Japan
Wow, I can't believe it's been more than 2 months since I last posted here... between work and other rl stuff, I just haven't had the time. Anyway, all that's really for another post, another time.
I'm sure pretty much everyone's heard about the devastating earthquake that hit Japan. What I'm not sure that people know (because I can never remember what I tell to whom anymore) is that my sister is currently studying over there. She left right before New Year's, and it's for 9 months, and it's been kind of weird, but we're calling her every week and she's keeping us up to date via Facebook. Anyway, she luckily was not near where the earthquake hit, but it was pretty scary all the same-- my dad just happened to be checking the weather that morning, and instead there was a Breaking News item talking about the disaster. As soon as they said where it had taken place, we knew that she was probably okay, but I still hurried to check if she'd posted anything on FB. She did, which was a relief, and we managed to get a hold of her that evening (the phones were out there for most of the day, I think). She's fine, like I said, not very close, but she said that they still did feel some smaller quakes/aftershocks, well into the night (she kept getting woken up). It took her two hours to get back to her dorm because the trains and stuff weren't running, and before that, they ended up kinda stranded at the school for a bit, to be safe I guess. According to her, the only thing damaged in her apartment was a salt shaker.
We're incredibly thankful for that, as it could have been much, much worse. My heart goes out to all those who are affected, or who know someone who was, or who have friends/family there, even if they too were not close to where it happened-- it doesn't really make it that less scary, or that much easier to hear about/see on tv.
If you'd like to/are able to help by making a donation, you can go to http://www.redcross.ca or http://www.redcross.org (for those outside of Canada).
I'm sure pretty much everyone's heard about the devastating earthquake that hit Japan. What I'm not sure that people know (because I can never remember what I tell to whom anymore) is that my sister is currently studying over there. She left right before New Year's, and it's for 9 months, and it's been kind of weird, but we're calling her every week and she's keeping us up to date via Facebook. Anyway, she luckily was not near where the earthquake hit, but it was pretty scary all the same-- my dad just happened to be checking the weather that morning, and instead there was a Breaking News item talking about the disaster. As soon as they said where it had taken place, we knew that she was probably okay, but I still hurried to check if she'd posted anything on FB. She did, which was a relief, and we managed to get a hold of her that evening (the phones were out there for most of the day, I think). She's fine, like I said, not very close, but she said that they still did feel some smaller quakes/aftershocks, well into the night (she kept getting woken up). It took her two hours to get back to her dorm because the trains and stuff weren't running, and before that, they ended up kinda stranded at the school for a bit, to be safe I guess. According to her, the only thing damaged in her apartment was a salt shaker.
We're incredibly thankful for that, as it could have been much, much worse. My heart goes out to all those who are affected, or who know someone who was, or who have friends/family there, even if they too were not close to where it happened-- it doesn't really make it that less scary, or that much easier to hear about/see on tv.
If you'd like to/are able to help by making a donation, you can go to http://www.redcross.ca or http://www.redcross.org (for those outside of Canada).