YUME

A very wonderful friend of YUME is doing something amazing. They are on a boat that promotes piece throughout the world called THE PEACE BOAT. We got an amazing e-mail from her and wanted to share that with you, after all YUME is all about living new and wonderful things. Check out what she wrote below, we can't wait to get the pictures.

YOU MAY (YUME)

"....Getting on to what is happening in my life now…so at the end of July I finished my teaching contract and returned to New York for approximately three weeks. I apologize if I didn't get to see or speak to you while I was home. All I wanted to do was sleep and eat… and when I finished doing that it was time for me to leave. Leave to go where you might ask? Well back to Japan of course. For what you say? Well I got another job. What kind of job you say?..Well I am teaching English of course. That is what most foreigners in Japan do (or the military)....However I am currently not in Japan. I got a job with a really amazing Japanese NGO called Peace Boat (Peaceboat.org). Peace Boat works to promote peace, human rights, equal and sustainable development and respect for the environment. They do this by organizing responsible tourism cruises that literally go around the world. At each port there are opportunities to engage in cultural exchange with the local community. Our first stop was Vietnam and I spent the day at a home for street children. This experience was very exciting and very humbling for me. It really reminded me of how fortunate I am to have people who love and care about me. It also made me more grateful for all the resources I have access to. In addition to the ports, life on Peace boat is pretty amazing. Just walking around you can find people doing a variety of things, such as meditating, playing instruments, making paper cranes, playing basketball, dancing to hip hop and/or discussing what the word Peace really means. It is brilliant! People young and old coming together. Everyone on the ship is pretty much Japanese except for most of the staff. I, however, am the only African American on the ship so people come to me with a lot interest and questions about my culture. The interest has been so great I have decided to do a jishukikaku (self-planned event in Japanese) called Ask Me Anything. At this event I am inviting all those interested to come and ask me any questions they want in a safe and non-judgmental space. Hopefully it will help passengers to become more aware of who I am and what I am about.

So far I have found life on the boat to be more amazing than the ports. Everyday I get to interact with some of the most interesting people. On board the ship there are one hundred survivors of the Atomic bomb from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I often find myself sitting with them at lunch or dinner having the most incredible conversations. I have also had the opportunity to kick it with youth from Vietnam who are second generation victims of Agent Orange (a chemical used by American during the Vietnam War). Everyday I learn something new living on this ship and I hope to learn so much more over the next three months. Oh yeah if I didn't say that already, I will be traveling on this ship for the next three months. Some of the highlighted places I am going are Singapore (which is where I am now), Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Chile, Tahiti, and Australia. Once I get a moment to actually breath I will try to send a more comprehensive update about my life on board and my adventures at different ports, with pictures. Unfortunately the internet access onboard is severely limited so my ability to communicate is also limited. But never fear, I will try my best to update you as often as possible. "

www.peaceboat.org