But then something pretty noteworthy happened. As I'm sure you're all well aware, a massive earthquake struck Japan Friday afternoon. The quake hit 80 miles off the coast of Sendai (which is north of Tokyo) and is the largest quake in Japan's recorded history, and the 7th largest in the world. It was an 8.9 on the richter scale, and caused massive tsunamis to hit the coast in certain areas. Sendai was absolutely smashed - the footage of the destruction is overwhelming and heartbreaking.
I was on the train to Narita Airport to pick up my mother when the quake occurred. It came out of nowhere - we were about 5 minutes from the airport when suddenly the train came to a dead stop, and then began to violently sway side to side. It didn't help that we were stopped on a raised platform - for a time I genuinely thought the entire train was going to fall right off the tracks. After about two or three minutes the quake ended - but the aftershocks were frequent and very noticeable.
This was my view for 16.5 hours. I was supposed to arrive at Narita around 3:00 PM, but I ended up staying the night on the train and finally got to the airport around 7:00 AM the following day. My mother, meanwhile, had landed twenty minutes before the quake hit - she was going through customs when the tremors occurred.
Of course, because Murphy's Law holds true in every critical moment of my life, the one time when I needed my phone to work the most it decided to die on me. I could receive messages but was unable to send replies out - so for the majority of the night I sat and desperately tried to relay messages to everyone I knew. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers - the few American travelers on my train let me borrow their Blackberries and iPhones to send out messages.
I want to thank everyone who sent me an email, text, FB message, post, etc - it was overwhelming and humbling to see how many people were concerned for my safety, and that's something that I will never, ever forget. And even if I wasn't able to reply to you specifically, I can tell you that I genuinely appreciated your support and kind thoughts, and they did not go unnoticed.
I also want to thank all the people at the airport who banded around my bewildered mother during her stay at Narita. I felt horrible that I couldn't contact her right away to let her know that I was safe - I would never intentionally put her through that kind of stress and panic, but these were extraordinary circumstances. But it's moments like these that bring out the best in people, and the group who kept my mother sane and tried everything they could to contact me (with eventual success!) were INDISPENSABLE. I'm so glad to have met them.
So, long story short, by 7:00 AM I was reunited with my mom, and by 10:00 AM we were able to board a train back into Tokyo. It took us about three hours to get back, but we made it with few hiccups. Bone tired does not do justice to how we all felt. It was exhaustion down to the very fibers of our being.
I was relieved to find that all of my good friends were safe and sound when I returned to the dorm - everyone was rattled, but we were in this together, so it helped. Now we're in the process of trying to restore some kind of normalcy - today I took my mother to the Meiji Shrine in Harajuku, and we had a very pleasant time:
The weather was beautiful for walking around, and we got to see a traditional Japanese wedding procession, which was lovely. I'm really hoping we can salvage the rest of this visit for my mother, since I really do love Japan - I hate that the earthquake was her introduction to this amazing place.
As for the aforementioned return to normalcy, I literally just learned that my school has canceled classes due to possible rolling blackouts - the Japanese government is recommending that everyone lay low and stay in their homes. This quake sure is making things difficult. However, the important thing is that we're all safe and together. If you're reading this Stateside, please take all the news you see with a grain of salt - they tend to make things sound WAY worse than they actually are, and nine times out of ten any horrible destruction footage they show is from Sendai or other parts up north, AWAY from Tokyo. And as for nuclear meltdowns... well, that isn't something worth worrying about for us right now. Please keep your thoughts and prayers with the people from Sendai - they need all the help they can get up there. If you get a chance to donate for aid, please take it.
That's all for now. Again, thank you all for everything. I'll try to update here again when I can - still, Facebook and email are the best ways to reach me quickly, and for the best new info concerning what's going on over here.
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