For those of you that had been following my trip to Japan, sorry I cut out half way through the week. I think by Thursday of last week I was exhausted and was enjoying spending the couple hours before bed hanging out with the team rather than blogging. Fortunately for you, it is 3.30am in Texas, I am wide awake and can blog now – The same could be said for the last couple nights. Hello jet lag, please go away soon.
Anyway, back to the trip. Wednesday morning I lead our morning devotional. I really believe some good things are beginning in Japan and that the nation is experiencing a rebuilding unlike anything they have seen before. I enjoyed leading the devotional, more than I thought I would, and hopefully those around me did too. We ran fifteen minutes late getting to the vans and by the time we recapped didn’t hit the road until about 8.00. Our team leader, Laura, took the driver’s seat today since she was going to be driving on her own Friday. It was both her first time driving on the other side of the road as well as the other side of the car. She did well, although there was one moment when, in slow motion, I think I saw paint from our van jump off the side onto a car sitting at a red light. After a few laughs and heart rates back to normal, we carried on to Shichigahama where work soon began.
I returned to the second house where I began working on Wednesday. There are only four of our original team along with two Japanese guys (out of six that are working with us all week) at this house. We literally spend the day chiseling at glue on concrete with chisel and hammer. Lucky for us, we have Suzuki San and the Suzuki Cafe. Mr. Suzuki is very outgoing and loves to provide us with a tea break. We have tea, coffee (Blendy Stick), Japanese rice cakes, a spicy nut mix and PB&J on the thickest pillow of bread known to man. It makes Texas Toast look wimpy and is quite delicious. I must say the Blendy Stick I brought back doesn’t quite taste the same as at the Suzuki Cafe – it must be the water…or more likely the break from chiseling that was so fabulous.
A short hour later and the other team arrives for us all to enjoy lunch on top of the house. Being that I just had my fill of snacks and coffee I am not too hungry and eat maybe a third of my Bento Box. We share some laughs and then get back to work and chisel. And chisel. And chisel some more. Seven hours of chiseling today and we are only two-thirds of the way complete. By my projections the team will finish the job around lunch on Friday (I don’t know at this point which house I will be in).
We clean up, pack our belongings and get on the road. Traffic is a bear today and it takes us a little over two hours to get to the Onsen. It is well past dark by the time we arrive. Because of the long journey we are only given thirty-five minutes to “bathe” instead of the normal hour. I complete my Onsen in about twenty then rush to the waiting area where there are two automatic massaging chairs – I don’t think they are this good in the States. After one of the girls is finished, I get in the chair and spend the next ten minutes, all for 100 yen ($1.50!), getting the best chair massage I have and will ever have. Along with the Japanese toilet and hand dryer, this is one thing I want at my house. As it gets the last knot out of my back and the leg rest goes back down, the last team member arrives and we get back in the vans to head home.
The usual routine ensues – dinner, hanging out then to bed. This night is a bit different, since it is Brad’s birthday, so we have an assortment of cake to choose from. Delicious.
I think about blogging but something inside me tells me I will have plenty of time to do that in the middle of the night when I get back home…
