winter weather is here again! cold, windy, and heavy rain. hawaii got a good washing this past week and it’s going to continue for another week. i kind of like it but feel sorry for the tourists. Tai-san and i surfed bowls yesterday and nobody was even out. just us and the whole ocean. it’s always fun being in the ocean! keep on surfing.
ok, it’s time to plan We Are One M6. been talking to matsu and the dates are set. we will be going to Tohoku from April 13-16. going to see how things are progressing, how our friends are doing, what kind of support they need, and try to make as many kids happy as possible. after seeing all the footage and specials nearing the 1 year mark since 3/11, some people have come a long way, and some people haven’t. some people found their lost ones, some didn’t. being here in hawaii, a lot of people seem to move on and forget. i get asked so many times how things are doing in japan and sometimes i say “great,” and sometimes i say “not great.” it’s how i’m feeling at that moment because sometimes i think about all the good things that came out of this, sometimes i think about all the loved ones still missing, sometimes i think about the never ending radiation problem, but most of the times i’m thinking about the kids. the kids that still haven’t found their family, the kids that were left behind, the kids that can’t play outside because of the radiation, the kids that lost their best friends, and the kids that went through and are still living through a nightmare. i’m an adult and still traumatized from what i seen going there 5 times. you might think that’s a lot, but imagine living it everyday for the past year. driving up and down the 200 mile coast that got devastated from the tsunami haunts me till this day. am i ok? yeah. but to be honest, there still isn’t a day that goes by that i don’t think about the innocent people that lost their lives. and the only way for me to bounce back into the genki me is to think about how we can still help. i was so scared before we headed up on M1. now, i’m so excited going onto M6. we are going to do our best to make things positive. we are going to stay strong. we are going to support. we are going to give. we are going to put smiles on the kids faces. we are going to continue for as long as we can. most people in the world think that things are back to normal in japan. we think that this is only the beginning. watching that documentary from the BBC woke me up again. the reporters interviewed about 5 kids in that 1 hour show. 5 kids that are turning the bad into something good. if we can turn thousands of kids into people that want to change this world into a better place, japan will bounce back stronger than ever. it’s our obligation as adults to plant the seed, water it, and watch it grow. i’ve dedicated a big part of my life to helping people and to see the strength, power, hearts, and smiles is the reward. a reward that is stronger and better than anything i’ve ever encountered in my life. i want to live long enough to see things back to normal in japan. i want to live long enough to see the next generation taking charge. and as long as i’m alive, i’ll do as much as i can to make it happen. We Are One!
please watch this again. and if you have kids, make them sit down and watch the whole thing. you can see and feel the power in the kids. if we can all be that positive and strong, this world would be a better place.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_AxnoNrr_8[/youtube]
