The dream of being able to catch up on the blog entries I’ve missed out is more and more becoming less of a dream and more of a … REALLY TOTALLY 100% IMPOSSIBLE THING.

I will try and catch up when I have more time, but in the mean time I will give a short very boring list of what I’ve been up to.

  • 炊き出し – Takidashi. We did some real nice BBQ’s with Dirk, the master blaster from Belgium. Dirk is a crazy guy who almost talks as much as me. The only thing greater than his talkativeness is his passion for helping people. He’s an absolute legend, and worked as hard as anyone, despite having a broken wrist. Which was kind of dumb.
  • Lots and lots of people have come up to Just Do It and Volunteer in Tohoku. Which is amazing. Pretty much everyone tells their friends about what we’re doing up here, and then the friends come. Which has kept me PLENTY BUSY.
  • I have come into contact with a Model Volunteer, Dean, who is a great guy. He has his own group up here, and it turns out that we work pretty well together, so from now we’ll be working closely together on various projects.
    We hope to combine our good lookingness to become a super handsome force for good. It has been suggested by some that maybe one party is bringing a bit more to the table than the other, but I think that is unfair to Dean, as to be fair to him, he’s not a bad looking lad.Judge for yourself.

  • Marci and Masae have joined me as full time members of INJM. “Full time” means that even when they aren’t physically here, I make them do stuff for me. More streetwise people have agreed to assist me in other areas, but were smart enough not to sign their souls over like Marci and Masae did. Good for them!
  • I’m going to the UK for a short trip. You can still come and volunteer, I have left Alex (a mustached German) and Hippie (an Australian hippie) in charge, and they will be leading the team on the ground while i’m gone. I will have internet access during my woliday (WORK HOLIDAY = WOLIDAY!), so please feel free to contact me about coming up.
  • We want to become more mobile, and work further afield, in more remote areas where there are less volunteers coming. This is really exciting. There are many many people coming up all the time to help in Ishinomaki city, but if you live out in Oshika or Ogatsu, there’s not a lot of support for you. But there is a lot of need. So expect to see a more mobile INJM in the future, although we will still work in central Ishinomaki. To this end, we will need more tools and transport. If you think you can assist in these respects, or know someone who might be able to, or know someone who knows someone who knows someone whose brothers best friend’s father might be able to help, please let me know. In the meantime, if you have a tent you don’t need or some spare camping equipment lying about, let me know!
  • What with fake doctors and other scary things going on, there is a feeling of insecurity at the campsite, something which I greatly dislike. With this in mind, I have started looking for alternative accommodation. Somewhere where I will be able to invite volunteers to stay at, even just for the weekend. I don’t expect people to camp out in the snow (although I am probably stupid enough to try and do so, with a 7,000yen tent, no less), so something a bit more solid is necessary. Like above, if you have a lead on something, let me know!
I will find some time during my trip to write stuff out properly and more clearly, but I know there are literally 10′s of people out there who were eager to read a new entry, and I wasn’t about to let you guys down.

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