The Quake: March 11th, 2011

Well, it's now day 4 after The Quake, the earthquake that I am sure will be remembered and talked about a long time from now. It was 2:46 on Friday afternoon, when I had 15 students under the age of 6, settled on the carpet with their jackets and backpacks ready to go home for the weekend. We were singing "See you, see you, see you again, it's time to say goodbye to our friends...", our usual afternoon song. I was having a particularly difficult time getting a 3 year old to go o the toilet before she got on the school bus, so escorted her into the toilet. Then it hit. I grabbed the little girl and ran back into the classroom, where thankfully, Hiromi, my coworker was telling the children "Earthquake", and getting them to duck and cover in our safety zone of the classroom. Luckily, this is something we have practised on numerous occasions and the children have been well prepared. They did amazing!!!!!! Just as it started to ease, it started up again. It was the biggest and longest earthquake I have ever felt. The piano rocked back and forth, almost falling down. I pushed some little bottoms further into the centre of the room. I was scared. Scared for the safety of the children in my care, scared of the unknown. Where was the epicentre, how were others being affected? But luckily, us humans are pretty amazing, and after the split second of fear, the adrenaline took over once again. I continued to talk to the children, telling them it was almost over, that they were ok, they were safe, that we were right there, and what an amazing job they were doing. A couple of little heads popped up, and my body went over them to keep them down. WE were safe. Our building is a solid wood log house and withstood the quake.

There was a brief interim where we judged it safe to get out. The emergency exit was right by us, and Hiromi had already jumped up during the shaking to open it, preventing us being trapped inside. We evacuated onto the field, and the tears begun. Then so did the aftershocks. There have now been over 200, in less than 5 days. Sitting out on the field with the primary grades and teachers, as well as parents who'd already arrived to pick them up, we could feel the field moving side to side. We were out of harms way, but it was BIG.

The madness began, mass emailing parents from my phone to assure them all that the students were safe and evacuated at school. What do we do about school buses. Are the trains running. Where was the epicentre and what's the damage like. One quick thinking colleague jumped in the car and went to a convenience store and bought bottles of water, tea, food items and candy. As the sun began to go down, about half of our parents had arrived, and we asked them to please leave with their children. The others, we handed out water and candy to, and moved them into the school buses for warmth and shelter. Eventually, when the aftershocks had settled a little, we moved students into my classroom (the preschool), and started feeding them. Parents trickled in to get their children and left quickly.

The remaining students, many who were in the same situation as me, unable to get the train home, retreated into our principals home which is on the premises. He made a nice big pot of curry and rice, and we handed it out and settled them in front of the big TV. For many of the children, it was like a big slumber party, and it wasn't until a few hours later they began asking questions, and if we'd heard from their families. Some we hadn't.

The aftershocks continued, and we began making beds, and everyone went down around midnight. Luckily, my 3 year old Sri Lankan twins' mum, had befriended a total stranger with her baby close to Tokyo after being stuck on the train, and had them drive her all the way up to our school to collect her children just when I was trying to get them to bed, after 11. It must've taken hours. I just thought, only in Japan would this happen.

I shared some futons on the floor of a small room with 2 other teachers, but with aftershocks every few minutes, it was impossible to sleep. We were constantly rolling under the table and holding on, and getting up to check on children. Earthquake warnings on cell phones were going off all night.

Around 6am, I finally received contact from Daisuke, my partner who had been working in Tokyo. I knew he'd be safe, but one message the previous afternoon with a 'yes' to me asking where he was and if he was OK, and another telling me he was driving home in a work car, were not reassuring. He'd managed to get out of Tokyo on one of the first running trains Saturday morning, followed by a long and expensive taxi ride. He then drove another 3 hours north having been awake for close to 30 hours, to get me and take me home. It turns out he had sent me a whole lot more messages, but they didn't come through until later. My phone told me I had tried to call him 99 times since the quake hit.

The epicentre of the quake was perhaps 300kms northeast of my school, so really, we were lucky. Apart from a lot of mess at school, damaged roofs in the area, some people without power and water, and splits in the road, the area was not too bad. I say this having driven through a niigatta earthquake back in 2007 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Ch%C5%ABetsu_offshore_earthquake) and seeing power polls collapse around me, roads split, houses collapsed, with my dear friend Jimmy after a weekend away. I also say this seeing the devastation and talk of towns that I was in everyday for 4 years, on the news, being evacuated, with 1000's missing and homes swept away in the tsunami. Fukushima and the even worse hit Sendai, will never be the same.

200 aftershocks in 5 days, never thought I'd consider that normal.

I am incredibly lucky. I have running water, electricity, gas, and my life. I can still go to the supermarket and buy supplies. I have also heard from all of my good friends that were in the affected region now, and am incredibly grateful that they are all safe. I wonder about my ex-students, and their families, other teachers I worked alongside in my 4 years up there. I hope that they are all safe. Nonetheless, given the size of this disaster, it seems a miracle that there are not even more people unaccounted for. I continue to think about those who are waiting...

Many of my friends and family at home in Australia are extremely worried about my well being. It's hard to reassure them that my life is actually relatively normal right now, and that I am not in danger. It's quite surreal.

The nuclear situation did have me on edge a little today, and I have remained indoors with air vents and windows closed. It seems that while radiation levels in the air did exceed normal levels today, they are back down again. They do not seem at a level that is dangerous to humans, not where I am. Nonetheless, I am taking appropriate precautions. I will wait it out.

It is sad time for Japan. It's dark, and there are so many unknowns. It could take Japan a very long time to recover. They are a country who can handle this struggle though. They are strong, supportive, brave, dedicated, patient, and fighters. They are in there risking their lives to help people and contain the nuclear situation, they are picking up my garbage and delivering my mail in attempt to have some normality in peoples lives, they are not overstocking on everything in the supermarket, just doing modest, daily shops where supplies are available. This is my second home, and Fukushima is a place very close to my heart. It's not time for me to leave just yet.

On a side note, I am happy to be having 5 Fukushima refugees on their way to my apartment. It makes me happy that I can be of help in some small way.

Thank you to everrybody for their emails, thoughts and well wishes. For now, I need us all to focus on what is happening to those further north and how we can help them.

Anyhow, quite a ramble, but if this didn't get my butt into updating my blog, what would. I am not ready to post any kind of pictures of the areas close to my heart that have been destroyed. I find them too confronting and devastating to share. I need time.

Love,
Skye.

People stand around in a usually very busy business district of Tokyo, watching updates of the nuclear situation in Fukushima, as events began to emerge in the week after the Quake.