Sunday, March 20, 2011

Perspective

I am currently sitting on a Japanese style floor.  Properly known as Tatami mats, the Japanese style floor are bamboo mats.  Rooms, and whole apartments, are a measured by the number of tatami mats in them.  These floors are very sensitive to damage which is what has given rise to the Japanese tradition of not wearing footwear in the house.  It also explains why western style chairs are not common.  The repetitive motion of pulling chairs in and out would destroy these mats.  This lack of permanent furniture allows for the style of one room living.  Last night, we all stayed in a very nice Japanese style room that had a table, a desk and a dias.  To the side via the sliding rice paper doors, there was a sitting area to view the garden that was more western style.  It was beautiful (pictures to come).

Thursday, March 17, 2011

content=/humour

 The following is not a post about what happened, or how the Earthquake was cool.  It has nothing to do with the interesting experience and if you can't deal with the lack of humour leave.

The earthquake moved the Honshu island 8 metres  and shifted the earths axis almost 10 cm.  It also sped the day up by 1.8 nanoseconds.

The death toll is currently 3, 676.  With over 10 000 more missing.  Whole communities were literally wiped out and people did not know for days as the roads were destroyed.  It was the rescue helicopters that discovered there was nothing left. Satellite images show that whole forest were wiped clean of life and cities are void of infrastructure.

There are thousands of relief workers working non-stop and if I spoke better Japanese, or was able to be, I would be there in a heart beat.  I can't be.  But if you have ever considered donating to a charity, I hope that you consider the Tohoku Earthquake as one.  If you're a student and unable to donate, find out if there's a fund raising event and volunteer, or fore-go your coffee one morning and donate the $2.50.  If for no other reason than I still don't know where some people are, and I would much prefer they be found alive.

For donations or up to date news on the quake, go here.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

SLEEP! or not...

Later in the evening John, a Japanese friend through Church (yes he is Japanese but he has taken a Christian name), came by to check on us before he went to a friends to sleep for the night.  He worked only a few minuted from our hotel in Shinjuku but he lives in Yokohama, which is a fair distance away.  That night we had Sarah and Caroline stay with us as they had nowhere else to go.  It was not a good night for sleep.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

SCAVENGE!

Caroline and Sarah walked with me to the first floor, down the emergency staircase because we still were unable to use the elevator.  There, the girls inquired about their bus to Kyoto overnight to discover that it was canceled, but they were entitled to a refund.  The hotel staff had filled all their rooms and the price for a single room with a bed was about $170 CAD, twice their normal rate.  The businesses in Shinjuku certainly made their share of money off of the disaster.  The hotel staff was kind enough to let the girls store their luggage overnight and they shared a room with us.

Monday, March 14, 2011

TSUNAMI!

As the day started to wear on, the sky darkened and the clouds began to blow into the sky that were full of rain clouds.  As the weather started to get colder, the quakes started to become slower so more and more people left the open area in the center to sit on the benches along the outside of the park. 

Saturday, March 12, 2011

PANIC!

We left the coffee shop and headed towards the hotel, following along the road.  As we were walking, the opposing side of the street people were pointing to the upper extremities of the buildings above us, making me wonder what they were looking at but not really wanting to stop and gawk.  Tokyo is a city of millions, and every single one was in the middle of the street.  Staring at the buildings and each other trying not to cry.  Every building had people leaving it after the big shock and doing headcounts.  The people were kind enough to make space for those on their way to destinations so we didn't have to force our way through a crowd.  Even in a crisis the Japanese are polite.

Friday, March 11, 2011

EARTHQUAKE!

Here in Japan there was just  the largest Earthquake ever measured.  As I write this, according to BBC World News, 26 have been confirmed dead and many missing.  The excact number continues to change, but it seems to be about an 8.7 on the richter scale.