Re: Japan hit by 8.9 earthquake.
I am alive. My story is as follows.
I was at the elementary school where I work. It happened right between my last class for the day and the start of the clubs. So there were no groups of children anywhere doing anything structured, everyone was in the middle of a transition. Which means it was the worst possible time for an earthquake to happen. I was in the gym at the time just hanging out with the badminton and ping pong club members. We were on the stage when the quake struck, and I was the only teacher there, so I got everyone under the desk and we toughed it out. A lot of the folding chairs collapsed and some of the posters fell down. It was the biggest earthquake I have been in, but there was no serious damage.
We went outside to gather as a group and wait for the rest of the teachers, as they have practiced many times. I noticed then that while a lot of the kids thought it was cool and exciting, a number of the girls were seriously frightened and crying. The other teachers, when they showed up, were too busy doing head counts and checking to see where everyone had gone to worry about crying children, so I sat down near a group of girls who were upset and tried to reassure them. I managed to get almost all of them laughing, referencing things we'd done in class and doing my zombie impression that they can't get enough of.
Then the quake came back and was worse this time. Two girls in particular were just balling. I offered each one of my hands and they grabbed on as if for dear life, while their friends also tried to calm them down somewhat. It died down again, and we all just sat together, me trying to comfort a group of several dozen, at least, Japanese girls who had gathered around me during the quake. After the worst of the aftershocks finished I pulled out my iPod touch and showed them some of the goofier pictures of myself and my pets and my friends and got most of them giggling again. Their parents started showing up to take them home, and I hung out there for an hour longer than I am paid to work because I got the sense that if I were to leave, a number of the students would seriously lose their calm. One girl, as she was leaving with her mother, came up to me and told me that I had made her feel better, and gave me a hug, so that was heartwarming.
I'm back at my apartment now where thankfully everything has made it through okay, except the garbage that got dumped on the ground. Unfortunately cell phones are down at the moment so I can't hang out with my friends. The trains are also stopped. As I am typing this, there is another aftershock occurring and I expect there will be more to follow. Oh well. I guess it's an experience I would have been without, otherwise. At least I have survived to tell the tale.
plus there is a massive fire in an oil refinery.
