G.R.I.T.

Today the GRIT team headed into town to do a bit of volunteer work at the local YMCA. The roof needed to be cleaned up so that it could be used for a project where kids would be planting a small garden on the roof. I wasn't quite expecting for the YMCA to be inside of (and towering above) an outdoor mall. The project itself was pretty straightforward, and we got done quicker than we expected, leaving everyone with a bit of free time. My experience so far has been a pretty interesting one, between the early morning workouts and the various projects teaching English and working with kids. The city itself looks a lot like East Tennessee, Kumamoto is a smallish city nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains. What makes it feel strange is a number of near infinite tiny differences that add up to make everything feel exceedingly alien. There's also the small matter of the omnipresent language barrier. Serving in this country is going to be a huge challenge, I can see that already.

posted by Norman @ 9:33 PM