Hanami season is among us! That being said I've already been to two hanami parties. (Hanami literally means "flower watch", so what we do is get together in a park and drink all day.)
My first hanami party was also a goodbye party. The aftermath of the earthquake took its toll on my friend so he decided to move back to America. He was my first friend at my hometown and really went out of his way to show me the ropes and make sure I settled in nicely. He doesn't really speak any Japanese and was quite bothered by the lack of information getting to him regarding black outs, water contamination etc so he decided it would be safer for him to return home. I can see what he means, it's frustrating being here and in a way trying to compete with people to get water and food while everyone around us is panicking and getting information before us. My Japanese is ok but I dont know the words for things like "radiation", "evacuation", and "contamination" hahah. I guess I should try to learn those at some point hey?
At my second hanami party I got to see my friend who lives up in Sendai right by the epicenter for the big earthquake. I cant imagine what it was like up there. He said his building was swaying about four meters back and forth and people were flying across the school into walls. He also said that twelve of his students are missing. It's really amazing the fragility of life, one day you're doing the same thing you always do and the next it's all over. I still cant believe it happened.
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