Prayers for Japan

I have always loved Japan. On my two trips there as an exchange student, I was treated better than I could have ever expected. My first trip was up north in the city of Marumori, Miyagi prefecture. The second was to Kushimoto, in the southernmost part of the main island.
It's heart breaking to look at pictures and remember places that I know are now destroyed. I spent time at Matsushima Bay and on the Nightly News, saw a segment on Matsushima. It's devastated. It's tough to remember so clearly the beauty of it, and to think that it is gone now. I had pictures of beautiful temples, of boats in the bay, and the peaceful scenery. It's a different story now.
I've been thinking about the people constantly. They are such wonderful people. Their spirit of helping one another in these extremely difficult circumstances should be an example to all of us.


Dinnertime at the Yabuki's

Some school friends

On our way to school

Hanging out one lazy night

Getting traditional before we played with fireworks

Noriko and Akina when they visited Hemet. I'm watching for them on google people finder.

The red squiggle in the ocean is the epicenter of the quake. The purple diamond is the nuclear power plant. The red cirlcle is the area evacuated. The salmon colored marker is Marumori, where I was and where my friends are. Many prayers go out for them.