Earthquake aftermath

I wanted to write down what is on my mind here, 5 days after the major earthquake that took place off the coast of Honshu, Japan. It has been a long, stressful five days, filled with many, many after shocks- some big, some small. We go awhile without any, and then have several in a row...just when you are comfortable and feeling better, a bigger one will rock your home, and remind you that it might not be over yet. It has been unsettling, to say the least. We spent the majority of the weekend holed up at home, trying to figure out fact from fiction. It is at a time like this when you realize what a big disadvantage it is to not speak the language at all. Most reports, actual reports- such as what areas have blackouts, what train lines are running, etc., are initially in Japanese. There are some major issues with the Nuclear power plants here, that were damaged quite extensively by the quake and ensuing Tsunami. The U.S. Embassy is little to no help. They tell us there is no immediate danger, yet, we find out they closed their Tokyo office and relocated to Osaka, much further away from the Nuclear Power Plant issues. They also recommended/required people on two of their military bases, 200 km from the nuclear plants, go on lock down- no ventilation to the outside, no going outside, etc...yet, they tell us in Tokyo that there is little issue..Tokyo is 236 km away from the plants/Tsunami area. It is so frustrating. They are estimating over 10,000 people died during the earthquake/tsunami, but can't actually find a lot of them, as they were swept out to sea. They lost 4 trains- swept away by the Tsunami- full of people, yet they have no idea where they are. The Japanese, as a culture, tends to sugar coat everything- they are not direct by nature (remember the 10 times measuring my laundry room, 7 months to replace a washer/dryer situation?), so foreigners are not comfortable that they are being upfront and fully honest about the situations at hand. It is unnerving, sad, stressful and being in Tokyo is HUGELY uncomfortable- the not knowing what is going to happen and will you be able to get out thought is constantly sitting in your brain. Most of the foreign community has left. You also have to remember that the earthquake happened off the coastline. So, though Tokyo was spared major damage, if that quake happens again, closer to Tokyo, that city will be a mass of ruins and death. That thought is also always in the back of your mind. I do want to say that the Japanese are about as prepared as anyone could ever be for this situation- their building, road and overall construction with in Japan is about as earthquake proof as you will ever find. They have earthquake drills and go over plans all the time- the schools practice, the kids and adults, in theory, have it driven into their heads their entire life. Japan, being on the Ring of Fire, gets regular quakes, and the feeling, though weird, is normal, once you have lived here for a bit. This was devastating, but unfortunately, it could have been a lot worse.

Aside from the thoughts of more quakes/after shocks, and the nuclear issues, there are the food, water, gas, transportation shortages as well as rolling blackout issues. I went to the grocery store twice and will tell you that there is NO food left.


Just one shelf I could photo- most shelves were like this by Sunday

Everyone is prepping for the worst, and stocking up just in case. There was no bread, milk, water, eggs, prepared foods, meats...basically, condiments, some frozen foods, some snack type food are all that is left. The lines wrap around these tiny grocery stores and they have little food in which to even restock the shelves with. Two days in a row I went, and two days in a row, I left with next to nothing. There is also a shortage on Gas- most stations are out or very low on gas- Scott got turned away trying to go to the gas station that is near our home, as they are completely out of fuel. The stations that do have it are rationing it, and only allowing 5000Y worth of gas at a time- not enough to fill your tank. It is only a matter of time before that situation gets worse. The public transportation system- the trains, buses, etc., are all running limited routes to save on gas and electricity. The trains are not even running out to where Scott works, which means he needs to drive every day...however, he can't get gas, so how is that going to work? 50% of Scott's staff can't make it to work, because of transportation issues. They have also implemented rolling blackouts through most of Japan, to conserve electricity, due the the lack of Nuclear power (due to the current meltdowns that are occurring as I type). For instance, Maya's school will have no power from 9:20-1pm, and again from 6:20-10pm, until mid-April they are saying at the earliest. How is ASIJ going to have school with no power for the majority of the school day? That also means that during those blackout times, trains will not be running in those areas. Scott's company is also scheduled to have blackouts for the majority of the afternoon until mid-April. He is waiting to find out the exact schedule, but that will definitely impact Stryker's ability to manufacture product in Japan during this time. Right now, it is completely unknown on how people will continue to live in Tokyo and go about their daily lives.

We decided on Sunday, after speaking with and getting the OK from Scott's bosses in the States, to leave for our Spring break trip early. Initially, we were going to leave on Thursday, the 17th, and meet Scott's brother Greg and Missy in Thailand for a week. However, with the constant after shocks, threat of a nuclear meltdown and the cancellation of both girls schools for the next two weeks, we decided that we should leave early. I spent all day running around like crazy- trying to book flights, pack bags, get money (I had to bike to the bank to get money, leaving my girls for the first time with a sitter since Friday- I have never biked so fast and so furious in my life). I am thankful that we were able to get tickets for Tuesday, as many people were not able to leave until Wednesday or Thursday. Every airline is completely booked solid right now, the airport is completely understaffed (their people can't get to work either) and overwhelmed.

Leaving Tokyo
Yesterday we were able to get out of Tokyo, but not without a few adventures along the way. I spoke with our travel agent in Tokyo, and he informed me that no trains were running to Narita airport, all limosine buses were booked as were the majority of the cabs for Narita runs. I informed him we would be driving, in which he informed me to leave 3.5 hours early, as there were cracks in the highway, and we would have to detour. The lucky thing was that we were leaving super early in the morning, so traffic was lighter than it would have been if we had left later in the day. The ride to the airport went off without a hitch...however, when we got to Narita, at 6:30am, it was JAM PACKED with people trying to leave- students, residents, foreigners- everyone trying to get out of town for awihle.


Airport lines at Narita

We had booked through Singapore Airlines, and it said that the flights were operated by ANA from Narita to Singapore, and then by Silk Airlines from Singapore to Phuket. We stood in line for TWO + hours, in the Singapore airlines line, only to be told that though they sold us the ticket, we would have to go stand and check in at the ANA counter. Frustrated (after trying to keep the girls from killing each other- a little too much togetherness in their minds lately) we booked down to the ANA counter...only to find the line was ungodly long- down the corridor, through the entire South wing, and nearly reaching toward the North wing. We couldn't even find the end of it- it just kept going and going...so by this time, it was 9:30am, and our flight was leaving at 10:40am. We would NEVER had made it to check in waiting in that line..we had met another younger Singaporian man who was heading home, and who was on the same flight as we were- the 5 of us found a self check in that we were able to check into. However, because we were flying on different airlines, no one was able to book us on our second leg to Phuket. We only had 1:15 between landing and taking off in Singapore, no idea how to check in, etc. It all ended up OK though- we were able to figure it out, grab some food and get on the plane. I don't think we have ever been so happy to leave a place and touch down in another. It was just an emotional relief not feeling the constant tremors and having the "what ifs" on our minds. We are currently in Phuket, Thailand with Missy and Greg until March 25th. We will be paying attention to the news and spending time here trying to figure out what our next move will be. We have some friends that are doubting they will be returning to Tokyo after this weeks events, we have some that don't know how long they will decide to stay away. We just don't know what is going to happen or what we will decide to do, but for this week at least, we are going to sit by the pool and relax, spend some time as a family and try to catch up on some much needed sleep.