3/19 Monday: Narita > Seattle

Loved staying at this hotel in Narita city.  We slept in, then enjoyed the buffet breakfast, and walked around the station area before taking the train just 2 stops to the airport.  Ralph hasn't been feeling too good this morning, but seems to be hanging in there.  He is on a different flight than us, so he checked in and headed for the gate to wait and relax there.  

Meanwhile, Sylvia and I returned the rental phone, did some final shopping (her favorite store is UniQlo and they have a store at the airport), before checking in for our Delta flight.  Some generous friends arranged for us to be on a buddy pass which is a huge discount on the standard fare, but the tickets are stand-by status.  As we found out a week ago on the flight from Seattle to Japan, it can be a real nail-biter. And again this time, we were told the flight was very full, and we were not assured of seats.  They told us to wait until an hour before departure and check back, so we filled the 90 minute wait with a bite of lunch and tried to relax.  When we came back, they were more hopeful, and gave us boarding passes, so we exchanged our yen to dollars, went through immigration and headed to the gate.  

Fortunately we were able to get on the flight in economy class, and even got seats together this time - nice!  Then someone came and invited one of us to an open seat in business elite.  Sylvia said she had been praying that a seat wold open up for me because I had been working so hard on this trip, and she wouldn't take any protest from me about it.  Ah, the delightful creature comforts of the big recliner seats and excellent service in the front of the plane.  I felt grateful (and a touch guilty), and sure enjoyed it all.

These flights cross the dateline, so even though we left Monday afternoon at 3:40 PM on , we arrived in Seattle at 8:15 AM the same day - about 7 hours before we left Tokyo.  Done it many times, but it still kinda blows my mind.  It's nice flying in over the Olympic mountains, Puget Sound, and the Seattle skyline - what a beautiful area!  Nice to be home.

3/18 Sunday: Shichigahama > Sendai > Tokyo > Narita

One of those days full of happy events, but long and tiring.  We started by serving a pancake breakfast for Gilberts, the Longs, and Ann & her sister and mom who had just arrived from the States.  We wanted to make it time of blessing and celebration and encouragement.  Brought some special tablecloths and balloons, along with some syrups that are unavailable in Japan.  We all talked about our next steps and shared a time of praying for each other.  

Pancake breakfast with Gilberts, Longs, and Ann & family

Saying "sayonara" to the Gilberts

Afterwards, we said farewell, and Lorna took us to Tagajo station where we hopped the train to downtown Sendai.  Squeezed in a brief meeting with Jordan and Marina Nogaki and their infant son Towa - what a cutie! - at the local Starbucks.  

With the Nogaki family at the Starbucks in Sendai

Enjoyed a fast bullet train ride to Tokyo, where we stored our luggage at Tokyo station, and took the Yamanote line around to Shibuya where Ralph, Sylvia, and I had a celebration & debrief supper: tempura, sashimi, and udon.  Yum-yum de gozaimashita!  

At 7 PM we met Tomo and Jessica Abe at the Hachiko statue in Shibuya.  They are a terrific young couple who planting a church in the suburbs of Tokyo, and have been involved with the Alpha course both in Japan and at our home church in Seattle.  Took the train with them back to Tokyo station and had some gelato together as we chatted.  

Ralph loving the local trains in Tokyo

With Tomo and Jessica at Tokyo station

It was getting late, so we said farewell to them, and found an express train out to Narita city, where we had arranged an inexpensive hotel for the night.  It was an experiment to see if this place might be suitable for future team visits; turned out to be ideal in location and budget and quality for us, and I'd plan to stay there again.

Just as we were getting ready for bed, another earthquake hit.  It was about 4 or 5 on the scale, and rather noticeable.  We've had a handful of significant earthquakes this week, one up around 7 on the scale.  Fortunately no major damage reported, but a good reminder that Japan is very prone to earthquakes.

3/17 Sat - Ishinomaki & Onagawa

Wow, quite a few highlights for today.  For Gilberts, this is a key day because of the weekly "takidashi" event.  They collaborate with several other groups in what has evolved into an amazingly crucial time for the survivors.  It's part social event, part relief supplies distribution, part free lunch, and part moral-boosting enjoyment.  They tell amazing stories of how people are finding hope and connecting with each other.  One guy was ready to commit suicide, but found welcome and a renewed direction via the community relationships here.


Each time follows the same pattern, but the specifics have a lot of variety.  Today, a local businessman brought fresh oysters from the nearby Mangokuura Sea, and offered them raw or cooked - yum!  

Unloading the oysters

Ralph enjoying a raw oyster.

During the morning, a delightful young singer, Miyuki Hara, sang gospel enka.  She was amazing both musically and in connecting with the people who enjoyed her presentation and sang along.

Miyuki singing for the survivors

Then the most fun of all: Andy led the bingo game where everyone gets a chance to win relief supplies.  This is a great concept because it gives everyone a fair chance at limited supplies, plus is provides an morale boost for everyone there.

Andy (upper right with megaphone) leads the bingo game.

Everyone is welcome to stay for a free lunch, provided this time by the Grace Mission Tohoku, a volunteer team from just outside Tokyo.  We got to enjoy lunch too, and then helped clean up the tent before heading off for a quick visit with the son of our businessman friend, Mr Saito.  He owns a large seafood transportation business that was wiped out in the tsunami, and his wife almost drowned when her leg got stuck in the stairway.  They are doing pretty well, the business is renewing itself, and their son showed us the renovated office.  

Meeting with Saito-san Jr.

From there, we drove out to Onagawa.  This town is where my heart hurts the most - maybe I'm welded to it because it was here that the full impact of the disaster hit me on the April trip.  A few things have changed since I was here in December: the electrical system seems to be in place, the roads have been raised to avoid high-tide flooding, and the harbor looks more active with quite a few boats. Even so, it's still bleak and desolate, and hard to see much optimism here at this point.

At Onagawa harbor looking back at the hospital; the wave went above that embankment.

Somberly we returned to the Guest House, and began preparing for our departure tomorrow.  Little by little our spirits lifted, and then got a big boost when Ralph made a great supper of enchiladas.  It was a bit of trick, but he pulled it off with flour tortillas we found at the import food store in the Ishinomaki mall.  

In the evening we had a good visit with Gilberts to plan for future teams and funding of future projects.  So many opportunities - going to need a lot of wisdom for how to proceed.  Hard to believe that we head back to Tokyo tomorrow.  This has been a great trip!