Steve walked the 20th segment today, July 12th, between Revelstoke and Sicamous on trails in both areas, completing about 805km so far.
At this point, he has finished almost 2/3 of the general route - his legs are starting to get sore but spirits remain high! Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day, so he plans on taking a good rest, save energy, talk with some local media, and then he will be back at it tomorrow!
**(special note: it was a great day to take a rest, as it gave us the chance to cheer-on the Japanese Women's soccer team as they defeated Sweden 3 -1!!! They will now go on to face the U.S.A. in the World Cup Finals on Sunday! "Gambatte Nippon!" (Go Japan Go!)
Steve often says, "Walking doesn't look tough, but walking every day for 7 hours is really tough! It's actually very similar to the situation in Japan in that although recently we don't hear or see much news about those affected by the disaster in Japan, what we do (or did) see in the headlines and images on t.v. didn't tell us the whole story. The Japanese have a very stoic nature that is an integral part of their culture. To "Gaman suru" means to endure hardship with a graceful appearance, so we must keep this in mind when we hear or see news from Japan, and adjust our perspective appropriately. Looks can be deceiving, and I think that the way in which the average Japanese person has dealt with (and continue to deal with) the affects of this disaster are nothing short of admirable and extraordinary."
When Steve shares this idea with the people he meets, everyone seems to agree. People in Canada and around the world can easily share their sentiments of support and encouragement with the people affected by the disaster by checking out some of the charitable activities and Japan relief projects listed on the right hand side of this website. For example, by clicking on the link to "Hope Letters", you will find how anyone can write a letter, send it to Hope Letters and they will translate it to Japanese and get it to the people in the disaster zone. Why not have a quick look and see what you can do?!
In our effort to counter the tendency of "out of sight, out of mind", here is an article about the recent situation in Fukushima, which I found in the Japanese online news written in English.
It can be a struggle to fully understand a story that is happening thousands of miles away from our daily lives. And what we can see is not always the full picture of just how grave the situation is - especially when looks can be deceiving. But I think we all naturally sense the difficulty of the situation and thirst for a better understanding. That's why Steve decided to refocus attention and raise awareness again about the situation in Japan thorough sharing experience and by walking!!
Gambaro-! (Let's stay strong!) Japan!!
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