heart and head

As the news gets worse, we are still moving on day to day. In Kyoto, we are very far from the Fukushima power plants, so in my head, I feel safe. But the more I watch the news, the more I feel sad and scared. In Kyoto we are more likely to be hit by a car (heaven forbid!) than affected by errant radiation--we are far away, and we are West. You can worry about us, but you should also know that we will come home if the embassy feels we are unsafe.

Even if it weren't for the power plants, the news from Tohoku gets worse and worse. People in Kyoto are walking around, going to the supermarket, pretending to work. Plum blossoms are out. School is on. But we are all sad and distracted.

Alek decided to gather together some clothes that are too small. He will take them to school for a collection they are planning.

Not only that, he folded them all himself. Which one makes me more proud?

Lucky Lucky

Thanks, everybody, for writing us emails to be sure we are okay. We are all fine (at least, the five of us!).

I was supposed to be in Sendai tonight....I was on the train, not yet to Tokyo, when the shinkansen stopped. We sat there about 2 hours, and then travelled slowly about 5 more hours.

I am lucky I didn't go to Sendai any earlier.

I am lucky there was one English speaker on the train who could translate everything since I could only understand "jishin" (earthquake) and "Miyagi ken" (my ultimate destination) and "please wait longer, we are very sorry."

I am lucky that my friend V could use the web to get me the last hotel room in Yokohama tonight (thanks, V!).

xoxo

Getting ready for you-know-what over there...

This morning at 5:00 I wasn't quite asleep...I felt a truck go by, or a thunderclap, but not. The last time I felt that sensation was in Tokyo with my friend Nariko....we were in a coffee shop when I thought a very large train passed underground.

Anyway, in the middle of work today I remembered to check my hunch: And yep: I was right!