Dominic is right--another 7.2 quake hit Sendai day before yesterday. We'd had a few quiet days--no quakes, not even small ones. I hadn't realized that I'd gotten used to the quiet until my phone went off "whoop! whoop!" at 11:30 at night--I nearly jumped out of my skin. Teddy was sleeping next to the bookshelf, so I went and stood in front of it just in case. Nothing fell over or off of shelves, but our building swayed pretty hard. It lasted a couple of minutes--quite a bit longer than usual. Sendai and the surrounding areas lost power--watching it on TV, I couldn't help but think of how frightened the children there must have been....every quake re-awakening the fear they felt during the big one. We have applied, along with many others, with Kanagawa Prefecture to host a child currently living in a refugee shelter. Children in the Tohoku area can't go to school because all the schools are being used as refugee shelters. I don't know how many people will choose to send their children to a host family so they can go to school, but I hope we can help someone...
Dominic is also right in guessing that it is cherry blossom time...
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I have been impressed over and over again by the people of Japan through this awful ordeal.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but compare it to what Katrina did here and the US comes off horribly lacking in the comparison.
I would have hosted a child until their parents could find a stable living situation, but the idea never crossed my mind. I'd never even heard of such a program.
At any rate, I admire your willingness to open your home, and I'm glad that you all continue to be alright.
Gambare is a word--and an idea-- I'd like to see spread...s
ReplyDeleteThanks for thinking of us--we're doing ok in spite of the shake up the other day. Won't know for a week or two whether we'll get to host anybody or not (the kids are off their heads with excitement--to them it sounds like an extended slumber party...;-)
Good to hear you're OK. We're not getting much in the newspapers right now, but we did hear about the latest quake up Sendai way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time and trouble to keep us in the picture.
Thanks, Roy--yes, that quake was big enough to make the news again (4 people were killed, too, and quite a number were injured). I was awake, my husband woke up from the shaking...and the kids slept through it. (actually, Koshi woke up...and didn't remember anything the next morning;-).
ReplyDeleteYay you're back! Glad to hear everyone is fine. I was a little worried, but figured life just mostly gets in the way some times
ReplyDeleteYup--that's pretty much it. Fortunately, the rolling blackouts have stopped temporarily (at least until it gets hot and everybody starts running air conditioners...). Had *another* pretty big shaker earlier this evening--strong 3 or weak 4 here (a 6.something up in Fukushima--worrisome, since that's where the reactors are...).
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