Day Eight, July 17, 2012
I cannot believe it! It has already been additional than per week since I landed in Japan
. This is often really been an exciting trip and the time is going by so fast. Nowadays we are in Fukuoka which is part of Kyushu. Over the past two weeks this area has been ravaged by storms. At last report 29 individuals have died from the rain and floods. Whereas it's humid we tend to are not experiencing any rains and the latest typhoon warnings have been lifted as the storm moved to the South and West over to North Korea and China.
I was up and Adam at vi AM as usual. This appears to be my habit here. Once checking my voicemail through Skype and returning some phone calls I referred to as Karen to catch up. She and Tony are working exhausting getting ready for Thursday's market. They seem to be obtaining pretty excited and i hope they do well.
When making ready for the day and walking Africa Yoshie and i went to breakfast. Most restaurants and hotels appear to own a buffet with a variety of foods as well as Japanese, some Chinese, and some "Western foes quote foods". The Western breakfasts sometimes incorporates a very thick bacon which appears a small amount a lot of like ham to me as well as some scrambled eggs. As so much as I am concerned, when in Japan eat Japanese food. Thus I had fish and Rice, and i threw in a very couple pieces of bacon. I noticed that I actually have been drinking a heap of water here that is, I guess, to be expected with all the warmth. As usual, I conjointly had some Japanese tea. Someday this trip I am going to have to interrupt out the PG tips tea for Yoshie.
ten AM found us at theFukuoka Youth Science Museum Hall where both lectures of the day were to be given. I learned that the audience would be made of approximately hundred fifty students and one hundred fifty members of the general public. The format for every presentation was for me to offer a speech followed by the standard Q&A. This time, however, the questions would be led by Rep. students from native high faculties. Within the morning, all the coed leaders and interpreters would be from woman colleges. I believe that all of the colleges are non-public colleges.
We have a tendency to failed to show a video at the start of the speech so as to permit a lot of time for questions at the top. I spoke for regarding 45 min. talking as usual about blindness and adding in some of my experiences and my observations since returning to Japan. I used the stories of March 11 of last year and also the Japanese earthquakes to show folks and particularly students the importance and worth of teamwork rather than the adoption of a self-centered commonplace of living. In talking about my guide dog I emphasised how each Africa and I even have jobs to do and only one the team works as a cohesive unit will we have a tendency to every do our job successfully. I very wish people to perceive that it's not the dog who is aware of where to go however rather that's my job. I get this information by inquiring for directions and for travel data or from my previous reminiscences.
At the tip of the speech many students, (all ladies) came up on stage. They introduced themselves in each Japanese and English. All of them had read thunder dog therefore I am told. The format for the questioning was to be quite like a news press conference. First the ladies each asked me their questions and that i answered them. Several of the queries were regarding my "spirit" and how it may have changed 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 tend to be 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 have been questions concerning Africa and Roselle which I was happy to answer.
After the ladies ask their queries they opened the Q&A session to the ground normally. Each questioner from the audience would ask their question in either English or Japanese. The coed interpreters would translate as acceptable. I would then answer with Mike comments being translated as acceptable.
The initial question from the audience was from an English speaking young man. Later I got varying reports on whether or not he was a student or a lecturer. I was also told he was British. In any event, he asked me about all the research being done on making eye implants and chips that may allow blind people to see in the future. He asked how I felt about such analysis. I responded that I thought that such analysis was fine and we should actually pursue any legitimate scientific endeavor to help anyone. I said, but, that while the analysis was good it was additionally important to remember that there are a number of people who are blind nowadays which any research done now would not eliminate blindness in the next fifty or additional years. So, I said, I felt it was extraordinarily important to continue to push and fight for the rights of blind folks around the planet. I sai that we tend to have social and economic problems nowadays and that irrespective 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 had to be addressed.
Additional questions followed along additional ancient lines again concerning Africa, Roselle, what happened on nine/11, and the way I liked being in Japan. These audiences, I notice, are more engaged and partaking than several audiences I encounter within the US. Here, in Japan, we tend to invariably have to chop off questions before folks are done. At noon, the morning session ended and we have a tendency to went off to lunch in a tiny aspect space.
Before I might get out the door I was surrounded by ten guide dogs and their users who had return to hear my speech. Yoshi had told me that they were there. As I spoke and answered queries I worked to create certain that I directed remarks toward them to encourage them to face up and work as advocates to vary the system in Japan regarding blindness. It only takes one to begin a process and it only takes a few to create a movement. After I grasp blind people are within the audience, which is normally, I talk regarding Dr. Jacobus tenBroek and the founding of the National ederation of the Blind in 1940. I hope some blind person will be similarly galvanized by me, "Thunder Dog", or by their own dreams.
All different guide dog users wished footage and a time to talk. 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 tend to will get started Yoshie came into the room leading a number of the guide dog users who wished to spend more time with me. I really didn't have a selection as a result of I was surrounded and no one appeared to be indicating to Yoshi that these people were interrupting an interview. So, I created the best of it and speak some more with the guide dog users.
Once they left, I found that a "Japanese lunchbox" had been place in front of me. It was quite a traditional bento box however in a very very little bit smaller scale. Before I had a probability to eat something the door opened and some other folks came in who happened to be relatives of Yoshie, some of whom she had never met. Yoshie's husband's family was from the Fukuoka area. He was the odd one, and i gather a bit of the black sheep, as a result of he moved to Hokaido, married a Hokaido woman, and then chose to remain in Hokkaido. Once lots of hugging and screaming, Yoshie introduced me. Her relatives brought me some little presence that I never really got a probability to look at. These presents can be Karen's and my adventures to explore after I come back home.
By the time the visiting was over I was only able to eat a few items of shrimp and chew my before going back on stage. I wasn't very hungry anyway so it didn't matter.
The afternoon session was the same because the morning and format there were a few guide dog users within the audience but I suppose generally the students were older.
This time when it came time for the student interpreters and questioners to come on stage I found that we had a mixture of boys and girls. The women did outnumber the boys a pair of to 1. I got the same 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 important message to the folks of Japan. I gently said that I felt the most necessary issue that I might tell the Japanese folks was to treat blind folks as equals and to not assume that we have a tendency to needed special protection because we tend to could not see with our eyes.
At four PM we 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 which appear to start and finish while not rhyme or reason. Oh well, mine is not to reason why at this time. The airline people wished 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 1 A I sat in 2C, the aisle seat. When we got our boarding passes we stood around and said our goodbyes. When about 10 min. of this individuals suddenly understand that we tend to only had 10 min. to get to the airplane.
We rushed to security and went through the same boarding pass and examination process as we have a tendency to realize in America. Everybody was polite and well mannered. The one factor I did notice that was when Africa's harness go away the metal detector the protection individuals failed to hassle to examine her. Oh what a disappointment to Africa! She loves to be checked by security agents.
When we have a tendency to boarded the aircraft I put Africa beneath the seat and then, I assume, true enlightenment came to Yoshi I assume this because immediately she wanted to show everyone how Africa was a lot of safer and better under the seat in front of me. She called the flight attendant and he or she drew attention to Africa from all of the folks around us. Yoshi and that i spent the hour and a half flight talking and relaxing along. She told me a ton about how Japanese women are treated. Although there have been advances, ladies still do work like carrying men's bags has Yoshie was wanting to do during our trip. I attempt to encourage her to let me facilitate and that i explained to her throughout our conversation on the airplane why I felt I will carry my luggage and he or she had luggage of her own. We tend to did have help from Kenji and i think that Kenji's help was the rationalization she used for not carrying my briefcase repeatedly. Oh, I ought to say here that while Kenji traveled with us he used my iPhone to require tons of photos which I will rise up as I will.
We have a tendency to took off at 6 PM and landed in Tokyo at 730. After obtaining our luggage we have a tendency to went straight to the Daichi Hotel. The joy of having a tight size area again. Unfortunately, the compromise on the other side was that the air-conditioning fan was set to not blow abundant cool air. The result is that I am constantly a small amount heat in this room. My understanding is that this is often the Japanese method and hotels throughout most of Japan. Oh well, this can be a little price to buy fun.
By the time we got settled we have a tendency to discovered that the restaurants within the hotel had closed. There are three restaurants, and none of them remain open when 9 PM. for a world hotel it seems to me that this is a touch strange. I marvel why they shut so early.
Oh well, we just walked round the block and found an open restaurant where we had another round of "Japanese tapas", a minimum of that's what Yoshie calls them. For the most part the food was not fried, and a minimum of to my style, the food was sensible. I guess everybody thought thus as a result of they ate massive quantities. At the airport we have a tendency to had been joined by Mr. Ujita and his son. We tend to saw a ton of Mr. Ujita throughout our first time in Yokohama and Tokyo. He may be a very shut friend of Mr. Shirai. As I recall, he was one among the folks who came to visit to America to fulfill me last October. I can have to check on this.
Once dinner we have a tendency to headed back to the hotel just round the block. I walked Africa one last time and went up to bed. I quickly fell drowsing somewhere around eleven:thirty PM. So ended my eighth day in Japan.
by: Harley l Porter
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