I am so worried about Japan. I remember middle-of-the-night earthquake drills when I lived in Shizuoka. I would hear loud, garbled Japanese over loudspeakers, and hear my neighbors move around and leave their apartments. I had no idea what to do, so just got dressed and stayed in my apartment hoping for the best. I also visited northern Japan, so when I watch the news, I am seeing places I have walked. I was in Sendai for the Tanabata festival, walking block after block of streets below beautiful hand-made circular banners . . .
And now, the Fukushima power plants have exploded. I barely know what this will mean for Japan and the world.
The Japanese would say
shikata-ga nai (it can't be helped). All I can do is go on living my life while my thoughts keep straying to my friends in peril and the country I came to regard as my second home.