There are few events in life that you will ever remember clearly and never forget every single detail. The Tohoku Earthquake was one of them for me.
It was 6th period and my first year students were doing presentations in English in front of the class in the AV room. The children were nervous because it was the largest part of their English Conversation grade. I was incredibly exhausted and had a headache from hearing the same speeches 100 times in a row. I called my last student to the front of the class, this cute girl with a wonderfully happy and friendly personality, the type of girl who lights up the room when she smiles. I looked at the clock 2:46 pm. Just 14 more minutes left of class. The exact time the earthquake had it Sendai, though in Nara everything was still peaceful.
As my student was speaking I suddenly felt incredibly dizzy. I had thought it was because I had a headache and I was tired, then I realized that the trees outside were moving as well, and not in the way the wind would blow a tree, but in a strange rocking motion. I looked to my co-teacher sitting beside me and ask "Is that an earthquake?" He looked to me and said "What? What are you talking about?" That's when I thought it was just my imagination and went back to watching the student preform.
One minute later, as my student is walking back to her seat, the students start to say "The TVs are moving!!" I looked and all the TVs in the AV room were slowly moving back and forth. It was such a slight motion, but very odd because they are stationary objects. That's when my co-teacher jumped from the desk and yelled "Earthquake! Everyone don't get up! Don't move!" And he ran across the room and slammed open all the doors. For such a small movement his reaction really scared me, especially since I had just felt the same earthquake earlier and he had no reaction. I had asked him later why he had opened the doors, and he said it is a safety precaution, if you ever feel an earthquake you should open the doors in case the foundation of the building gets shifted then you wont be trapped inside the room you are in.
About 2 minutes go by and finally the TVs stopped moving. It was the first time I had ever felt an earthquake at school, and really had thought nothing of it. Small earthquakes happen all the time in Japan, and the one we had felt was so small, it didn't feel like anything at all.
It wasn't until I had gotten back to the teacher's room did I see just how bad of an earthquake it was. The teachers had turned on the TV to find out the epicenter for the earthquake. I was greatly surprised to see the words "Sendai, Miyagi" on the TV screen. Sendai? That's 500 miles from Nara, a two day train ride, in other words very VERY far. My first thought was how strong an earthquake could be where you could feel it all the way in Nara? My second thought became fear as I realized one of my co-teachers had recently moved there. Everyone was in panic thinking about the safety of our co-teacher as we saw the magnitude number of the earthquake go from 7.0 to 7.5 to 8.0. We couldn't even fathom the damage that was done in her area. Then the number got bigger, 8.3 then they changed it to 8.5 then it was changed finally to 9.0. The most powerful earthquake to ever hit Japan. And one of our beloved co-workers was in the mess of it all.
The TV was flooded with information from the earthquake, they were showing the same videos over and over again of offices in Tokyo shaking, papers flying everywhere, items falling off shelves, windows crashing.
It wasn't until a few minutes later did we hear any word of a tsunami. Images on TV didn't show much yet, only a few areas that were flooded and where cars couldn't drive. At the time, it didn't seem too bad, but at the time no one knew just how much damage had happened.
I remember sitting there, glued to the TV with my coworkers as more and more information came out. Around 4 o'clock was when the more frightening pictures and video came amount. Video of the tsunami. Video of cars trying to race away as the waves swallowed them up. Video of boats being washed onto shore, and left on top of houses. Video of giant waves crashing over walls, walls taller than most people, as if it were nothing at all. We were glued onto the TV. We couldn't look away. Thinking about it now, the 15,854 people who died, it still brings tears to my eyes, it still breaks my heart to think about. Everyone who lost their homes, their families, their lives. Everything.
I will always be eternally grateful that I was safely located in Nara, far away from everything that happened. I will always be grateful that my sweet and loving co-worker was safe through it all. And I will always be grateful that I knew no one that had lost their lives, that everyone that I knew in Japan was safe from the danger. Sadly, not everyone living in Japan can say the same thing.
The days after were plain chaos, people flooding me with e-mails asking if I was safe, the news going on about the nuclear reactor that was severely damaged in the destruction, people talking about leaving Japan in fear of another earth quake or of nuclear radiation. It was a lot to process, and a lot of information. Being in Nara I felt safe, and I never was afraid of any radiation, but it also made the idea of going to Tokyo less than appealing.
The months and months after involved hard labor and clean up, I am proud to say I donated as much as I could to the Red Cross to help with those efforts, though a part of me feels slightly ashamed I never went up there myself to help. A few people I know in Nara, very kind giving souls who would do anything to help others took the time and energy to go up to the heavily damaged areas and volunteered their strength. If any of them reading this write a blog, I would gladly post it a link. I greatly respect my friends who put so much energy into helping people in Tohoku. They are such kind and wonderful people, and the world needs more people like them.
There is still a lot to be done, still more donations that are needed, and a long way before people can go back to living "normal lives." But the progress in the past year has been amazing. Children happily go to their schools, roads are clear and drivable, more and more has been done every day to expand the clean up and make Tohoku and brighter and more beautiful place.
I will always greatly respect and look up to those people who have survived so much, who lost everything in their lives and are able to look forward onto life with a smile and a positive attitude. It shows just how strong we as human beings are, that no matter what life will deal us, we will survive. We will win.
I pray for the safety and prosperity of Tohoku, I hope that all survivors live a long and happy life, and that all the people who passed away rest in peace.
This is a video I saw on youtube "Arigatou from Japan Earthquake Victims." Please give it a watch, it makes me cry every time.
