Arise Therefore (Dont remember where I picked that one up)

So I made it back to Osaka and then Tokyo safely without major incidents.

I must say my flight to Osaka was a lot more pleasant than my flight from Osaka.

On my way into Seattle I was sandwiched between an overly talkative middle aged Japanese woman on one side and an American man who would not stop talking about plane crashes and radiation poisoning. How lovely. While on one hand I was able to practice some Japanese but it was rather frustrating trying to get to sleep when all she would do it tap me and show me origami and ask me to fold her some. The only one I know how to fold is a paper crane so I taught her how to do that. The American man was fleeing the country with no intentions of returning and was telling me that we were all going to get leukemia. He was from Nagoya which is (I think) roughly 600km away from the Daiichi plant. Needless to say I was happy to get off that plane.

On my way to Osaka I was pleasantly surprised with a seat in Economy Plus right beside the emergency exit, the bathrooms and a chatty but interesting British man who lives in Kyoto. He and I managed to talk for the entire eleven hour flight while getting slightly pissed. As luck would have it the flight attendant missed us with drinks during the first service and felt so bad she was smuggling in things from first class for us and giving us extra drinks. All in all... one of the better flights I've been on.

I arrived in Osaka and was able to get out of the airport very quickly... through customs, immigration and baggage claim in under an hour! I hopped on a bus headed towards my hotel and managed to find it without incident. After that I went out for dinner with one of my new Osaka buddies, we went to two restaurants - one was kushikatsu (like kushiage - meat and veggies on skewers) and the other was Okinawan food (a lot of goya and tofu) both were delicious! After that I was exhausted so I called it a night and went to my hotel and crashed.

The next day (Saturday) one of my Osaka buddies and I went to Kyoto because we plain old had nothing better to do. It was really great for me because I had never been there before and had a tour guide to show me his favourite places. We didn't end up staying too long as I wanted to get back to Tokyo that evening. I saw some temples and wandered around Gion where I was able to catch a glimpse of a couple geisha/maiko (I dont know which one they were) so I can cross that off my list of things to do in Japan.

I bought my shinkansen ticket and boarded the train only to find that I was on the really slow one when I had paid for the fastest train... how nice. I ended up transferring to a faster train half way and arrived about a half hour later than planned.

It was eerie arriving in Tokyo. I couldn't even tell we were approaching Tokyo because it was dark out and the majority of the lights in the city were out. As I walked through Tokyo station the atmosphere was subdued and cold. The heaters on the train seem to be out and almost half the lights in the stations and in the city are also out. It left me feeling pretty uneasy. That night I had a terrifying nightmare about trying to escape radiation by scrambling to find a fall out shelter where I live. It was a mass exodus of people trying to out run an invisible poison. Of all the dreams to remember...

I have started work again. My students and most of my coworkers are happy to see me. My one twat of a coworker is griping and moaning about how I left and what a martyr he is for having stayed.

In the end the trip home was really good for me. It made me realise I want to stay in Japan as long as possible. I guess while I was gone I had been glorifying Vancouver and how great it is. While it is great because my parents live there and the food and views are phenomenal, my home is Japan for now.

Starvations - Kid's clothes store in Nanba, Osaka

So for the past week or so I have been observing the Japanese nuclear situation from afar at my parent's house.
The trek back home was a long adventure. Kansai airport was really busy with all the departures, but all in all it wasn't too unpleasant. I had to fly from Osaka to Seattle and then to Vancouver with a six hour layover in Seattle. I had an interesting time waiting around Sea-Tac airport and had a "Talking to Americans" moment with the gentleman sitting next to me. He asked where I was flying so I reply "Vancouver" and he asks "so that's what... a four or five hour flight?", I give him a dead pan stare "What?! No, it's 35 minutes."... his response? "I was always under the impression that Vancouver was directly above New York."
Excellent.
The week home has been relatively uneventful. It was good to catch up with some old friends, see the family (of course) and eat some delicious Canadian cuisine. It's funny how different everything looks, everything is so green and trees are everywhere, not to mention the mountains and ocean. Needless to say I was taking a lot of pictures. It was amazing how hard it is to tune out people speaking when they are speaking in English!
I'm on my way back to Osaka tomorrow morning bright and early. I know a lot of people are concerned for my health but after staying as updated as possible about the situation and a deal of consideration I've decided to return home to Japan. I wouldn't feel right staying in Vancouver much longer. I'm going to spend a day or two in Osaka and see how things are going up in Tokyo before I return. I'm really looking forward to seeing my adopted family in Japan. :)

The Waiting Game

Wow. So unless you've been hiding under a rock somewhere you have probably heard about the big earthquake that hit Japan on Friday. Dont worry, I'm safe and sound.
The earthquake hit about 200km north of where I am so there wasn't a lot of damage here. The quake itself was the strongest I've ever experienced and our building shook for a good two hours because of all the aftershocks. The quake hit at about quarter to three in the afternoon and immediately after all the trains stopped running. We spent most of the evening wandering around near our school expecting the trains to start back up again. A lot of people were stranded all over Tokyo and the line ups for taxis and payphones were huge. A student of mine said he walked for six hours to get home on Friday night.
The atmosphere here is really strange to say the least but I guess that can be expected. Everyone is kind of panicking and buying as much food, water and candles as they can get their hands on. Most stores have run out of bread and water... of course I do not have any water haha.
So today Tokyo has scheduled rolling black outs for each area... we were told 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. but the lights did not go out and again at 12:20p.m. to 4 p.m.... the lights are still working. We're wondering if it's all a hoax. It would be nice if the company I worked for would contact me and let me know what is going on. My coworker and I were saying this feels a bit like pergatory or limbo. There have been quite a few announcements over loud speakers today but I can't understand them so hopefully it wasn't anything too urgent. I've spent the whole weekend staying very close to home and just waiting to hear some news or for something to happen. I'm not quite sure what I'm waiting for but a lot of people have said there is a large chance of another big earthquake to hit within the next few days. There was a relatively large one in Ibaraki this morning which woke me up.
I've heard through some friends that a lot of foreigners have decided to just leave Japan all together and go back home. I cant say I really intend to do that, either way I've heard that the airports aren't operating so everyone who's flocked to the airports are just sitting there waiting.