In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert SchweitzerWell life has a way of putting things in perspective…while we here are lamenting the seemingly never ending winter, life in Japan has come to a full stop. The irritations of life now seem so trivial. A new emotion has replaced the boredom of winter…worry.Back in the days of being homestay international I housed and cared for five girls from Japan…two who lived in the epicentre of this disaster…even though it was five years ago and even though I only knew them for a month they are a part of my life.
Harumi who really didn’t talk much…even though she was here to learn english…but she sure did smile a whole lot. She was an expert at nail polish design and was always up to new things ….
helping to make a garden or going for a night on the town listening to music.
There was Yuki who was oh so fashionable…but had me worrying for she was just too cute and living in an area of town where other young girls plied their trade I always worried that she might be propositioned…and I could only imagine her reaction…big eyes with a deer in the headlight stare.
Yukie so sweet who always never failed to say Ickytackimas before meals…and who looked like a little princess in her summer sari.
A daughter of a farmer…and this is what is so worrying…seeing that wall of water streaming through the fields of Japan taking out everything in its wake.
I realize now in my rememberances that having them stay with me was oh so more than a little extra money to help pay the rent, it was a opportunity for me to learn and to teach, it gave us the opportunity to be
a tourist guide,
a cooking instructor, english teacher, a friend and care giver.
So Sachiko, Saki, Yukie, Manami, Harumi where ever you are I wish you and your families to be safe and sound.
