We had just finished graduation, saying goodbye to the students, and sending them on their way home at around noon when the earthquake happened. I was in the teacher's room at my desk when it happened. At first we all just thought it was another earthquake, because there had been a minor one earlier in the week when I was at Elementary school. But the shaking became violent and, even more than the glass and concrete falling from the building, the faces of my fellow teachers were enough to convince me that this was anything but just another earthquake. I did fear for my life at that point, and it was definitely the scariest thing I have ever experienced.
The only students left at school were some volleyball players, who we found outside in the parking lot crying. Once outside, the earth continued to shake and we could see that the pavement had cracked open.
I made my way down to Furukawa to meet up with my friends after the earthquake. Still not realizing how big of a deal this thing was, I was surprised to see traffic was so bad and even more surprised when I started getting messages from my brother saying he had heard about the earthquake.
Once I met with my friends we began getting a little more information at a time, and we realized how serious the situation was. At this point we had no power and the earth was still shaking regularly.
Needless to say the circumstances became very serious and food was hard to come by. It was snowing and very cold so we ended up staying in a shelter for one night. There were so many displaced people and so many children. The next day we walked around Furukawa and got a first hand glimpse at the destruction of the Earthquake in this small city.
This McDonalds was deserted, people leaving their meals on the tables and running outside after the Earthquake.
This is a line for a grocery store. This is about one fourth of the line.
This was a line for some basic food items like milk, water, and cereal.
At the shelter.
We made our way to Naruko, where Will and I live and we kept the milk and yogurt cold using the snow!
We stayed in Naruko for a while. We got electricity back and were able to shower and use the hot spring there. We stayed for about three days. Two of which we did not leave the building. We ate only rice. I didn't think I was going to make it if I had to stay cooped inside the room for much longer. We did get a visit from two US Embassy workers who were trying to find 50 missing Americans in the area. They were happy to find the four of us safe and in one place. This was before the nuclear plant became a big issue and we decided to get on the other side of the disaster, so we could get off the island if we had to.
We were able to find a little gas, although they were rationing and only allowed us to get 10 Liters. I paid my rent and moved my things out of my room and said goodbye to the place I had spent my year. It was sad to leave that way, but necessary. We made it to Shinjo and decided to go on to Tsuruoka since we had enough gas. Trains were working in Tsuruoka, and we met up with some friends who took us in for the night. We really owe these friends, they were absolutely the coolest and most helpful people I have ever met. They did everything from taking us out to eat, singing to us, giving us a place to sleep, to making breakfast for us. We had met some of them before during the spring in Yonezawa at a samurai festival. The next day they sent us on our way and we rode a train to Niigata, where we parted with Nicole because she was going to stay with a friend down south. Tyler, Will, and I headed on to Tokyo.
After surviving on rice, snacks and water for a week, this was our first "real" meal when we made it to a town that was semi-unaffected by the disaster. So much food!
I am so relieved to be safe, but my heart goes out to the thousands and counting that have lost their lives in this disaster. Also to the people who have lost their homes and loved ones. Japan is an amazing place and if anyone can overcome something like this, it is the Japanese people. They are the strongest willed, hardest working people I have ever met.
