Japan update!

Just got word from my mom......my family is safe  and everyone is doing fine!  They live far enough inland and south of the hardest hit areas!  I could hear the relief in my mom's voice....she is 80 (she would kill me if she knew I just wrote that!)  She is the youngest of 5 sisters......the oldest one is 94?   So.....there was concern that they were not ok......which......is stressful on her too!   My cousin lives in Tokyo......and is fine  too!  Thanks for your wishes and concern!  Lets keep our "positive" thoughts going for those who are living with the "aftermath" of  this devastation!

Great News!!

Thanks so much for the update Jim!

Our thoughts and prayers continue for everyone affected by this...

Hugs,

Cindy

I'm so glad to hear your family is safe. Thanks for posting an update.

Great news!

So happy for you and your family Jimbo. Lots of people here were sending good vibes. Will keep up the hopefull thoughts for others who are less fortunate.  Diane

 glad to hear your family is save

So glad to hear this!

Lizanne

 

Wow....Thanks for all the well wishes and great news Jimbo!

 

As far as I know at this time is that all my people are fine. I’m just not sure about many of my business aquatints have faired. As I have been out all day and just catching up, this Nuclear issue has me terrified.

 

I’ll share a story with you.... My god daughter (my best friend from kindergarten daughter) is in Grad School a Waseda University in Tokyo. To set the story up.... I was the one who introduced her to Japan with several trips to Japan over the past few years. She really took to it and Majored in Japanese language at San Francisco State. She even did a live abroad program in Japan during that time. She has since gone back for grad school and is engaged to a Japanese guy and to be married this year.

 

So when this tragedy happened..... I had the most sinking feeling of being responsible for her being in Japan. If anything happens to her (still) I don’t know how I would/will be able to deal with this.........

 

Well her dad and I were trying to get hold of her to see if she was safe..... we could not get through on her cell phone or any of her friends or my friends phones. About 2AM I see her pop up on AIM.....that alone was SUCH a relief !!!!!

 

I message her to go to Skype.... she tells me she was at work and is scared...she can’t get a hold of her fiance and doesn't know what to do. She had no idea the scope of this disaster.... I had to tell her about the tsunami.....she was freaked. I call her dad and tell him to go online....Rachelle is fine and on Skype now.

 

An hour later I get her on skype again and she tells me what went down.

 

She was at work at a Vetenary Clinic (she is the most dedicated animal supporter I know....she has been active in ferrel cat programs for years.)

 

The Vet she works for was off picking up his daughter from school when the quake hit. It was just her and a co-worker.....She said minutes before the quake hit....the dogs were barking for no apparent reason......she said the quake hit hard and lasted forever.... things were being thrown off shelves..... refrigerator moved across the room. She said in the heat of the moment she lost all sense of speaking Japanese and told her co-worker “****we gotta get outta here!" She grabbed a dog and ran out the door...... looked back and her co-worker wasn’t behind her......She handed the dog off to somebody who she didn’t know..... and went back in for her co-worker..... her co-worker was trying to get another dog out of a cage so Rachelle got another dog and a Guinea Pig!

 

So as of right now..... I’m very happy, very scared and very proud. My god daughter proved in real tragedy of great enormity that she put herself in harms way to save a friend and a few animals.....

 

Other notes:

 

• Trains were halted. (if you know anything about Tokyo you know that alone is chaos)
• People were packed in the streets going every which way.
• Traffic was jammed.
• Fresh foods were gone in a hurry at stores....she grabbed canned foods.
• She is lucky to have electricity and internet.
• Her fiance said many of his co-workers slept at the office cause they lived to far away to walk.
• Aftershocks were happening while I was on Skype with her.
• She was surprised how calm, orderly and polite people were, she said it was calming for even though she has never been so scared.
• I was going to Japan on the 23rd. 
• It is just now, thanks to you all here on OH that I have really taken the time to write this and process just how real this is.......and I’m afraid it’s not over by a long way.

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

frisco

Big big hugs Frisco, I am tearing up and just want you to know we are thinking of you and everyone affected by this awful tradgedy.

Humans can be a amazing and rise to challenges they never thought possible.  There will be many stories of heros...  you should be so proud of your sweet god daughter.

Take care,

Cindy

So glad you posted this Frisco. Really brings it home on a personal level. And glad your family is fine and hoping the same is true for your business contacts.

Japan is such an intersting country. My father was an engineer and did huge amounts of work there in the 50's and 60's designing roads including the Tokyo-Nagoya freeway. I had a number of those beautiful dolls and other things he brought and have a citation given to him by the Japanese government. Only visited there once and wish I could go again.

I know the US has some navy ships in the area providing assistance.  While Japan is a highly organized "get it done" culture with considerable economic power, the magnitude of this event is off the chart. I have not seen much of anything about making donations for assistance. Are you aware of the Red Cross or any other humanitarian aid organization taking action? Many of us would like to help if we knew who to contact.    Diane