March 14, 2011

Tsunami, Japan, and the one thing

tsunami_items
Computer. Snacks. Journals. Pictures. Surfboards. Check! As many of you know I live on the island of Oahu and like everyone else living in middle of the pacific ocean I had a crazy Thursday night. Initially we were concerned for the people in Japan but not worried for ourselves at all. As the night wore on and more and more footage was being played on the news of the disaster in Japan we realized we could be in very real danger. We ended up packing up our essentials (the five things listed above) and drove to the hills. Luckily no severe damage was caused on our island and we were able to return to our homes in the morning.

**When I got the idea for this blog post I thought it would be awesome. But when I sat down and started compiling images of all of my material possessions that I would (and did) grab in the event of an emergency I felt a little foolish. After watching more footage this evening and receiving a text message from a friend in Japan I just feel really sad about what those people are facing. The text said, "I'm fine, but no electricity here. Hard time. R" (Yes it is Sunday - they have been without power for almost three days). Many of you probably don't know that I did a study abroad in Japan in 2006. I studied Japanese language and culture. Probably one of the best semesters of my life. That country is so beautiful/interesting/inspiring/intriguing/ancient/modern and just plain cool. The few friends that I have over there are all safe but still struggling with the aftermath of such a disaster. My heart hurts for them. We need to remember to keep them in our prayers and send help in any way that we can.
P.S. The one and only thing I really need in an emergency is my Conor. I love you.

2 comments:

Arica said...

get out, i definitely didn't know that you lived out there. that's awesome. my andrew keeps asking me if we can drop everything and fly out there to help... if only our bank accounts agreed with that idea we'd love to help! so prayers and mini-donations it is.

The Jessups said...

I had no idea you studied abroad in Japan! Glad you all are okay.