News of the Hankyhore daily newspaper article (that plans for the whale meat factory have come to a halt due to the work of KFEM and Greenpeace,) has saturated the camp. We now prepare for the Whale Festival, this Friday – Saturday, where we are the only invited ngo that has been asked to participate. The energy level of our new and final crew has become frenetic in a way unlike before.

We have said more goodbyes to Jo and Eric, and have welcomed Jim and Adam home, so to speak. The last arrivals have had over a week to settle in and learn the ropes, as we focus on how to be most effective in reaching the public this weekend. The Whale Festival will bring more than 50 000 people each day to our location. Much like Ocean’s Day, the festival will take place in the field adjacent to our camp. It is still quite unusual – the juxtaposition of tons of white tents, lights and balloons, to our camp and whale tails.

We have broken up into groups, working together on the whole. The Whale Festival is not only taking place next to our camp, but in the downtown park as well – where the Greenpeace/KFEM booth will be. We have scouted out our booth, mere meters away from the Japanese Whaling Association’s (!!) and are sorting out what we will need there; who will staff it when. We are preparing the embassy for another deluge of visitors, tidying up, sorting activities, making sure the daily life of the camp continues to run smoothly. We must also prepare to say goodbye to many of the adults and children who have become accustomed to our presence – the children especially. Next weekend will be our last weekend here, (a statement I can hardly wrap my head around,) and we want to make sure we exit responsibly.

Adam’s focus will be on the Virtual March, which we have been granted permission to go ahead with by the management of the Lotte Hotel, (home to the IWC), the police, and the city council. Another stellar example of how differently things have worked here. Jim will continue running the campaign, an extraordinary feat in itself. While inside perhaps we are all rejoicing a bit by news that plans for the factory are off, we are cautious not to get ahead of ourselves. We must wait and see how the Korean Government will react having received questions and feedback about this decision from all the media over the next few days.

On a side note, the new t-shirts have finally arrived. Seeing them is bitter sweet, as the logo is a culmination of ideas from a group of which there are none left, with the exception of myself. As I mentioned before, it is hard to imagine that this will be our last weekend here. Next weekend the camp will be broken down and shipped to its various homes, the activists will have dispersed, and hopefully what will be left is the legacy of the work we have begun with KFEM, the memories of this extraordinary experience, and a step in the right direction towards Korea being a pro whale nation, not pro whaling nation.