Living in the Land of Earthquakes

Travis and I were North of the earthquakes epicenter. We were very lucky, not seeing any water. The Tsunami didn't reach our little area of the island at all.

(We live in Misawa, which is in that unlabeled section in the north eastern part of the country).


We did experience a 4 minute 9.1 magnitude earthquake, followed without an hour by two aftershocks of 7.5 and 7.2 respectively. I was at home when they happened, and after sitting in a bathroom door frame for a minute or two, stayed outside across the street with some neighbours waiting for the house to stop moving. Travis was at work, his first day back after being in Korea for two weeks.

We immediately lost all power and gas. This meant no lights, no heat, no cooking. About an hour or two after the quake we also lost cellphone and 3G services. We were notified that tap water was no longer potable (bottled water only), and that we should not take showers. (Without a water heater we weren't that tempted anyway... just washing our hands it felt like their were icicles stabbing us.) This lasted for about 50 hours. Late on Sunday night we got power back, and on Monday morning phone and 3G was back up and running. It wasn't a fun experience, but both Travis and I count ourselves extremely lucky. We had bottled water, crackers, granola bars, and other food that didn't have to be refrigerated or heated. We were safe, and had lots of blankets to keep us warm. Travis was even able to get a message out to family (from work) that we were safe.

Even now we have aftershocks pretty much daily. It's sad that we've begun to ignore them really. I have a barometer. Unless the bar opens and pop cans start rolling across my living room floor again, or the books fall out of the bookcase, the earthquake isn't worth worrying about.

Everything seems to be working its way back to normal now, and we're even planning on traveling next weekend! Hopefully we can make it up to Hirosaki for their cherry blossom festival. That sounds like a much better thing to experience while in Japan!

Small Town Girl. Or: How I traveled to Tokyo and didn't love the Subway system.

The day couldn't have been all bad if I was able to make a Kubrick reference out of it, right? That's always assuming that my reference isn't so obscure (or so addlepated) that I have just confused everyone.

No? Great!
Yes? *Sigh* Well I'm working off a lack of sleep and a day of craziness so if I don't make any sense just chalk it up to that.

I spent the last week in Busan, South Korea with Travis while he was there for work. Since he was being sent there anyway it seemed like the perfect time for a trip. It was a wonderful vacation where I had a chance to visit old friends and hangouts that I went to back when I lived in Korea. It hasn't been that long, really, but it was nice to be in a place where I new a BIT of the language. Certainly not proficiently, but dammit, my Korea is SO MUCH better than my Japanese. Between you, me, and the wall I still have the urge to add "... Mr. Roboto" to the end of "Domo Arigato..." Damn you addictive 80's Styx!

Just this morning however I left Travis to finish his work and traveled back to Japan. Originally I was going to go straight back home, but instead I decided to spend 2 days in Tokyo. Unlike South Korea, where you can travel across country round trip (FIRST CLASS!) for under $100, a one-way ticket from Misawa to Tokyo is almost $200. Frankly, for $400 round-trip I wanted to explore and enjoy Tokyo while I was here! Who knows when I'll be able to travel back. (I had to fly in to Tokyo from South Korea - that's why I was already here, in case I missed that point.)

Today was a comedy of errors of epic proportions. I thought I was all prepared. I had written down all the subway stops that I needed, and the names of all the transfer locations. Here's the thing. Knowing the name of the stop (and even the names of the transfer stops) means NOTHING if you don't know which line you are supposed to get onto! I need to transfer lines and catch a train to the Maihama stop at one point. Alrighty then - great! However my transfer station is a hub for 3 different lines! DAMNATION! So yeah, going to have to make better travel notes if I ever come back here and decide to attempt the subway again. I guess I was a bit over confident since I managed the Seoul and Busan subways without a problem. Lemme tell you, different kettle of fish all together!

Anyway, I'll be back in Misawa late on Wednesday. If all goes well, we should have internet set up at home on Monday! Perhaps I can get back to regularly scheduled updates then! (Or at least share some pictures! lol)

~K

Internet-less

Well here we are.  Sitting in the Popeyes fast food restaurant on base just so I can use their Wi-Fi.  I think perhaps this is a new low for me.  I'm not expecting to have internet for at least another 3 weeks sadly, and even then I don't think I'll hold my breath.

Aside from the lack of internet Japan has been treating me well.  Travelling on the trains up to Misawa was easy and stress free - and when I finally arrive Travis was waiting for me!  With flowers!  AND AN ENGAGEMENT RING!

So yeah, started my New Year off pretty well if I do say so myself!

We have settled nicely into our house:


View Larger Map

Hopefully that loads properly - of those three houses in the center there that are exactly the same - we are the middle one.

I'm sure I won't get a chance to post again in the next few weeks, but I'll try and make up for it after I finally get internet at home!

Christmas Readiness and Craziness

The Christmas planning, organizing and general craziness has begun!
Katy takes Nana's chair down to the basement:

Mitch, Rob, Katy, and John proudly display their hard work after setting up all the tables and chairs in Nana and Dandy's basement for Christmas Dinner:

Jayme and I were upstairs helping Nana make her famous 24 hour fruit salad!

Then - just because we could - Cheryl and I went out and saw the moving RED and got our nails done.  Totally girly, and completely relaxing.  Just what we needed before the real craziness of the Christmas season starts.

PS:  I completely recommend the movie RED to anyone who likes a funny action movie.  Really good!  Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, and Richard Dreyfus.  Very good!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!  Hope you have an amazing holiday!  All the best to you and yours.

*Hugs*
Kristen