3.12.2011

Still don't have any power or cell phone service.  Thank God that Bob's house has news...but no heat, I'm freezing!  We're too worried to start the wood stove in case there is another earthquake.  Last night was rough.  I was woken up at least three times just by giant earthquakes, not including the warning bulletins from the town at all hours of the night.  Feeling sick - awesome.  Wondering about my house, or at least the food in my fridge.  I need to find out if my landline works and how to make international calls.  Going to get out of bed and check the news.  Yesterday there were 200-300 bodies found in Sendai and 28 middle schoolers missing.  I hope it's better today...


Been sitting on the couch, glued to my laptop and the TV.  I'm so exhausted from hearing bad news and staying up all night from the earthquakes and alarms.  The death toll keeps rising.  Currently there are about 1400 people missing or dead.  Sendai is still underwater.  50 kids are stranded on a boat in the ocean and both nuclear power plants (Tomioka and Okuma) are beginning to fail.  Tomioka has already been evacuated, in Okuma it is recommended.  People in northern Hirono should stay inside their houses or leave.


Bob, Fujie, and I took a ride around town to see the damage.  You can't see too much up by my house.  Just cracked streets, buildings, and no power still.  But when you get downtown you start to notice the fallen roofs, extra debris, and when you get to the river you can see how high it rose, and what it took out with it.  Bob guesstimated that the tsunami took out about 20 houses.  The land is just a muddy flat field of wreckage.  You can see the roofs (sp?  I'm so tired I can't spell.  Jane says that it's my adrenaline levels finally dropping after keeping me awake in "fight or flight" mode.  I could pass out anywhere) floating in the rice paddies with nothing left for walls.  The trip from Tokyo to Sendai is taking over 15 hours by car instead of less than 5 like normal.  The water maybe isn't supposed to come back for two weeks and the aftershocks are still happening.  They've definitely diminished though - however, the news said it's possible for us to have another big earthquake within in the week.


Now we have to worry about the power plants failing.  We have emergency packs ready if we need to leave but I have no idea where we'd go, Iwaki?  The facility in Tomioka is supposedly 1000% over capacity and is beginning to leak.  But all of my information is second-hand because I can't understand the news.  That's probably the most frustrating part.  Just waiting...


The death count in Iwaki was 23 this morning, now it's 41.  There is a panic for food and water.  Lines are down the street for convenience stores or sold out.  Gas prices have skyrocketed and there's a shortage on gas and water.  We have about 4 large bottles of drinking water now.  Nuclear reactor building just exploded in Okuma.  It's 5:45pm but it happened a little earlier.  We don't know what's going to happen because of this but it seems increasingly likely that we will be evacuating to Iwaki


8:04pm in Iwaki at Bob's oldest son's apartment with his wife.  Just finished dinner (Rice again.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and now sitting under the kotatsu watching the news.  The Iwaki JETs are safe and know I'm here.  We have no internet again but Bob has a long distance number that I can use to call my parents in the morning or even later tonight if I can stay awake.  Bob keeps telling me it's horrible but everything that has happened is quite an experience! Haha, no kidding.  I just got told I have to go to the bathroom in an unlit park or a bag, ewwww...quite an experience.  I think I've had all the experience I need.  I've lived through an 8.8 earthquake, 33 ft tsunami, and now nuclear power leakage!  I really don't need anymore experience for today thank you.  However I did get educated on tsunamis vs. waves.  A wave's crest is the highest point, a wave flows in and out.  Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes and the level of the ocean raises and doesn't go out.

3.11.2011

I decided I'd post my journal entries from the day of the quake and aftermath.  Don't judge too harshly, these aren't works of a literary genius...


3.11.2011
Probably had the scariest day of my life.  Around 2:30pm an 8.8 earthquake hi Miyagi ken.  I was skyping with Kirby when I heard my earthquake alarm on my phone go off.  At first I didn't know what was going on.  Then I thought I'd wait it out because I'd experienced earthquakes in Japan before.  But I soon found out that I had experienced nothing like this...


I don't think I realized how bad it was at the time.  Might have been in shock.  I also don't have a bunch of stuff to fall off my walls, so I didn't notice the complete destruction of my home until I began to evacuate.  Kirby yelled at my to get out and I grabbed my computer and ran.  It was like I completely forgot all safety procedures that they teach you in school about getting under table or door frame.  I just bolted outside.  But even outdoors was a nightmare.  The trees were swaying, telephone poles were tilting, the roads with buckling, cracking, and water was gushing from the earth!  Then I was struck by horrible guilt that I left Mei, my foster cat, in the apartment, so I ran back inside when the shaking had subsided a little.  The minx slept through the whole thing!  What a lucky girl.


I was terrified that the next earthquake we would have would send me into a nervous breakdown.  Unfortunately, we had 18 or so aftershocks within the next hour.  It's almost midnight now and we are still having earthquakes.  Every time we're hit by another one I freeze, adrenaline pounding, ready to run outside again.


I guess we are big news in the world.  Mommy and Daddy said that Fukushima is all over NBC and the 5 o'clock news.  Oregon is even on emergency warning for a tsunami.  I think (I hope) that our tsunami has passed.  I haven't been downtown to check out the damage.  I can't even get there because my tunnel underneath Route 6 is cracked and very unsafe.  They've closed the road.  The news said that we are supposed to get 30ft tsunamis.  Crazy....Onohama, Soma, and Sendai are underwater.  Just to name few.  Chiba and someplace up in Hokkaido are on fire!  Not exaggerating in the least bit.


I still don't have power at my house, so I'm staying at Bob and Fujie's until I can go home.  Unfortunately I had to leave Mei.  I feel really bad about it, but she has food and water and I know if I brought her here she would just get stressed out.  I hope that she is safe and warm underneath all the blankets like she normally is with me.  At least one of us might be able to sleep tonight.  This constant shaking is giving me a wicked headache.  I hope I can talk to Kirby and my parents soon... 

Earthquake Aftermath

I have relocated back home to Oregon.  It's a bittersweet feeling.  I am eternally grateful to be surrounded by family and friends who are completely supportive of my decisions.  They have been my rock and I am so tired.  Even after returning to the states and no longer being force-fed news of the catastrophe, I feel surrounded by it.  There is no escaping the endless questions about the earthquake and tsunami.  How do you explain that to people?  Even more so, how do you explain that to people at a loud bar?  A place to go to relax and have fun is still tainted with the forced feeling of answering other's incessant questions.  Are they just curious or do they actual care?  Are they going to do anything about it?  Fundraise?  Donate?  Or are they like the other scare tactic fear mongering media addicts that just want to know to satisfy their urges?  It gets old really fast.


Then I feel guilty about not wanting to talk about it and not watching the news and basically sticking my fingers in my ears and singing when Japan gets brought up.  It's like I'm running away from something that isn't going to disappear anytime soon.  It's been about a decade since Hurricane Katrina and we don't hear anything in the news about it anymore, but they are still recovering!  How long will it take for Japan to rebuild?  It hurts to think that a place as beautiful and caring as Japan should have to endure such a hardship.  These people have touch my heart so deeply and yet I feel useless in helping them.  Currently I am trying to work with Oregon State University to start a fundraising event.  It is still very much in the planning phase but hopefully it will ignite soon.  I can't stand sitting in my parent's house feeling hopeless much longer.

Due to the 9.0 earthquake on Friday, my blog posts will be temporarily delayed.

Under the Sea

Daddy is always wanting me to write about my food exploits, so I'll give him one.  Many Americans think that the sushi we eat in America is the same traditional kind of sushi the Japanese eat.  False.  Sushi served in America is very..."Americanized".  I can't think of another way to explain it.  The Japanese don't eat sushi rolls (unless they are hand rolls).  They eat nigiri style sushi and sashimi.  It is made by hand and artistically displayed.  (Although, California rolls are becoming more popular).  They pride themselves on the freshness and quality of the fish, not wanting to mask the flavor with sauces like spicy mayo.  I'm afraid my little brother might be disappointed in comparison.


However, I do want to see his face when they take a live crab, cook it in front of you, and then ask you to eat it...whole.  They don't take the guts out, organs intact, and give you nothing to crack the shell open with.  Why?  Because you eat all of it.  Brain, shell, and all.  (by the way, I asked my friend who majored in science if this was safe, but she assured me that crab poop is mostly seaweed anyways - yummy).  Or how about eating fish heads?  I've found that not only is it the softest meat, but fish eyeballs are delicious!  Don't worry you only eat the membrane around the outside. ;)

Daaa Da Da Da Dummmm Dummm...

It's starting to look like spring, despite the brutal cold, and along with spring comes Graduation!  All this week we've been practicing for two hours a day.  It's the most elaborate middle school graduation ceremony I've ever seen.  They make these poor kids practice the songs over and over again, even though they can barely move their fingers - it's that cold.  I'm pretty miserable doing nothing.  But when I asked my J.E.T. (Japanese English Teacher) what the big deal was when one student didn't say "hai" loud enough, she told me that middle school graduation is a big deal because it isn't mandatory for the kids to continue onto high school!!  I mean, 97% of them do go onto high school, but it's their choice to, not the government's.  These 14 and 15 year olds could just stop learning now.  That's crazy to me!  I'm not sure for the reason why.  Maybe way back when they needed the kids to work in the rice paddies.  But why the precedent still remains is a mystery to me.  Luckily, I think everyone of my Hirono sannensei (3rd year students) is furthering their education.  Some of my favs have even gotten into some really good schools.  I'm so proud of them!

Re: Why I love Japan...

That post was a reflection on the Japanese's genuine consideration for humanity, not that I just like to get cheaper taxi rides home.  They also do considerate things like ring bike bells when they go around corners (which is the actual purpose of a bike bell...not just to scare your neighbors).  They flash their tail lights when you let them pass you on the highway, and they turn off their headlights while they wait across the intersection so you're not blinded.

I love Japan for so many reasons!  From their everyday mannerisms and exceptional politeness to their cultural acceptance of slurping your soup.  Japan is beautiful!  Well...maybe not right this instant.  But it was spectacular in Fall (I wish I had my Nikon DSLR then) and I am excited to capture the delicate magnificence of the cherry blossoms in Spring.  I promise to enjoy my remaining time here and share it with you.