Day 8. July 17, 2012

I cannot believe it! It has already been additional than a week since I landed in Japan

. This is often very been an exciting trip and therefore the time goes by so fast. Today we have a tendency to are in Fukuoka that is half of Kyushu. Over the past two weeks this space has been ravaged by storms. At last report 29 individuals have died from the rain and floods. Whereas it's humid we have a tendency to don't seem to be experiencing any rains and the most recent typhoon warnings are lifted as the storm moved to the South and West over to North Korea and China.

I was up and Adam at six AM as usual. This appears to be my habit here. When checking my voicemail through Skype and returning some phone calls I called Karen to catch up. She and Tony are operating hard making ready for Thursdays market. They appear to be getting pretty excited and that i hope they are doing well.

Once preparing for the day and walking Africa Yoshie and that i visited breakfast. Most restaurants and hotels appear to have a buffet with a selection of foods as well as Japanese, some Chinese, and some Western foes quote foods. The Western breakfasts sometimes incorporates a very thick bacon that appears a touch additional like ham to me in addition to some scrambled eggs. As way as I am involved, when in Japan eat Japanese food. So I had fish and Rice, and i threw during a couple pieces of bacon. I noticed that I actually have been drinking a heap of water here which is, I guess, to be expected with all the warmth. As usual, I also had some Japanese tea. Someday this trip I am going to own to break out the PG tips tea for Yoshie.

ten AM found us at theFukuoka Youth Science Museum Hall where each lectures of the day were to be given. I learned that the audience would be created of approximately hundred 50 students and one hundred fifty members of the public. The format for each presentation was for me to convey a speech followed by the same old Q&A. This time, but, the questions would be led by Rep. students from native high faculties. Within the morning, all the scholar leaders and interpreters would be from lady faculties. I believe that each one of the schools are non-public faculties.

We tend to didn't show a video at the start of the speech in order to allow additional time for queries at the tip. I spoke for regarding 45 min. talking as usual about blindness and adding in a number of my experiences and my observations since returning to Japan. I used the stories of March 11 of last year and therefore the Japanese earthquakes to indicate folks and particularly students the importance and worth of teamwork instead of the adoption of a self-targeted customary of living. In talking concerning my guide dog I emphasized how each Africa and I actually have jobs to try to to and solely one the team works as a cohesive unit will we tend to every do our job successfully. I really need individuals to understand that it's not the dog who knows where to travel but rather that's my job. I get this info by asking for directions and for travel information or from my previous memories.

At the end of the speech several students, (all girls) came up on stage. They introduced themselves in both Japanese and English. They all had browse thunder dog thus I am told. The format for the questioning was to be kind of like a news press conference. Initial the ladies every asked me their queries and that i answered them. Several of the questions were about my spirit and how it might have modified since nine/eleven. I told them that my love for my wife and my value of teamwork and trust has grown stronger since 9/eleven I explained that I are less tolerant of folks, particularly politicians, who are out for his or her own interests and aren't out for the interests of their country. There were queries regarding Africa and Roselle which I was happy to answer.

Once the ladies raise their questions they opened the Q&A session to the ground normally. Every questioner from the audience would ask their question in either English or Japanese. The coed interpreters would translate as applicable. I would then answer with Mike comments being translated as applicable.

The first question from the audience was from an English speaking young man. Later I got varying reports as to whether he was a student or an instructor. I was conjointly told he was British. In any event, he asked me about all the analysis being done on making eye implants and chips which might allow blind individuals to determine in the future. He asked how I felt about such research. I responded that I thought that such research was fine and we ought to certainly pursue any legitimate scientific endeavor to assist anyone. I said, however, that whereas the research was smart it absolutely was conjointly important to recollect that there are many people who are blind these days which any analysis done currently wouldn't eliminate blindness in the following fifty or additional years. Therefore, I said, I felt it had been extraordinarily important to continue to promote and fight for the rights of blind individuals around the world. I sai that we have social and economic problems nowadays which regardless of what research was done we have a tendency to still required to grow as a world to acknowledge that the poor attitudes and strong barriers sighted folks have raised against the capabilities of the blind needed to be addressed.

Additional questions followed along a lot of ancient lines once more about Africa, Roselle, what happened on 9/11, and how I liked being in Japan. These audiences, I realize, are additional engaged and partaking than many audiences I encounter within the US. Here, in Japan, we invariably have to chop off queries before people are done. At noon, the morning session ended and we have a tendency to went off to lunch in a very tiny side space.

Before I could get out the door I was surrounded by 10 guide dogs and their users who had return to listen to my speech. Yoshi had told me that they were there. As I spoke and answered queries I worked to form certain that I directed remarks toward them to encourage them to stand up and work as advocates to alter the system in Japan regarding blindness. It only takes one to begin a method and it only takes some to make a movement. Once I apprehend blind people are within the audience, that is most of the time, I talk concerning Dr. Jacobus tenBroek and the founding of the National ederation of the Blind in 1940. I hope some blind person can be similarly galvanized by me, Thunder Dog, or by their own dreams.

All other guide dog users wanted footage and a time to speak. We tend to talked for a small amount. And then I was ushered away to lunch. I entered the room and sat down. Almost immediately a newspaper reporter came up and introduced himself and said that he was here to try to to the speeches and speak with me. Before we have a tendency to can start Yoshie came into the area leading a number of the guide dog users who needed to spend more time with me. I really didnt have a selection as a result of I was surrounded and nobody seemed to be indicating to Yoshi that these folks were interrupting an interview. Thus, I created the simplest of it and speak some additional with the guide dog users.

Once they left, I found that a Japanese lunchbox had been place in front of me. It was kind of a ancient bento box however during a little bit smaller scale. Before I had a likelihood to eat something the door opened and some other people came in who happened to be relatives of Yoshie, a number of whom she had never met. Yoshies husbands family was from the Fukuoka space. He was the odd one, and that i gather a little bit of the black sheep, because he moved to Hokaido, married a Hokaido woman, and then chose to stay in Hokkaido. When lots of hugging and screaming, Yoshie introduced me. Her relatives brought me some little presence which I never very got a chance to look at. These presents will be Karens and my adventures to explore when I come home.

By the time the visiting was over I was only able to eat some items of shrimp and chew my before going back on stage. I wasnt very hungry anyway thus it didnt matter.

The afternoon session was the identical because the morning and format there have been some guide dog users within the audience however I think generally the students were older.

This time when it came time for the coed interpreters and questioners to return on stage I found that we have a tendency to had a mixture of boys and girls. The ladies did outnumber the boys 2 to one. I got the identical types of queries for the most part, but I thought that the questions were good representative well thought out once. One questioner asked me to summarize my most vital message to the people of Japan. I gently said that I felt the most important factor that I may tell the Japanese people was to treat blind individuals as equals and not to assume that we tend to needed special protection as a result of we might not see with our eyes.

At 4 PM we tend to left for the airport at Fukuoka for the come back flight to Tokyo. As we have a tendency to traveled around the airport I found the obligatory blind blocks that seem to start out and finish without rhyme or reason. Oh well, mine is to not reason why at this point. The airline individuals needed to stick me within the bulkhead row as usual. I convinced Yoshie of the issue and downside with this from a safety standpoint. She finally convinced the counter agent on my behalf to change my seat. Instead of sitting in one A I sat in 2C, the aisle seat. Once we tend to got our boarding passes we tend to stood around and said our goodbyes. When concerning ten min. of this folks suddenly understand that we only had 10 min. to urge to the airplane.

We tend to rushed to security and went through an identical boarding pass and examination method as we find in America. Everyone was polite and well mannered. The one factor I did notice that was when Africas harness go off the metal detector the protection folks didn't hassle to look at her. Oh what a disappointment to Africa! She likes to be checked by security agents.

When we boarded the aircraft I place Africa below the seat and then, I suppose, true enlightenment came to Yoshi I think this as a result of immediately she wished to show everybody how Africa was a lot of safer and higher below the seat in front of me. She known as the flight attendant and she drew attention to Africa from all of the folks around us. Yoshi and i spent the hour and a [*fr1] flight talking and relaxing together. She told me a lot about how Japanese women are treated. Although there have been advances, girls still do work like carrying mens luggage has Yoshie was wanting to try to to during our trip. I attempt to encourage her to let me help and that i explained to her throughout our conversation on the airplane why I felt I will carry my bags and she or he had baggage of her own. We tend to did have facilitate from Kenji and that i think that Kenjis help was the rationalization she used for not carrying my briefcase all the time. Oh, I should say here that whereas Kenji traveled with us he used my iPhone to take tons of pictures that I can rise as I will.

We tend to took off at vi PM and landed in Tokyo at 730. When getting our luggage we have a tendency to went straight to the Daichi Hotel. The joy of having a decent size room again. Unfortunately, the compromise on the opposite facet was that the air-conditioning fan was set to not blow abundant cool air. The result is that I am constantly a small amount warm during this area. My understanding is that this is the Japanese means and hotels throughout most of Japan. Oh well, this is a small price to pay for fun.

By the time we got settled we discovered that the restaurants within the hotel had closed. There are 3 restaurants, and none of them stay open once 9 PM. for a world hotel it appears to me that this is often a touch strange. I wonder why they close so early.

Oh well, we tend to just walked round the block and found an open restaurant where we had another round of Japanese tapas, at least thats what Yoshie calls them. For the most half the food wasn't fried, and a minimum of to my style, the food was smart. I guess everyone thought thus as a result of they ate massive quantities. At the airport we tend to had been joined by Mr. Ujita and his son. We have a tendency to saw a heap of Mr. Ujita during our 1st time in Yokohama and Tokyo. He is a very close friend of Mr. Shirai. As I recall, he was one of the folks who came around to America to meet me last October. I will have to test on this.

When dinner we have a tendency to headed back to the hotel simply round the block. I walked Africa one last time and went up to bed. I quickly fell slumbering somewhere around 11:thirty PM. Therefore ended my eighth day in Japan.

by: Harley l Porter

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