"You have to work hard to offend Christians. By nature, Christians are the most forgiving, understanding, and thoughtful group of people I've ever dealt with. They never assume the worst. They appreciate the importance of having different perspectives. They're slow to anger, quick to forgive, and almost never make rash judgments or act in anything less than a spirit of total love . . . No, wait--I'm thinking of Labrador retrievers!" David Learn, 1998

Friday, March 18, 2011

Disaster updates by bloggers living in Japan


1. I'm not sure where Bryn is in Japan, even though it's "the airlift hub for the entire Pacific Air Force," but on March 15 she wrote on Queen B:


And then....

...what?  I don't even know where to begin.  The devastation being revealed in the aftermath of the quake and tsunami literally gets worse every.single.day.  It's so horrific, absolutely gut wrenching.  My heart breaks for Japan and her people, all those who've lost, or been lost.

Recovery efforts are in full swing, and I'm overjoyed to be playing a part.  I posted about the commercial planes that were diverted to our tiny air strip after the quake on Friday.  Two of the 11 planes ended up staying over night, which meant food and accommodations needed to be provided for the 630 passengers and crew.  I'm a Red Cross volunteer here and we were activated to set up the community center, process passengers and distribute meals.  It was a busy night, but it was good.  The RC volunteers were activated again Saturday evening to clean and stock one of the apartment buildings on base to house the relief teams that would be coming.  Another busy day.

On Saturday it quickly became clear that our base, because it's the airlift hub for the entire Pacific Air Force, would also become the hub for relief activity.  Relief workers and supplies process through our base on their way to Tohoku.  That means immigration/customs, food, accommodations, transportation, even vet/kennel support for relief workers (and search & rescue dogs!)  I work in the Logistics squadron, which, as it sounds, is responsible for all the logistical coordination of the disaster and relief personnel and supplies.  Plane loads of people and supplies started arriving on Saturday, so we've gone to 24/7 operations.  I worked a 12-hour shift on Sunday, 10 on Monday and again today.  I'm exhausted, but it's a good exhaustion.  It helps to know that, in some tiny way, I'm helping.

2. On Gaijin Housewife in Japan:

Earthquake experience and  Earthquake experience, Part 2  (#3 should be posted by the time I post this.)  Jayne lives in Japan with her Japanese husband "and am a housewife and recently have gotten back into English teaching. This blog is an opportunity for me to pass on the latest things that are going on in Japan and stop myself from going crazy!"

3. On Hyotenka: Life in small town Hokkaido:

Day 6
Vicky is English, living in Hokkaido (the northernmost island of Japan) "with my Japanese husband and two children. We live in a small town and run an English school for children and ladies. I have lived here for nineteen years now, and I love my life here." HERO: Vicky's husband Seiju has joined a search and rescue team in Iwate.

4. On Okaasan and me:

Tired 
This (nameless?) British woman also lives in Hokkaido "with a Japanese guy...and then... in December 2008 his mother came to live with us. She is a physically active woman - but with early/mid stage dementia. This is a blog about that experience. It's a sharing of the problems and issues. It's a place for me to vent. . . Our twist on this is that daughter-in-law is non-Japanese and has enjoyed years of non-sacrificing Western-life selfishness. I am NOT the typical Japanese daughter-in-law - beloved by TV dramas - apron-wearing, houseproud and endlessly caring. I'm a spiky, selfish foreigner. Away from home I am an English teacher, travel writer and chocaholic. I have the permanent resident visa and my own small business."

5. On Japan:

Aftershocks
Cecilia is a history teacher in Tokyo. This was the list she posted of yesterday's--just yesterday's--aftershocks!


Issued atOccurred atRegion NameMagnitudeMaximum Seismic Intensity
(JMA Seismic Intensity)
22:04 JST 17 Mar 201121:55 JST 17 Mar 2011Ibaraki-ken OkiM5.84
21:58 JST 17 Mar 201121:55 JST 17 Mar 2011Ibaraki-ken OkiM5.84
21:41 JST 17 Mar 201121:36 JST 17 Mar 2011Fukushima-ken OkiM4.93
21:39 JST 17 Mar 201121:32 JST 17 Mar 2011Chiba-ken Toho-okiM5.84
21:36 JST 17 Mar 201121:32 JST 17 Mar 2011Chiba-ken Toho-okiM5.84
21:07 JST 17 Mar 201121:02 JST 17 Mar 2011Niijima-Kozushima KinkaiM2.81
21:02 JST 17 Mar 201120:57 JST 17 Mar 2011Niigata-ken Chuetsu-chihoM2.11
20:52 JST 17 Mar 201120:48 JST 17 Mar 2011Fukushima-ken OkiM4.43
20:47 JST 17 Mar 201120:41 JST 17 Mar 2011Niigata-ken Chuetsu-chihoM2.51
19:23 JST 17 Mar 201119:18 JST 17 Mar 2011Shizuoka-ken TobuM2.81
18:49 JST 17 Mar 201118:44 JST 17 Mar 2011Tochigi-ken HokubuM3.42
18:11 JST 17 Mar 201118:06 JST 17 Mar 2011Iwate-ken OkiM4.93
18:04 JST 17 Mar 201117:59 JST 17 Mar 2011Iwate-ken OkiM5.13
17:30 JST 17 Mar 201117:25 JST 17 Mar 2011Ibaraki-ken OkiM5.43
16:31 JST 17 Mar 201116:28 JST 17 Mar 2011Shizuoka-ken TobuM2.21
16:01 JST 17 Mar 201115:58 JST 17 Mar 2011Nagano-ken ChubuM3.01
15:05 JST 17 Mar 201115:01 JST 17 Mar 2011Hyogo-ken NantobuM1.91
14:35 JST 17 Mar 201114:32 JST 17 Mar 2011Nagano-ken HokubuM2.51
14:27 JST 17 Mar 201114:24 JST 17 Mar 2011Akita-ken OkiM4.52
14:02 JST 17 Mar 201113:59 JST 17 Mar 2011Tokyo-wanM3.01
13:23 JST 17 Mar 201113:14 JST 17 Mar 2011Iwate-ken OkiM5.84
13:17 JST 17 Mar 201113:14 JST 17 Mar 2011Iwate-ken OkiM5.84
13:14 JST 17 Mar 201113:10 JST 17 Mar 2011Tokyo-wanM3.32
13:08 JST 17 Mar 201113:05 JST 17 Mar 2011Tokyo-wanM2.71
12:04 JST 17 Mar 201112:01 JST 17 Mar 2011Nagano-ken HokubuM2.82
12:03 JST 17 Mar 201111:59 JST 17 Mar 2011Niigata-ken Chuetsu-chihoM2.72
11:32 JST 17 Mar 201111:29 JST 17 Mar 2011Fukushima-ken NakadoriM3.22
11:15 JST 17 Mar 201111:12 JST 17 Mar 2011Niigata-ken Chuetsu-chihoM2.21
08:43 JST 17 Mar 201108:38 JST 17 Mar 2011Iwate-ken OkiM5.63
08:16 JST 17 Mar 201108:11 JST 17 Mar 2011Nagano-ken HokubuM3.13
07:53 JST 17 Mar 201107:49 JST 17 Mar 2011Aomori-ken Toho-okiM3.31
07:10 JST 17 Mar 201107:05 JST 17 Mar 2011Ibaraki-ken OkiM4.63
06:20 JST 17 Mar 201106:16 JST 17 Mar 2011Fukushima-ken HamadoriM3.83
06:18 JST 17 Mar 201106:14 JST 17 Mar 2011Nagano-ken HokubuM2.01
05:34 JST 17 Mar 201105:31 JST 17 Mar 2011Oshima-chiho SeibuM2.12
05:30 JST 17 Mar 201105:25 JST 17 Mar 2011Niigata-ken Chuetsu-chihoM2.01
04:04 JST 17 Mar 201104:00 JST 17 Mar 2011Fukushima-ken OkiM4.53
04:01 JST 17 Mar 201103:56 JST 17 Mar 2011Fukushima-ken HamadoriM4.43
01:01 JST 17 Mar 201100:57 JST 17 Mar 2011Nagano-ken HokubuM2.21
00:48 JST 17 Mar 201100:45 JST 17 Mar 2011Nagano-ken ChubuM2.51
00:33 JST 17 Mar 201100:29 JST 17 Mar 2011Nagano-ken ChubuM2.52
Posted by Cecilia at Thursday, March 17, 2011


These bloggers and several others I follow all belong to AFWJ, which apparently is an organization of foreign women married to Japanese men. Each one mentions preparing and sending care packages to families they know in the affected area. So apparently mail is going through.  One noted that the post office didn't even weigh her package. She assumes the P.O. is charging everyone just the basic price.

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