Today was our first full day in Japan. We woke up early and took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kesennuma. In Kesennuma, we attended a lecture on how the sea walls on the Oya coast were built. It was an inspiring story of perseverance and cooperation of many people and entities, including the federal government. Making use of psychology to push civic action was a path of resistance that I had never considered before, but is applicable to solving almost any community problem.
After the sea walls lecture and a delicious lunch, we got to meet our host families. They were so kind and welcoming, and though I was worried in the days leading up to it, the language barrier was not at all difficult to overcome. We helped prepare dinner—soup, fried fish and scallops, boiled vegetables, and more— and had a lovely time singing and dancing after dinner. Our host family’s excitement to meet and learn about us was contagious, but after getting up at 5:00am, we decided to turn in early and get a fresh start tomorrow.
-Anna Kunze
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