. You can see scorch marks on the buildings from the fires that burned for over a week. The roads in that area are still so covered with mud they are like gravel roads. I saw a car wedged between an L-shaped corner of a building and a utility building, tipped up on it's nose, in a space the car could have NEVER gotten by itself... and it's still there after months of clearing debris out. I think the image I'll remember the most (I hope to get back with my camera and get a shot of it) was the rubble of a building with a bouquet of fresh flowers left in the doorway. The amount of damage in this city is unreal... and I know that this town is fairly prosperous. I can only imagine the loss in some of the smaller communities that don't have as much money to rebuild. Haga-sensei hadn't been to Kessenuma since April, so he was amazed at how far the town had come in their clean-up and rebuilding projects. Fairly far into the city he remembers the roads being covered with sand and even 1/2 way up staircases you could see the water had come up because of the sand and mud, but now you would never know. It was great to have some firsthand knowledge of the early days to give us some additional perspective. I'm sure Dan and I will hear more and more stories in the coming days. Below are a few pictures Dan snapped on the iPad as we drove through, just to give you a taste of what we saw.


It has been hard to explain to Kai the scope of the disasters. Before we left I showed him a couple videos taken during an earthquake to let him know what to expect so he wouldn't be scared when we feel one (we had a small earthquake our first night in Tsuchiura... both boys slept right through it!) However now that we are here, we have found the need to explain what a tsunami is and delve into how BIG the earthquake was due to the damage that is evident here. Kai's 3 year old brain can't quite grasp the severity of the situation... a part of me wishes for that innocence. We will continue to explain to him that he can help the people here, not by cleaning up and rebuilding things, but by telling them about Jesus and helping them learn English.

However, that has been an additional challenge for Kai. I think a part of his outbursts and tantrums (fairly few and far between, considering the amount of jet lag he is fighting) is the frustration he feels because he is surrounded by a language he doesn't understand and even Mommy and Daddy are speaking it. I think a part of him feels left out or ignored, perhaps... but in my eyes I see it as an opportunity for him to grow. I hate to sound too callous, but at some point he needs to learn that life does not revolve around him, particularly in this situation. My prayer is that he learns to let go of the innate selfishness (that, honestly, ALL of us struggle with!) and look with empathy and compassion on those in need. I understand he's going through a HUGE change (both physically and emotionally) so Dan and I are going to attempt to be as attentive as possible, but our goal is to get him to be a little bit more independent and for us as parents to lead by example (which includes us showing compassion to him in his times of need when we can spare it, particularly when it's just our family time... a lesson in patience both Dan and I will learn over and over, I'm sure!)

Anyway, in short, we are settling in and our time in Japan has truly begun. Stay tuned for more to come! :o)