The city was in limbo today. I had to go by my office to pick up something and took Kuri with me so we could grab lunch nearby. It's in Roppongi, which as I mentioned in an earlier post is a really popular weekend place. The place was deserted, even moreso than on a weekday. I guess that people apprpriately stayed away from "happy" places out of respect for what had just happened.
Not too much happened after my update last night. I just hung around the office with a bunch of guys and headed home right after Kuri contacted me. It's three trains to get home and the second one was absolutely packed. Trains were running every 20 minutes and there was an hours-long lineup. Had to walk ahead one station to bypass the line. Got home around 2:00am (which is better than Kuri's dad, who actually did sleep at the office at got back at 9:00am).
I'll say this about last night: Tokyo certainly does take an orderly approach to disaster management, at least in the places Kuri and I witnessed. Everything flowed so mechanically, much like it does the most of the rest of the time. People lined up for food, even when it was running out, and took their place waiting for a train that they probably wouldn't get to board for hours. Remember those hardhats I was talking about? Turns out that those are company-issued. You just put on your helmut and find everyone else wearing the same one. Even Kuriko got one.
Things are still looking a bit bleak. For the last day there has been a radiation leak at a nuclear power plant and there are minor earthquakes expected for the next while. I would say the mood is predominantly sad with a bit of paranoia. The local supermarket was pretty much stripped bare, especially of water. Kuri's mother told her and me to stock up on instant foods. But that's just my corner of Tokyo. I'll hear about everyone else's at church tomorrow.
Please keep in prayer everything that is happening here.
3 comments:
Hey Kev,
I'm so relieved to hear you and Kuri and the family are all safe and in one piece. I was kinda confused at first coz when I woke up yesterday I checked your blog before I checked the news. Didn't really hit me until I got to school how sketchy the whole situation is.
Things must look pretty bad over there. Sendai ... well Sendai looks like it will take a loooong time to be rebuilt. Hopefully the rest of the country is doing better.
I'm somehow not surprised that even amidst the danger and urgency of such a disaster that the Japanese are so orderly. I'm almost positive that given the same situation here there would be chaos and trampling and shoving.... line ups? what are line ups? People wouldn't buy food... they would probably just take it...
Anyhoo, how is everyone? I hope everyone is coping ok and that you have the supplies you need for the next while. Of course you will all be in my prayers, and if you need anything from this end all you have to do is ask. Again, really happy to hear you are all safe and well.
Much Love,
Liz
Dude, I'm so glad that you are both safe. I can't imagine what it would be like over there. The CBC paints a pretty grim picture of the situation so I hope its not that bad where you are.
I'm also very impressed that everyone over there is handling the situation and themselves so well. I wonder if Vancouverites will handle themselves as well as the Japanese when the big one comes here.
Well keep safe. We are all praying for you over here.
Kevin and Kuri,
Our prayers and thoughts are with you during this challenging and difficult time. We are really glad to see your blog. It was a shock seeing what was going on in Japan on the tv. The orderly lineups are a strong indicationi of resiliency of the people there. Take care and we will check your blog to see how it is going. Pat and Steve
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