3 days to go...

Got a tetanus shot today. Bought a good-quality but inexpensive all-purpose hat (rain, sun, dust, etc.).  Answered a jillion emails. Confirmed my air miles with Delta.  Grabbed a quick lunch.  Arranged some meetings for tomorrow.  Got my hair trimmed.  Made a list of stuff to get at REI: sleeping bag, dehydrated food, etc.  Pulled out my travel bag and started collecting stuff.

Then in the midst of it, Rich emailed with news from a friend who has just returned from Japan with some good advice on a couple items, including being prepared in case of "the unlikely event of a nuclear meltdown".  Hmmm.

So I wrote him back that if a meltdown occurs, we'll take every precaution to be safe. (Imagine the stories we'll have to tell our families and friends if we have to hide in a Japanese basement for an unplanned 6 weeks!) We're fortunate in that we have partner churches up north in Sapporo and further south in Osaka area so we can also evacuate to either of those places and be approx 500 miles away from the reactors.

Gotta finish up my Starbucks coffee and get rolling.

Meet the team

Last night we had a great meeting with the group heading for Japan next Sunday.  Clockwise from the top are Nate Nogaki, Shere Hawk, Jeff Hawk, Rich Rice, and Yours Truly.

Amazingly, each of us has been in over a dozen countries (Jeff has been to over 30!), so doing a cross-cultural trip is routine for this group.

But none of us has ever really experienced the kind of trip we're starting next week.  Sure, some of have been in Japan before, some have had varying degrees of work in poverty-stricken communities, and I've even helped in the aftermath of the Kobe earthquake.  Even so, this trip will stretch all of us in some deep and heart-wrenching ways.

Countdown

Making lists, emailing contacts in Japan, setting up plans... Whoosh! Getting an international drivers license tomorrow and then our team gathers for the first time for more planning and orientation. Looking forward to this trip with this team.