From Pennies To Yennies

Tokyo Happenings

December 9, 2011 by Laurel

Dan and I have enjoyed keeping busy since I’ve been back. I returned on a Sunday, and sadly he had to go to work the next day. I spent the day being cozy, reading with Penny and watching tv. Later in the week my missing luggage was delivered and I unpacked immediately. While Dan’s been at work, I got a bit of a jump start on making some Christmas cards with my Cricut machine. I just started the hobby of making cards and so far it’s fun! It’s nice to give people something fun in their mailbox that’s not a bill! I’ve also been reading, going to our local gym, keeping the apartment clean and job hunting.

I had my first real job interview here (besides a nannying job) this past Monday. It’s for an advertising and marketing agency. My interviewer thought I’d be a good candidate but was concerned I didn’t know enough Japanese. I told him I’d work on it though! He said he’d let me know in the next few weeks, so I’m waiting to hear about that. If it doesn’t work out, I know a teaching agency I am interesting in applying at.

Dan has a coworker who enjoys going to new restaurants with her husband and has started to invite Dan and I along and double dating. It’s really fun and just nice to have friends in the area to try new things with. The first week they took us to a good pho restaurant in Shinjuku and last week we went to a great sushi restaurant in Roppongi. Unfortunately I didn’t think to bring my camera with me! Dan and I also got lunch with 2 volunteer friends of mine that I’d met in Ishinomaki, and it was great to learn about the progress of the areas devastated by the March 11th events.

Dan and I have been out and about quite a bit. In October he had his cousin Monica visit and then his mother, and I think he really enjoyed taking them sight seeing while they were visiting. So now we’ve been going out seeing new things, trying new things and just having fun. We even tried famous vegan donuts from Haru Donut in Shimo Kitazawa and they were delicious! I may even look into making some vegan recipes!

Dan and I outside Ghibli Museum

Dan also grew quite an impressive mustache for the month of November. There is an event called Movember, where men all over the world grow crazy mustaches in an attempt to raise funds and awareness for mens health.

Here’s the face that raised over $200!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dan, Haru Donut, Japan, job interview, Rainbow Roll Sushi | Leave a Comment »

Flying Back to Tokyo

December 9, 2011 by Laurel

It’s nice to be caught up with my blog! I hope you all enjoyed hearing about my time back in the States. I’ve been back in Tokyo for almost 3 weeks now and so far it’s been wonderful. Well, besides my flight home.

I flew Seattle to Vancouver BC, then Vancouver to Tokyo. Once I checked in for my Seattle flight, I learned my flight was delayed about a half hour. The plane arrived and we boarded and 40 minutes later I was in Vancouver BC.

I only had an hour layover, so with the half hour delay I had 30 minutes to deplane, go through customs, find my next gate and get on the plane. Vancouver is a very spread out airport and I got in a good amount of power walking! There was a line at customs which ate up a bit more time, then I found my next gate, hopped on the plane and we took off!

Vancouver to Tokyo is an 11 hour flight. I’m used to the flight only being about 10 hours since I leave from Portland or Seattle, so I wasn’t thrilled to add an hour of travel. But I had a nice flight of napping, reading the second Hunger Games book, and watching some movies. It was finally time to land, but there was a storm in Tokyo and we were stuck in a hold patten for an hour! An hour of flying in circles in terrible turbulence so strong my rear kept lifting off my seat! People all around me were getting sick. It was a nightmare!

After 12 hours and 20 minutes of flying we landed at Narita Airport and I then got to learn that even though I barely made it to the plane in time, my bags did not 🙁 No bags! They were still all packed up in Vancouver. I filled out some paperwork and they assured me they’d be delivered in the next week. The only upside was that I had 2 large heavy suit cases, and at least this way I didn’t have to lug them on the 3 trains it takes me to get home!

Dan was waiting for me and it was wonderful to see him again. We trained home and chatted about what we had been up to. We made it home in under two hours and it was great to see our kitty Penny and give her hugs. We talked for a bit longer, then I went to bed super early! It’s great to be home!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged America, Dan, flying, Japan, Penny, travel, Vancouver | Leave a Comment »

A Week in the Caribbean!

December 4, 2011 by Laurel

In mid October an opportunity presented itself for myself and my friend Kelsey to take a cruise together. It was somewhat last minute, but we decided, “why not?!” We packed our bags and flew out to Ft. Lauderdale Florida. From there, we cabbed to Pt. Everglades, where the Ruby Princess was docked and waiting to take us on a tour of the eastern Caribbean. It was a 7 day cruise, with ports of call in St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Grand Turk/ Turks & Caicos, and a stop at Princess Cruises’ private island in the Bahamas, Princess Cay.

We flew red eye, leaving Seattle Friday night and arriving in Ft. Lauderdale Saturday morning. Needless to say, we were very tired upon arrival. Here’s Kelsey trying to stay awake as the sun rises at our layover airport, Chicago O’Hare.

Once we landed and got to Port Everglades, we waited in a long line to check in. There were delays because the ship had just returned from Italy, and the coast guard had to come on board for inspection and clearance. Eventually we went through security, had our passports checked and got our room key/ charge cards, and were let on the ship!

We headed to our room first, but our luggage hadn’t been delivered yet. We decided to get something to eat. At the back of the ship a nice buffet was set up. We chose some snacks and found a nice table out in the sun.
Kelsey ready to enjoy lunch

View of the back of the ship

Then we decided to go exploring. We got a drink and checked out the pools, work out room, spa, restaurants, the theater and even minigolf on the top deck!

Me exploring our ship

Kelsey and I ready for take off!

At 5pm we left Florida and were sailing the seas. We hit some major waves, but once we got our sea legs we were ready for fun! We started with a trip to the spa, where we got seaweed wraps and massages. The ship also had a thermal suite- a giant room with heated ceramic recliners, a mint steam room, a sauna and some rainforest showers. It was heaven! We had a small dinner before going to our room and passing out for the night.

The next day we were up early to explore Princess Cays. We visited the breakfast buffet before disembarking on the island.

We signed up for a beach yoga class. Let me tell you, beach yoga is not as fun as it sounds! It’s hard to balance when the ground beneath you is so uneven and always shift, and sand gets everywhere when you lie down. We laughed about it after, then went swimming in the warm ocean.

We swam for a bit, laid in the sun, then had a nice lunch. I found a neat sign showing how far we were from some other major cities, including my current hometown Tokyo!

There were many vendors offering hair braiding, jewelry, purses and other small goods. Kelsey and I each got a necklace. Here’s Kelsey with hers

We got back on the ship and got ready for dinner. Here’s me in the piazza on our way to eat!

We had a pretty low key night. We saw Crazy Stupid Love in the theater, and some dessert and called it a night.

The next day we were at sea all day, en route to St. Maarten. We entertained ourselves by visiting the spa’s thermal suite, pizza for lunch, watched The Help, and played Bingo!

Sadly we didn’t win, but had fun playing. After dinner that evening we watched as they poured a champagne fountain. It was so pretty! We each got a turn pouring champagne into it.

The next morning we arrived in St. Maarten. We woke up and had breakfast and mimosas.

We got off the ship and wow, it was hot! We had planned to explore the dutch side in the morning, and the french side in the afternoon.
Arriving in St. Maarten

We didn’t spend long on the dutch side. We perused some shops, but nothing caught our eye. Lots of jewelry shops, souvenir shops, liquor shops. We went back on the boat to enjoy some air conditioning and relax before heading out again.

In the afternoon we took a bus to the french side of the island. Our main goal was to explore and enjoy the beaches. We arrived and it instantly started raining. Didn’t stop us! We jumped in the waves and let them toss us about. We walked along the beach for about a mile or so, taking in all the sights. There was even a nude beach! After exploring for a bit we headed back to catch a bus home. Our bus driver pointed out several neat sights, and we got a good view of St. Barts. Another relaxing evening of dinner, a show, the thermal suite and hot tubbing, and we called it a night.

The next morning we arrived in St. Thomas! I really enjoyed this port. We got to do some fun touristy things besides strolling through shops. The first thing we ran into when we got off our boat?
Lizards!

We took a bus that drove us to the very top of a huge hill, so we could look out on the island. It was a beautiful view!

Then back on the bus where we toured Blackbeard’s Castle. It was a neat little pitstop with lots of information on the history of pirates.
Blackbeard!

Kelsey at the top of Blackbeard’s Castle. Again, lovely view

After learning a bit about pirates we explored a little rum museum and had some samples of different flavors of rum. We made our way down the hill to the Caribbean World Amber Museum. This place was beautiful! Amber from centuries ago! All different kinds and colors. Some with very old bugs trapped inside.

There was a small amber shop where as a souvenir for myself I picked out a pair of Caribbean amber earrings. We then went outside for another beautiful surprise- an amber waterfall!

Water cascaded down a wall of amber. It was so pretty!

At this point, we had been exploring for a few hours and were hot and tired. We made our way to the ship, stopping in some shops on the way. There was even an outdoor fake purse market! It was hilarious! They had Cooch instead of Coach and Findi instead of Fendi. We got back on the ship, and enjoyed an afternoon by the pool. Then our usual evening of dinner, entertainment, relaxing in the thermal suite, dessert and bed.

The next day we arrived at Turks & Caicos. This was definitely my favorite stop! Everything here was beautiful. The ocean water was incredibly clear and you could see fish swimming.
Arriving in Grand TUrk

We had lunch at Margaritaville.

This was no ordinary restaurant. It had a pool! We changed into swimsuits and after lunch laid by the pool. It was all waist deep, with bridges, a swim up bar and DJ playing music and calling people up for games.
Kelsey and I at the swim up bar

We left the pool and browsed the shops a bit. Then we went to dip our toes in the ocean. That turned into a glorious swim as the sun began to set. Fish swam around our legs as we waded about. The sand was white and speckled with shells and beach glass. Perfection! We laid out to dry off a bit and read.

We made our way back to the ship. Kelsey and our boat!

That evening we watched an employee talent show in the theater which was very entertaining. Before it began staff threw a bunch of balloons out to us to blow up and toss about. It was madness, balloons everywhere!

The next day was our last full day on the boat. Very sad! It was going to be an at sea day as we made our way back to Fort Lauderdale. We did various activities- played bingo, had lunch and some frozen yogurt, I went on a tour of the backstage performance area, and we saw ice carvers carve sculptures.
Mermaid and angelfish

That evening we had a delicious dinner at the Italian restaurant on board, then watched the movie Bridesmaids. So funny! We went to bed sad to be leaving the next morning!

And early! We were up around 7 to get out of our room and wait at our muster station to disembark. We got off the ship, gathered our luggage, went through customs and it was back to the real world! After a full day of flying, that is.

We arrived at the airport around 10am, and our flight wasn’t until 3. We had lunch and entertained ourselves with books and movies. We flew to Texas and had dinner, then flew to Seattle. Kelsey’s boyfriend Jim was there to take us home where we promptly went to sleep! All in all a fantastic trip!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged America, Caribbean, cruise, Kelsey, vacation | Leave a Comment »

3 Months in the States!

November 30, 2011 by Laurel

I’m finally back in Tokyo and it’s so good to be home. I took an extended trip home to visit with friends and family, and the commitments piled up, and I spent a lot more time in Oregon and Washington than I meant to! So what have I been up to while away? Of course I took pictures along the way…

First up- camping at the beach with my college friends! It was great to see them after spending the spring and summer apart, and since it was early September we still had great weather (nights were a bit chilly though!).
Brittany and I kept warm with our crazy pink hats!

Brittany and Thomas, whose birthday we were also celebrating!

I spent a lot of time with my nieces Melissa and Vanessa who are now in 7th grade. We went to the mall, had nights in with manicures and cookie making and saw some fun musicals at Keller Auditorium. But mostly I”m just impressed how much they GROW!

I visited the Oregon Zoo which is a favorite of mine. They have a fun bird exhibit where you feed birds nectar and they come sit on you!

My girlfriends Whitney and Amanda, showing their love for the University of Oregon Ducks in the duck exhibit

My friend Thomas and I frequented Tualatin high football games on Friday nights, as TuHS was his alma mater!

Took my nieces with my mom and sister to see Shrek the Musical! SO cute!

My sister and I outside Keller Auditorium sporting our Shrek ears 🙂

LOVE spending time with my girl friends, especially Sandra. She’s busy in her last year of becoming a pharmacist, but when we get together we talk nonstop til we run out of time! There’s never enough time with her! <3

Before leaving for our Orlando trip, Dan and I visited our friends the Sions, who’ve now been married 6 months!

Dan and I at Toulouse Petit in Seattle. Delicious!

Whenever I visit Seattle I stay with my friend Kelsey who nannies, and fortunately for me the woman she works for is really okay with me tagging along when I am in town. It’s actually pretty fun to run around downtown Seattle with the kids in tow- from school to piano lessons to horse riding lessons to ballet! And that’s just your average Wednesday!
Kelsey with Eleanor, who just finished up her ballet class

Dinner with friends, the Sions and Kelsey and Jim

They may be in 7th grade, but I have fun getting my nieces excited about college. I’m trying to turn them into Beavers! I was fortunate enough that my family had a private suite at Reser Stadium for football games this fall, so we had a great view of the games, and didn’t have to worry about weather!

My nieces have also gotten into horseback riding, and it was fun to watch their Sunday morning lessons with my sis and bro in law 🙂

My sister and I also visited the Portland Apple Festival, and got to try over 50 different kinds of apples. Yum!

Melissa enjoyed stuffing ehr face with a giant candy apple!

My friend Thomas, my nieces and I at Roloff Farms, where they produce the TLC show Little People Big World. Us with Amy Roloff!

I even got a chance to visit my good friend Carlie from college. She had just moved back to town from Southern California so her and her husband can be close to her family when she has her baby in December!

I had to see Brittany one more time before I left town, because in the time since I’ve moved to Japan she moved and got a new job as a marine mammal trainer at the aquarium in Newport OR!

A visit to Oregon is no good without a stop at Voodoo Doughnut!

While visiting my friend Nicole in Eugene I rode a quad for the first time. I don’t know, I just don’t like things without seat belts!

I also got to ride Nicole’s horse Portia for the first time, which brought back fond memories of us riding together a lot in high school.

And last but not least, my favorite street in all of Oregon, Laurel Street in Florence OR!

That’s a wrap for my Pacific Northwest Adventures! I had an amazing time and it was great to see everyone. I only have one more post to be updated- my trip the the Caribbean with my friend Kelsey! Hope to get those pics up tomorrow! Great to be blogging again!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged America, camping, Dan, Emily, Eugene, Jim, Kelsey, Lauren, nieces, Portland, Seattle, Stephen | Leave a Comment »

Portland Race for the Cure!

November 30, 2011 by Laurel

2011 will always be a special year to me, because my mother beat breast cancer this year. It was a wonderful victory for her and our family, as hospital visits and sadness swallowed us up for a good part of 2010.

In her honor, my sister and I formed a Race for the Cure team in 2010, and called ourselves the Portland Pink Sox. We returned this year with a team doubled in size! It was fantastic we had so many people either interested in being a part of our team, but also donating. We raised $500 for the Susan G Komen foundation, and we’re pretty proud of that!

We met just before the walk kicked off, and before we knew it the streets of Portland were filled with walkers. It was a great sight!

Team captains! My sister and I

Dan’s mom Cathy joined us too!

My best girlfriends from college, always by my side, Sandra and brittany

Kelsey and Jim came down all the way from Seattle! So sweet of them!

The ladies of our team!

Our men who aren’t afraid to wear pink!

Oregon State alum

Tualatin High graduates- they’ve been friends forever!

My sister and her daughters Melissa and Vanessa

Nice pic of Danny and his mama

We went out to Shari’s for a team breakfast, where my niece devoured a plate of chicken and waffles! We all got a kick out of her meal of choice

Later that evening Danny’s mom and stepdad took a bunch of us out to a fun dinner at the Thirsty Lion in Tigard. I didn’t get too many pictures from dinner, but here’s one of my sister and I!

Looking forward to Race for the Cure 2012! We’re always looking for new sox to join us!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged America, Dan, Kelsey, Lauren, Oregon, Pink Sox, Race for the Cure | Leave a Comment »

Disney World!!

November 29, 2011 by Laurel

I’ve probably had the most requests for pictures of our trip to Disney World! Dan and I went at the end of September and we had an absolute blast! We stayed for a week along with our Seattle friends Kelsey and Jim.

Dan and I flew out of Seattle overnight and arrived in Orlando i the morning ready for fun! We got our rental car and drove to our first hotel The Swan & Dolphin.

Made it to Disney World!

We arrived at our hotel and checked in. It was so beautiful!
Lobby

Dan and I a little sleepy but ready for fun!

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Typhoon Lagoon water park, then went to Downtown Disney for dinner. We had a delicious feast at Raglan Road, a yummy Irish restaurant. We sat outside, it was warm and raining, but we were safe under giant umbrellas!

We walked around the shopping center a bit before calling it a night and heading back to our hotel. We got a great night’s sleep before waking up and hitting up Blizzard Beach water park. It was so hot out, it was the perfect place to be! We arrived the day before our friends Kelsey and Jim, so we went back to the hotel to get ready for their arrival. But Dan and I can’t resist a pool… so we made a pit stop at our hotel’s pretty pool complete with a waterslide and grotto! Our hotel’s in the background.

We went back to our room to get ready and then met up with Kelsey and Jim at the Magic Kingdom. Time for fun!!

We had a quick dinner then rode some rides. Finished the night off by sharing some ice cream with Dan and fireworks!
Dan and I on Main Street

We called it a night and headed back to our hotel. The next day was Animal Kingdom day! We also switched to the Caribbean Beach Resort. The Disney property has so many hotels we wanted a chance to try more than one! We arrived at the park, but the entry turnstiles were broken! They couldn’t let anyone into the park! We had lunch at Rainforest Cafe, then the park gates were up and running. A fun day of rides, yummy treats, and a safari to see lots of exotic animals! At one point a rhinoceros walked right up to the side of our tour trolley!
Dan and I posed with this Asia sign since we’re currently living in Japan. Notice how wet we got on a water ride!

After Animal Kingdom we had dinner at a crab house and visited Disney Quest- a 6 floor arcade! The Disney parks also take turns having “magic hours” when a different park is open until 1am each night. We went to Magic Kingdom and played til 1am!!

The next day we were tired from staying up so late, so we had a nice lazy day by the hotel pool. They had a DJ and entertainment poolside, and a big waterslide!

Dan ready for a day of fun at our hotel, Caribbean Beach

Enjoying a swim break for some refreshments!

After lots of splashing, we cleaned up and got ready for dinner. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant in the Animal Kingdom Lodge hotel called Jiko. African food!
Dan and I at Jiko

We missed Kelsey’s birthday in July since we’re living overseas, but I told her we’d make it up to her. After dinner, we rented a private boat to ride us into the EPCOT theme park so we can watch the fireworks up close!

After the fireworks show, we got boated to Hollywood Studios where they were open til 1am. We rode ride after ride and had a blast!
Here’s Dan and I waiting in line at the Toy Story Midway Mania ride. Loved the queue for this one!

I didn’t get too many pictures of the following day. We began our day at EPCOT, but it was so hot no one was having a good time! We decided to pack it up and spend the day at the water park. Off to Typhoon Lagoon we went! Later in the day we went to M&M World and Dylan’s Candy Bar for some sweet treats, then had a delicious dinner at Big River.

The following day was Universal Studios/ Islands of Adventure day! We got up bright and early and hit the road. Disney is fun and magical, but we were ready to have white knuckles from some scary roller coasters!

Our first stop was Islands of Adventure. Here’s Dan and I about to enter the Jurassic Park themed land!

They also have a very popular Harry Potter land. It was so cute! Just like in the movies! Here’s Kelsey and I walking around Hogsmeade Village

Dan and I with the Hogwarts Express!

After riding some water rides, I had Dan take a picture of Kelsey and I to show how soaked we were!

Later in the day we went next door to Universal Studios. It was a little more low key over here, so we did a lot of walking and enjoying the park. At one point Dan played a basketball game and won me a giant Chococat!

The park closed around 6pm, so we decided to go our separate ways to visit the people we know in the area. Kelsey and Jim went to visit her cousin who is stationed here, and Dan and I met with my dear friend Mandie. Mandie is from Oregon and works for Disney as a costume designer for their cruise ships! Needless to say I love hearing her stories about work and day to day living in Orlando.
Mandie and I!

The next day we all went to Blizzard Beach for the day, then headed to the Polynesian Resort for a luau. We had chicken and ribs and watched dancers and singers perform. Kelsey’s drink even came in an awesome coconut monkey!

After the luau we went to Hollywood Studios for rides and dessert. The Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant is famous for their grapefruit cake, so we got some to try. Unfortunately I was the only one who really liked it!
Grapefruit cake

All of us at Hollywood Studios!

Sadly, our last day has come. We spent it at EPCOT, because they were currently having the food and wine festival. It was hot out but we had fun and ate our way across the world!
Dan and I!

Near the German pavillion

Of course we had to take our picture with a torii gate!

Dan also got his picture with Duffy Bear 🙂

By mid afternoon, we headed to the car and made our way to the airport. It’s so sad, having to leave Disney World! It was an amazing trip though, and Dan’s first visit! He loved it, so maybe one day we’ll be back!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged America, Dan, Disney World, Florida, Jim, Kelsey, Mandie, vacation | Leave a Comment »

My Final Summer Week in Ishinomaki

October 13, 2011 by Laurel

I really wanted to blog about my whole experience volunteering in Ishinomaki this summer, and late is better than never, right?!

I woke up Monday still a little tired from my day off, which I used to bike with my friend Aska all over town. After making myself a quick breakfast in front of our tent, we did our morning rituals and team meetings and we were off! I was beginning to enjoy being an extension volunteer- I thought I’d hate not being part of any one team, but I enjoyed being thrown into any extra team that needed me, and meeting new people.

I spent the whole week back at Sudachi. We spent the morning collecting shells in the forest and neighboring yards.

Crabs in the forest!

For lunch we were taken back to the little hut we string the shells in. My friend Sarah and I riding back along the beach

During our lunch break we found a jellyfish! I’d never seen a jellyfish with that kind of coloring back in the States

After lunch it was back to work in our battered little hut. We had a gorgeous view of the water.

On to shell stringing!

It was a hot day, and my feet were covered in welts and bug bites. To cool them off I waded in the water a bit!

We bused back to base camp where we had our usual dinner, our usual chit chat, and our usual lights out at 10. Tuesday was basically a repeat of Monday, but Wednesday was the hottest day yet. The fishermen also have Wednesdays off, so we were bused to a school where we weeded a giant field. I can’t remember being out in such hot weather. We needed to take a water and cool down break every 30 minutes. It was rough.
Some of my fellow volunteers weeding. Photo by covolunteer Katie Rolfes

The man we were working for set up a portable room with air conditioning! We literally collapsed into it every half hour. Photo by Katie Rolfes

My friend Miki and I worked together. She taught me to say hot in Japanese (atsui!!!!) and I taught her to say “extremely hot!” haha!

We bused home at 3 and got to have a trip to the onsen to clean up. I spent most my time in the cold bath, still hot from the work in the sun. After I shared some takoyaki (fried octopus!) with Aska, and we went back to camp. I had dinner with the week-long volunteers, then feeling tired I read in my tent til bedtime. It didn’t take long!

Thursday I was happy to be back at work at Sudachi. Some of the Leader Leaders were a bit annoyed with the attitude of the international volunteers- none of them wanted to sit inside and string shells, they all wanted to be outside scooping out the gutters. I stayed in since they were short on people, planning to do gutters my last day, Friday. The time was flying by! I filled up the water tanks for the day and got them loaded on the bus.

At lunch time, Aska and I went out to the oceanfront walls and sat on them and stared out at sea. It made me really sad that my work was coming to an end.

I found this photo in a Facebook album, but I’m not sure who took it!

Thursday afternoon we gathered at the water’s edge and had a moment of silence. It was the 5 month anniversary of the tsunami, and what a moving moment. As we were silent, we head the waves crashing into the shoreline, a reminder of March 11th’s events. I wanted to cry for everyone. Mostly for the fishermen who lost their families and homes, their businesses, their profits. Family photos, mementos, clothes. All gone. I felt so helpless in that moment. I could only hope and pray that the breeding columns I spent weeks building would catch up some good oysters.

That night we had our usual dinner, and usual chatting before bed.

Friday was my last work day. I was really sad my friend Aska was working on a different project that day, because we’d been through everything together. I went to work and once again, no one volunteered to make breeding columns, so I stayed in with the fishermen’s wives and strung shells.

During lunch I made sure to get a picture with Katie Rolfes, believe it or not we went to the same elementary school in southern California nearly 20 years ago!

At the end of the day everyone working at Sudachi that week came together for a group photo. I am in the second row fifth from the left in a pink shirt. The head fisherman is in the front row in a black shirt. It was an honor to work with someone who had such an amazing, great attitude, despite losing literally all his possessions, spare the clothes on his back.

As the last day finished up and everyone loaded the bus, I found my friend Yoko, our Leader Leader for the day. I asked her to tell the fishermen’s wives how much I appreciated working here the past few weeks, how much I’d miss being a part of their work, and how I want to come back some day. I watched them cry and she told them my message, and they invited me back in a year to feast on all the oysters they plan to catch with my columns. Now I wanted to cry! I thanked them for everything, they thanked me back, and I boarded the bus home one last time. I was really going to miss going to work in Sudachi.

That night at camp everyone was celebrating finishing their week in Ishinomaki. I spent my last evening with the extension volunteers, since they weren’t leaving any time soon they were a bit calmer. we had dinner and talked, then I got a great surprise- my friend Joji showed up! He had come to volunteer for the weekend, and it was great to see him. I was exhausted from the work day and it was a good boost of energy. We hung out for a bit, then he went to go settle into his camp. Later hat night, him, Aska and I enjoyed a beer in the curb and caught up about our work progress over the last week.

Saturday morning came all too soon. Aska and I packed our gear up and cleaned out our tent. We had a final morning meeting where they told us all the work we had accomplished and how thankful they were. Then we waited around until it was time to go. A table was set up where people could purchase Peace Boat shirts and bandannas. Final goodbyes were said and then it was time to board the bus.

It was hardest to say goodbye to Aska. She was staying on, and as of now (Wednesday Oct 12th), she is still there, volunteering and making an epic difference. I’m so proud of her. I thanked her for being my friend and spending so much time with me. I told her we’ll meet up for dinner as soon as she’s back in Tokyo.

Finally I said bye to all the extension volunteers. These are some of the hardest working people I’ve ever met in my life. All of them have amazing hearts, energy and attitudes. I aspire to be like them. Most of them are STILL in Ishinomaki as well.

Finally, I boarded my bus and we were off to Tokyo. As an extension volunteer, I rode the extension bus instead of the international volunteer bus, which was almost empty. So I stretched out and tried to relax. I tried to comprehend that there was no work tomorrow. That I was going to go home and take a shower and sleep in an actual bed with a kitty at my feet. But I couldn’t. All I could think about was how much I was going to miss Ishinomaki, and my covolunteers, and spent about half the bus ride missing my tent and wishing I had stayed on an extra week.

Around the 2nd rest stop, I got excited to go home. I had been missing Dan terribly. Penny too! We were about 2 hours north of Tokyo, and suddenly we couldn’t get there soon enough. Finally our bus arrived in Shinjuku and Dan was there to greet me. We gathered up my bags and headed home. I was glad to be sleeping in my bed that night, but my thoughts and dreams were still- and always will be- with Ishinomaki.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dan, Ishinomaki, Japan, Peace Boat | Leave a Comment »

I’ve Been Away!

October 3, 2011 by Laurel

So sorry for lack of updates! It’s been a whole month! I only had 2 weeks in Tokyo before my trip back home to the Pacific Northwest, where I’m blogging right now in my friends the Sion’s Seattle apartment. I really miss it here!

I arrived in Seattle early September and went camping with friends in Florence, OR for Labor Day weekend. Spent a couple weeks in Portland relaxing, spending time with friends, and doing some fun runs, then Dan flew in from Japan and we were off to Disney World for 8 days! We just got back to Seattle last Friday. We had a wonderful time in the sunshine 🙂

I’m spending a few more days in Seattle before I head back down south to Portland. October is full of Oregon State football games, Tualatin High football games, parties and dinner dates, a trip to Eugene and Bend. But don’t think I haven’t forgotten about my blogging about Tohoku! I’m hoping to finish that up when I get back to Portland so I can resume blogging in the present.

Until next time, looking forward to blogging regularly again!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Disney World, Portland, Seattle, Tokyo | Leave a Comment »

Ishinomaki- End of Session 1, On to the Next Week!

September 1, 2011 by Laurel

When I woke up Saturday, I knew it would be a day full of goodbyes. Most people volunteer for a week, and at this point I had been there a week. Since my friend Aska and I volunteered in June and enjoyed it so much, we decided to stay longer.

We got ourselves up Saturday and began cleaning out and packing up our belongings. Despite Aska and I staying in Ishinomaki another week (and her even longer!), we still had to vacate our tent and be reassigned.

We had our last morning meeting, and were given a gift of a charm for helping out with the revival festival. We listened to some statistics on work we got accomplished and words from locals about their appreciation, and then there was about an hour and a half of down time before everyone left and the new people were introduced to camp.

Sylvie, Laura and Naomi taking a break from cleaning out their tent

One last Team 10 picture!

Me with the guys from my team, Bryan and Joji. They were awesome and it was sad to see them go!

Aska found Joji before he got on the bus and hugged him goodbye!

Aska and I saluted our team as they were driving away.

They pulled away from the curb and like that, they were gone.

Out with the old and in with the new! No longer with a team, Aska and I were officially “extension volunteers”. We turned away from the now distant buses and looked back at our camp. There were about 100 new people standing around with their duffels wondering what tent they’d be assigned to.

Aska and I were moved into another tent with 3 other women, but those women were weekend volunteers, so for most of the time we had a tent to ourselves. It was nice! The new campers settled in and got changed and before we knew it we were off to work.

A big changed happened from week 1 to week 2- my friend Aska was promoted to Leader Leader! A lot of responsibility comes with being an LL so I was excited for her. Since she had so many things to keep track of, I tried to play the part of second banana and help her out when she needed it- stocking the bus with gear, filling water coolers, head counts etc.

We returned to Sudachi where we strung shells on rods, but this time we’d be collecting the shells. We were driven in the back of a pickup truck to a forest that was literally littered with shells everywhere. The tsunami brought massive amounts of sea life to the forests. It was an odd sight.

We grabbed plastic hampers/ crates and set to work. We filled them up, grabbed a new basket, and went back to collecting. Once we filled all the baskets we brought, we’d stack them on a forklift, they’d get emptied at the hut, and returned so we could keep working.

Collected shells

We worked through the day and returned to camp to clean up and have dinner. Before dinner though, Aska and I learned the 3 day volunteers were leaving that afternoon. They were nice, fun girls so that was very sad!
Aska and I with the 3 day volunteers

I found myself a bit bored that first night. now that Aska was a LL, she attended meetings throughout the night offsite with other LLs and the directors of Peace Boat. And with my team and other friends leaving that morning, I didn’t know who to hang out with! There was a big circle of newcomers sitting and chatting that evening, so I put on my “hi let’s be friends!” face and introduced myself.

Everyone was really nice, but I couldn’t believe the age difference between the 2 weeks! The week prior, everyone was in their late 20’s, early 30’s. These were all college kids, one even 17 and in high school! It was sch a change but everyone was really nice. We all chatted and got to know each other til lights out.

When you volunteer longer than a week, you’re allowed to have a day off. Aska and I decided Sunday would be a good day off, because it’s in the middle of my trip, and she really wanted to do laundry (her plan was to wear and wash, I just packed 2 weeks of clothing). Aska and I planned an epic day of going to the laundromat, getting sushi, some shopping and walking around the mall. Perhaps an onse or movie if we had the time!

Oh, but there was a catch.

Everything was really far away, and I really only just learned to ride a bike the last time I was volunteering in June. Eep! Spending a whole day on a bike?! Just the thought made my rear end hurt. But it was a challenge I was up for, and I didn’t want to miss out on the experience because of a little lack of confidence, so off we went!
Ready for whatever the day may bring!

We got off campus and hit the road. Through a tunnel and down a giant hill (I rode the brakes like crazy). Along a busy street and then our first stop- anti-itch medicine for our bug bites. Then we went down the street to the laundromat for Aska’s laundry. We then rode down the street to a home store (think Fred Meyer/ Target) and got some cheap work clothes at Uniqlo.
We also stopped by a pet sotre!

At this point we were starving, so we ducked into a sushi restaurant. It was SO good. Mind you, as I’m struggling to keep up while biking it was about 95 degrees out. We set in the air conditioning and enjoyed sushi, then headed back out. It was getting harder and harder to bike, and I figured I was just getting tired, but my back tire was out of air! We took it to a department store and got it filed good as new.

We pedaled down the main road to an Aeon mall. It’s so strange to go to a mall and not recognize any stores. At this point, I was really sleepy. We had been biking in the heat all day. We went back to the laundromat to get her clothes, and biked home.

Remember the giant hill I had to ride on my brakes down? Well, it was time to pedal up! I was SO tired you wouldn’t believe it. But I made it to the top and was rewarded with an amazing view!

We returned to camp and saw that the workers from the onsen brought herbal water to camp so volunteers could wash their hair.

Not long after we returned Aska went to her meetings and I hung out with the new campers. It might have been my day off, but biking wore me out so much I went to bed before lights out!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged extension team, Ishinomaki, Peace Boat | Leave a Comment »

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Ishinomaki

August 31, 2011 by Laurel

On Wednesday we were up for our usual routine- get ready, breakfast and morning meeting. Then we boarded a bus for an hour ride to work. Today we’d be cleaning out gutters and grates. We were dressed in our waterproof gear, face masks and helmets. As you can see below, we had a lot of work to do!

There were also a bunch of cats running around, looking for scraps and shelter. I just wanted to bring them all home so Penny could have some friends!

First we have to move the heavy gutter grates

The gutters are packed with mud, sand, and since we’re at the port, sea life. People found parts of fish, star fish, oysters and all sorts of shells and crabs. We worked through the morning til lunch, scooping out the gutters, filling wheelbarrows, and then dumping those on a truck.

Aska working

We also had to clean out the grates that cover the gutters, which were packed with rocks, shells and leaves. By noon it was lunch time, and we cleaned off a bit and ate, what else, onigiri!

Though the lunch may be growing tiresome, you can’t argue that view behind us. Ishinomaki really is beautiful. After lunch, we were back to work, but since we finished the gutters we were put on to beach cleanup duty. We collected wood and metal fragments that washed ashore. This entails picking up tiny shards of wood, to giant slabs of sheet metal. There was plenty to do and we busied ourselves for the afternoon with this job. We even formed a production line at one point to get debris up to high land faster.

Eventually the day was done and we took a team picture where we were working!

I also made another friend from Washington! TJ worked with our team today on gutters and cleanup.

We rode the bus home and got back to camp. We cleaned our clothes and gear and socialized til dinner. I have to say, after a day of work I’m pooped! Not other volunteers though. My friend Bastien brought a soccer ball, and a fun pickup game was underway at camp.

It was a bit of a dull night at camp. We had dinner at about 6ish, and then lights out isn’t til 10. So I passed the time by hanging out with friends, reading, and taking notes on my day so I can present them here in my blog! Eventually I was just too tired to stay up, and hit the sack before 10pm.

Thursday was the start of something a little more meaningful for me. It would be my first day working at a dock where I’d spend the rest of my time in Ishinomaki, and form a bond with the fishermen and their wives there. After the morning routine we got on the bus for an hour and arrived at the docks of Sudachi.

Here we began working in a small, battered yurt that was once a fish processing and refrigeration hut. We sat on upside down crates, in front of low makeshift tables covered in shells. We would then take thin metal rods and string shells with spacers between them, and tie them off. These would then be placed in the ocean to encourage breeding in oysters.

The key to a lot of these jobs while volunteering is finding a groove that works best for you. When it comes to shoveling gutters, my arms hurt after a while and the smell is putrid, but singing songs in my head or thinking of an upcoming vacation helps me forget these things. The issue with stringing shells was the repetitiveness of the jobs. You string 70 shells, you tie it off, you do it again. I struggled with picking up shells and the little rubber spacers that go between them, because my hands weren’t as nimble as usual with my gloves on.

Eventually it was lunch time, and we enjoyed a beautiful view and some sunshine with our daily onigiri.

I should also mention, this day was the first time my group was separated. Aska, Niki, Lauren and I were left to string shells while Joji and Bryan were taken to a house to shovel out mud from floor boards. Aska and I were slightly mock-offended. When we were volunteering in June, that was our job duty!

We spent the afternoon stringing more shells, and listening to stories from the fishermen’s wives about the tsunami. By mid afternoon we packed up and waited for the guys to come back from the house they were working on.
My team with some of the 3-day university volunteers. Awesome girls

Aska, me, Lauren and Niki

That evening after dinner, I walked to the store with Aska, Bryan, Niki and Joji, and we got some snacks and enjoyed some time away from camp. When we got back later in the evening, we played some group games before bed. I always like this part in the week during volunteering, because friendships have been made, shyness has melted away, and everyone is just enjoying their time together because for most volunteers, there’s just a few days left.

On Friday we returned to Sudachi for more shell stringing. I was prepared with better fitting gloves and more comfortable clothes. This was the first time I really enjoyed working there. I had a view of the ocean, a nice breeze, and good company.

This was also the day I noticed I was getting major color, and some interesting tan lines!

Niki and Lauren during the lunch break

A beautiful place, just outside the hut we were working in

Niki enjoyed spending her lunch breaks drawing, and drew people and places around her. The head fisherman of the area saw her drawing and loved it, so she gave it to him.

We went back to work after lunch, string more shells, and called it a day. Here’s me with 2 of the 3-day volunteers, Mariko and Mocha.

And me, showing off one of the many, many breeding columns I made during my time in Sudachi.

For the people volunteering for 1 week, this was their last work day, and they were rewarded with a trip into town and the onsen. I tagged along and we walked downtown a bit, where some merchants set up tables selling foods and small crafts. After that we went to the onsen. By this time, I had a plan of attack for onsen trips- start with a shower, soak in the hot spring, soak in the cold spring, sit in the sauna. It’s just heaven.

We got back to camp and had dinner. We made a big group circle and played a drawing game Niki taught us, which involved lots of laughing and mediocre art skills.