so on thursday night i went out to the bar with Kate, Ryo, Takashi, Nori ,Nick and Mike. The three Japanese boys slept over and we were all laughing and joking Friday morning. it was a beautfiul Friday afternoon. my plans were to go to my internship, come home and study and go to Disneyland Saturday.
At about 2:40 pm, as I was at my desk at the Japan Times, I felt the impact of the earthquake. at first i though wow woah this is cool as it was small tremors which i thought would stop. it got worse though and lasted for about 4 minutes (which felt like an eternity). everyone started screaming and running down the stairs out the door. we waited outside the building and saw the pond/moat around my office building had floodeed out. scary.
after another quake 20 mins later, i left after my boss advised me to. i had no clue what to do. the train lines were shut. how would i get home?
millions of people were scattering the streets of tokyo, watching the tv and shouting announcement (which i could not really understand)
i walked around aimlessly trying to get a taxi (impossible) finally i ran into my friends adrian from school. we was drinking a beer and keeping calm. i walked around w him as he tried to find me a taxi (he knows the city better than me) impossible.
waited for a bus in the cold with a bunch of little obaasans (grandmas, old ladies)…the busses were all full.
finally i went into mita hall, one of temples campus buildings. (oh ps….i guess i never mentioned that my school/internship are located a 1 hour train ride away from my apartment)….by this time is was 7 pm. there were some kids hanging out in teh computer lab. i felt a little comforted that i could get a hot drink and talk to some people.
i made friends with two kids who checked my japanese homework for me and taught me some slang (native japanese kids obvs.) they also helped translate the warnings for me.
we walked to Azabu (the other TUJ building) bc there were more kids there and teachers were giving out food and drinks.
there had to be like 50-60 students stranded in teh school. a lot were on the computers, eating, a lot were getting drunk. it was like a big high school sleepover thing. i guess thats where i was gunna spend the night. at least i was safe.
around 10 pm the namboku and oedo lines began to work (2 subway lines). i need to take yamanote to get home, so that wouldnt do me any good but my friend brett suggested we go to shinjuku (party district) and go to a club and make a night of it rather than just sit inside tuj all night.
ahh why night. so we took the crowded subway to shinjuku. buisness men were sitting all over the ground like homeless people. ladies with crying babies.
we went to a kareoke bar/nomihode for a few hours and then felt some more tremors. by 1 30 am wer just wanted to go home. evern the 24 hr mcdonals had closed down.
all the food from shelves was gone. finally got a taxi at 3 am. got home by 4 30 am.
im ok right now but its scary. i m not going home. there are a lot of people suffering here. Yasuo was in Fukushima. all i could think about was how I invited him out Thursday night too and he txt me back saying he was in Fukushima (ground zero of the tsunami).
i finally got word yesterday he in alive and ok. thank goodness.
i am not a religious person and when i say pray for whoever its just an expression. honestly you can sit home and pray but wtf is that gunna do? if anyone wants to help they should donate money. many people here need food and supplies. that would be most helpful.
i feel connect and proud to be in Japan. it is now my home. I am happy the U.S. is helping though. that is one good thing about the States. they are always there to help other nations when they are in need. Thanks U.S.A.
I just hope all this gets sorted out soon.
gambatte
マリッサ
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