I checked into a hotel and it had a banner saying “Welcome Gonzaga Alumni Association”. Since I am stuck here tonight-wonder if that means I can score free beer.
Here are some more of the S.O.’s thoughts on what is going on in Japan:
Near Tokyo, earthquake cloud was found on 19th. I’ve never seen this cloud but I saw several earthquake clouds on TV when I was in Japan. Scary, everyone, please be careful and stay safe!
The Japanese word is Jishingumo. Link to pictures can be found here. I had never heard of an earthquake cloud.
He should have shown up in front of nation earlier. His tear doen’t solve anything, TOO LATE!
This is in reference to the press conference with the chief of Tokyo Electric Power Company. It is going to come back to hurt them.
Miracle happend! 20’s male was rescued in Kesennuma/Miyagi pref. 8 days (186 hrs) after tsunami. He was found in the blancket inside the destroyed house. Happy News!
The story is here-but I do not have an English link.
Now the world knows new words: Fukushima Daiichi, Sendai, Kesennuma, Kamaishi, etc. My home town Fukushima became SO famous. Is it good? NO! At the western part (mountain side) of Fukushima is so beautiful, lots of pretty lakes, Mt. Bandai, yum rice, fresh fruits though… Where is Utsukushina Fukushima now?
Utsukushina Fukushima means Beautiful Fukushima. The Western part of the prefecture is a beautiful place-with lots of really nice small ryokans (country style inns).
?1 wk passed from the last earthquake, 6,911 death, 380K evacuee, made worst record, worth than Kobe earthquake (’95). Still supplies’re short, 320K blackout, no water supply 450K, no gas (propane). But good news is 2 towns in Iwate will start building temp. housing (300) from 19th!
And the numbers are going to get worse.
A famous Japane author Ryu Murakami’s report about last earthquake. It’s tranlated to English from Japanese. Please read when you have time.
It is worth a read. Here is an excerpt:
And it was then that, without really thinking about it, I adopted my fundamental stance toward this disaster: For the present, at least, I would trust the words of people and organizations with better information and more knowledge of the situation than I. I decided to believe the building wouldn’t fall. And it didn’t.
The Japanese are often said to abide faithfully by the rules of the “group” and to be adept at forming cooperative systems in the face of great adversity. That would be hard to deny today. Valiant rescue and relief efforts continue nonstop, and no looting has been reported.
Away from the eyes of the group, however, we also have a tendency to behave egoistically — almost as if in rebellion. And we are experiencing that too: Necessities like rice and water and bread have disappeared from supermarkets and convenience stores. Gas stations are out of fuel. There is panic buying and hoarding. Loyalty to the group is being tested.
Which gets to what I wrote about earlier. You can’t take Japanese culture and transplant it to America. We can learn lessons from the Nihonjin but thing is-being Japanese is a total package.
Guess I need to head out for dinner-and I guess I will have to root for Gonzaga !