This is the first time ever to conduct this large of a disaster-relief event in Fukui. And it was even more enjoyable to note that our village was the first of the first to get it! They plan on doing it around the prefecture from now on and rotate through different districts so that other communities can also get a chance to ... participate. You can see the entire three point five hour event all smushed down into about seven minutes of video called Kamishii Disaster Relief Exercises.
I arrived at the relief center (the little community center behind our house... in front of our house behind the houses in front of us) at 8.15 in the morning. There was a brief talk and we all marched to the elementaryschool where other areas of Kamishii had also been gathering. It turned out that there were approximately 600 people who showed up in total, from little babies, to the elderly. I got to wear a helmet that was too small for one of the exercises in which they wanted me to participate; the "save someone from a burning house" exercise you saw me videotaping. That was my particiaption. But I get ahead of myself (needed a way to explain that photo of ME!)
At first, we all lined up according to the districts we were from. Not everyone in the village came to the event, but rather just a small fraction. We stood there as the people responsible for the districts reported on how many people were in each household and if they had visited each house, and took note of who was home, who was not (this actually happened about 8:05 after the 8am alarm went off).
While some were participating, most of the people just hung around watching. It did seem that rather than us practicing for disaster, we were just kind of witnessing some sort of ceremony. Oh well, that's life. At least we got to do another community thing.
Various events occurred during this time and you can see them on my Kamishii Disaster Relief Exercises video.
Near the end, I have to say, that the highlight was when a helicopter flew in, lowered two rescuers down, and rescued two girls from the top of the school roof. They musth have had the time of their lives flying around in the helicopter after that air lift! I bet it is a memory that will stick with them forever!
When all of the drills were done, there was the firefighter's marching band. They came out to the school ground and stood (didn't march) and played several brass band songs while the women that you can see in front, stood twirling baton flags. I would have liked to have seen more movement among the dance-twirlers because they didn't move around that much.
Finally, when all was said an done, we all lined up for the closing ceremony, the fire chief gave a closing speech, and we walked home.
I love you!
Cam
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