raw horse meat.

nate and kyle ate RAW horse meat at sushi last night. just wanted to share. it's true. we have video evidence.

Christine

We have had a few days of rest from the heavier issues we have been exposed to in Japan. It has been a good time to collect our thoughts and process our experiences thus far. As a team we have been able to experience the beauty of Japan on our days off; myself and Kyle we went to Nikko which a 2 1/2 hour bus ride outside of Tokyo. It looked like Japan in historical movies, with the old temples and beautiful flowers and trees everywhere. Yesterday as a team we went to a festival in the streets of Shibuyaand stumbled into a Bob Marley festival and Jamaican flags everywhere, where Mary and I finally were able to get the Thai pants we have been dreaming about for 7 years!
There have been a lot of doors opening in Tokyo for us and therefore we have decided to stay another week in Tokyo and less time in Osaka before we head home. We keep meeting people and being introduced to people who have been trying to create some kind of awareness and assistance in the aream of prostitution in Japan. This has been an eye opening and amazing experience so far and I am looking foward to learning more. Thank you everyone for your support! xo

the reality of sex trafficking

to give you an idea of what it is like for the girls in the sex industry here in japan: http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/673/feature.asp

Chris

Today was the first day we dealt with the prostitution piece face to face. As a team we did learn some information before our trip and have met with a group here who have further explained the complexities of this issue in Japan. Today, seeing this issue in an area of Japan known for its higher "class" clients was definitely this most difficult part of this trip thus far. As I knew, it would be one thing to learn about the sex trade/prostitution and it would be another things to see everything up close. There was not much in action one could say in this area however, seeing how many places their were was something I was not prepared for. It was one place after another beside each other and in the alley ways. All the windows were shut off and their men standing in front of each door keeping their eyes on us. It was a dark feeling when you came up to the endless street of buildings with high end vehicals everywhere while catching a glimps of some what it looked like, highclass business men, coming in and out of the buildings while the men in the front covered their faces. As we walked past place after place and making eye contact and even greeting some of the men at door as one or two of them looked me up and down was the most difficult of all. In those moments I only felt on the smallest scale the dehumanizing feeling the women inside those buildings were dealing with every day. The feeling that you were a mere object-something to be bought and sold. The final hit to the day was when we were sitting across from some of the buildings was when the police drove by us and seemed to be more interested in us than what was going on inside the buildings, making it even more clear that these girls have no real protection from danger of what they do.

second harvest japan

on friday we met with the founder of Second Harvest Japan. he's hooked us up with some amazing contacts and invited us to the saturday homeless feed at ueno park here in tokyo. every saturday they go and feed hundreds of homeless people, majority being older men.

here in japan, the homeless are treated similarly (as we were told) to when the US and Canada first was learning about AIDS/HIV. they are not looked upon in a very good way and even some of the volunteers that help out barely say more than hello. there is a strict no photography policy with SH to save the people from further humiliation so we weren't able to get any photos while we were talking with them.

on saturday, we divided into two teams and with an interpreter, were able to have some great conversations with the men. there was one woman that we saw, but she did not want to talk with us. it was a great time knowing that just talking with them and wanting to hear their stories, we were telling them that they were worth talking to. another example of how society - in any country - will just walk on in their lives. not taking the time to learn one's situation or even why they are where they're at. 

how often do we judge someone based on their physical circumstance? how often have we walked by someone sitting on the street and just assumed their life story? take a moment to learn the reality of someone's situation. it may actually change your life!

Finally!

Sorry it has taken me so long to write for those who have been checking. The flight here was definitely tiring and many of us did not sleep for almost 3 days and what little sleep we managed to get was about 4-6 hours in that. We have done a little sight seeing thus far and have started to set up our schedual for our remaining time. I did not experience the culture shock I thought I would, it is more Westernized here and in Tokyo their is more English than I expected. I am sorry to cut this blog short, I will write more tomorrow as we have our first day working with one of our contacts in the homeless aspect of our trip. Thanks again to everyone helping me get to Japan with your donations and support! Love you all!

Kyle

after a couple days of travelling we are finally in tokyo! we left for the airport in toronto at 2am sunday morning. we than travelled to chicago, to San Francisco, and than to Osaka Japan. All together it was about 20 hours of flying. when we got to Osaka we hoped on a train for about 2 hours to a hostel we stayed at our first night. Everything in Japan is tiny! i think i'm going to start keeping track of how many times i hit my head off of door ways. The following day we left the hostil and just walked around Osaka taking pictures and enjoying the sights. At 10:30 pm we got on a bus to Tokyo, which was about an 8 hour bus ride. We slept for the most part and than as the sun began to rise it was pretty cool to take some pictures out the window as we were travelling through the mountains. from the bus we got on a train to the place we currently are staying now in tokyo. Today we are going out to meat with some people who have some knowledge about the sex trade here in tokyo and we will also be visiting the emperors palace and things like that. I'll check back in in a few days!

Takin' it easy in Tokyo

So yes, we finally made it!  Nothing short of glad to know that we supposedly "survived" a brief earthquake shake this morning...hmm...8.4 on the scale? really?  Barely felt it on yet another long ride, this time on a bus to Tokyo. Speaking of rides, that 20+ hour ordeal of a plane ride from May 5-6 to Osaka, was probably my longest plane ride since well...1989...when I was headed the other way to Canada, and I was only 7 years old. :)  Glad to know I can still survive sleeping in a seated position!

Shortly after our arrival to Osaka, I got to experience some real Japanese food, sleep in my first hostel room, and take in the sights and sounds, and shopping centres of Osaka.  That was an experience on it's own.  The day was quick, but I did get my camera out for some nice shots, until my battery died, and I pouted until I got it charged :)  Oh well. Lesson learned.  Moving on...

Anyway, for those tuning in, I just wanted to take this chance to say hello and thanks to all my friends from hockey, St. Joe's, T-dot, Carter, UW, Homechurch, my family and friends, and especially to my wonderful and very supportive boyfriend, Jon, who has been with me since the start of this journey, and continues to do so via the internet and random long distance calls I'm still able to make.  Thanks everyone for all your support and prayers.  I continue to ask for them for myself and the team as we venture on with our trip!

Funny, I didn't know exactly what I was in for when I joined this group, but more and more, I can see and I'm yet to discover what God has in store.  Whatever it may be, I'm welcoming the challenge and I'm quite as excited as I am scared.  

I'll keep everyone posted! For now, enjoy the photos I've put on my facebook.  For now, take care! 

Chantal: btw, I found you some manga!

we made it!

we made it! arrived on tuesday afternoon.. spent the night in osaka and are now up in tokyo.... it's been a long few days of travel and we're taking the day to rest and catch up on the sleep we haven't been able to get until now! here's a pic of our team taking photos around osaka :) more to come soon...

may has arrived!

may has finally arrived! after months of preparations, our time to go has arrived! this weekend, hundreds of leaders and students from across canada will be going through global's orientation.... monday morning will see these hundreds flying out around the world for a life altering experience!

thank you for joining us on this incredible journey! for your financial support, your prayers and for your encouragement - we could not have done this without you :)

the japan team