Update
I suppose I should post an update just to let you all know that yes, I'm still okay. It's been a really intense weekend- on Friday it felt like the ground never stopped shaking. Though the aftershocks have mostly tapered off, we had one about an hour ago that caused a fire a few blocks away (presumably in a factory- I assume it's under control because I can't see smoke anymore). I'm also some 200 kilometers from the reactors that are in trouble, and the wind has been largely blowing out to sea.
At this point, I (like pretty much everyone) am mostly just struggling to find ways to help. I went with a group of friends to give blood yesterday, which I definitely recommend if you're in Japan, though you should make sure that at least one of you has really good Japanese; they've been so busy that they're turning people away for not being able to get through the procedures without help. It's annoying, though, because Japanese regulations are really strict on how often you can give- twice a year for women and three times a year for men. This was my first time donating, but it feels like the simplest, most effective thing to do, you know? (On a side note, I now know my blood type: AB! They did a test that took literally two seconds. The nurse had two kinds of solution in tiny containers, like what people use for their contact lenses, dropped some of my blood in each, stirred it up and announced my blood type. WHY DID I NOT KNOW THIS BEFORE IF IT WAS SO EASY? Also, they gave us lots of free stuff for donating. *forever regrets choosing ice cream over gloves*)
GunmaJET is attempting to organize a trip or two to help clean-up once the immediate rescue efforts and so on have calmed down, and our PA also mentioned that they need clothing, so I'm trying to work out what I can send. Probably a lot of stuff that I would have had to get rid of when I left in August anyway. I've also put my house up for Fukushima JETs to stay in as they evacuate, though I'm not really near a train station so we'll see how that goes.
We're all paying pretty close attention to the news and keeping tabs on each other, which has been a pretty big comfort. I spent most of Saturday over at the H's house, where we played Munchkin and watched the news. School is still on, though they're scheduling rolling blackouts in order to divert power to places that currently don't have power stations. I'll try to keep you guys posted!
At this point, I (like pretty much everyone) am mostly just struggling to find ways to help. I went with a group of friends to give blood yesterday, which I definitely recommend if you're in Japan, though you should make sure that at least one of you has really good Japanese; they've been so busy that they're turning people away for not being able to get through the procedures without help. It's annoying, though, because Japanese regulations are really strict on how often you can give- twice a year for women and three times a year for men. This was my first time donating, but it feels like the simplest, most effective thing to do, you know? (On a side note, I now know my blood type: AB! They did a test that took literally two seconds. The nurse had two kinds of solution in tiny containers, like what people use for their contact lenses, dropped some of my blood in each, stirred it up and announced my blood type. WHY DID I NOT KNOW THIS BEFORE IF IT WAS SO EASY? Also, they gave us lots of free stuff for donating. *forever regrets choosing ice cream over gloves*)
GunmaJET is attempting to organize a trip or two to help clean-up once the immediate rescue efforts and so on have calmed down, and our PA also mentioned that they need clothing, so I'm trying to work out what I can send. Probably a lot of stuff that I would have had to get rid of when I left in August anyway. I've also put my house up for Fukushima JETs to stay in as they evacuate, though I'm not really near a train station so we'll see how that goes.
We're all paying pretty close attention to the news and keeping tabs on each other, which has been a pretty big comfort. I spent most of Saturday over at the H's house, where we played Munchkin and watched the news. School is still on, though they're scheduling rolling blackouts in order to divert power to places that currently don't have power stations. I'll try to keep you guys posted!