March 11, 2011: The Sendai Earthquake

Before I really start this post off, I need to say thank you.

Thank you to every single person that has sent me an email, Facebook message, asked how I was doing and most importantly, prayed. THANK YOU for the prayers, God does work miracles!

This whole experience has been something I'll remember for the rest of my life. I've only been in Japan for a little over a month, yet I'm already infatuated with it's fascinating culture and wonderful people. This country doesn't deserve to have such a horrible disaster upon it... no where in the world does.

There's something incredibly moving about being in a country that is not your own when a disaster strikes. I can't explain it and I wish you all could feel what I feel right at this moment. It's something that I'll remember forever. And when I see that #PrayForJapan is a trending topic on Twitter or the home page of MSNBC devoted to the disaster in Japan, it makes me proud to be living in Japan during this time of trouble. The whole world is thinking about us, supporting, and praying for us... and my one request is that you please keep doing so. It's going to take a long time for Japan to heal back to normal, but God really does work miracles.

I'm going to be straight up honest when I talk about where I was when this earthquake took place. No, I'm not making it up. 100% truth.

I was in the bathroom when an 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan on Friday, March 11, 2011.

My last class on Fridays ends at 2:45 but thankfully my history professor let us out a couple minutes earlier this time. My friend Hanne was meeting me at 3 on campus, so I had a couple extra minutes before she arrived.

I ran down four flights of stairs to the restroom. I closed the stall door and sat down. Not even two seconds later, I suddenly felt incredibly dizzy. I hadn't eaten lunch yet because classes were from 11-2:45, so I figured it was because because my blood sugar was low. Was the earth moving? I was really dizzy now. And the feeling didn't go away. It felt like the earth was moving in slow motion in all directions and wouldn't stop. I held onto the toilet and the walls around me to try to get the shaking to stop. It was a slow shaking that made me think my mind was playing a trick on me. My head was pounding; I was so lightheaded and nauseous. I've never passed out before but in that moment it felt like I could've any second.

The thought that maybe? it was an earthquake had crossed my mind, yet I was skeptical and shrugged it off.

Later that night, I ate dinner with Hanne and Lindsay. The topic came up, and after I realized I was on the toilet during an actual earthquake, we laughed for quite a while. Lindsay had experienced a similar feeling of lightheaded and nauseous-ness during her pottery class, which she also thought was due to being hungry. She said many other people she talked to had felt the same kind of thing when the earthquake took place. Hanne had seen some dogs acting strange but didn't think much about it, because well, they are dogs.

Then the texts came pouring in. Hanne received several texts from Finland asking if she was okay. We thought it was interesting that the other side of world had already found out about this earthquake. We didn't think it was very big... but we thought it was so nice of them to care! Then we started talking about how interesting and crazy it would be if a huge earthquake actually took place. Little did we know...

After arriving back to my dorm at around 10:30 Friday night, I logged onto my email and Facebook. Several emails from my family asking if I was okay. Friends commenting on Facebook asking if I was okay. Yes.... I'm fine. But so confused???

I pull up Google and search 'Earthquake in Japan.'

Holy. Crap.

I had no idea it was such a big earthquake. No idea. At all.

As I sat there last night looking at pictures of the disasters from the earthquake and tsunami, tears were filling my eyes. I'm living this... not even 6 hours away. This is going on right now. In the country that I'm living in for the next 4 months.

These are things that are starting to become part of my everyday life; things that I'm starting to love about Japan. I just rode the JR Line, one of the many train lines that have suffered damage. I was supposed to ride Shinkansen (the bullet train) in a week, which have been suspended until further notice. I was supposed to go to Tokyo in a week, which reports are saying to stay away from Tokyo and northern areas of Japan...

It's so surreal.

It feels like the world around me has stopped because of this earthquake, yet I'm still living through it and doing fine. Thankfully, the Kansai area hasn't been physically affected, yet we still feel directly affected in a way that I can't describe. Spring break is in a week and though our Tokyo trip may be called off, I still want to find a way there. Not to do touristy things like we planned, but to help out. It's the only thing I want to do now... help out those that are hurting. Though that may not be possible quite yet, it's been added to my Things to Do In Japan Before I Leave list. And it's going to get accomplished.

But in the meantime, I want to thank you again for all your continuous love, support and prayers. It means so much to myself and the other international students, as well as the Japanese people. And if you have a couple extra dollars to spare, I urge you to donate to the Red Cross or other similar organizations. We've been given so much and the least we can do is to give back to those that really need it.

I'll keep you all posted with new information when I know it. I love you all.

Pray for Japan.