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Sunday, March 14, 2010

Earthquake!

Last night I experienced my first earthquake. I was sitting on my bed watching American television via the web when I felt my bed shaking. I was confused at first and thought that maybe my neighbors above me were jumping around. I quickly came to the conclusion that wasn't the case because 1) Japanese people don't make a ruckuses/noises 2) Japanese people jumping on the floor above me wouldn't cause my walls to shake. After this startling realization I dove to the floor participating in the "Triangle of Life" drill (please look this up because Americans are just now learning how to survive in the event of an earthquake). After about 10 seconds the earthquake was over, and I immediately called home to share the news with my family!


Today, I experienced a longer and perhaps stronger earthquake. I was with my friend at the time so it was more relaxing. She calmly turned off her kerosene heater as I dove to the floor. Her sister was skyping with us and was able to experience Japan firsthand.

Other news:

Two weekends ago I went to a beautiful cabin overlooking the Pacific Ocean with the new staff at MeySen Academy. Our school owns this cabin so we are allowed to rent it whenever it's not being used! It was gorgeous. We took a walk down the rocks and cliffs and watched the waves lap over the dark stone we were standing on. I saw a live starfish! On the second day of our stay we went to a local fish market, and I tried a bit of raw whale. I couldn't continue chewing it because it was raw, and I envisioned it living as a cute whale. So, I had to spit it out. The market closed early because a Tsunami was on the way!! My friends and I were so excited to see it so we camped out on a cliff overlooking the water. (The estimated height was only about 15 feet, and we were way above that so we were safe.) After four hours of waiting in the chilly wind we returned to the cabin defeated...only to find out that the Tsunami had come 3 hours earlier and only reached the height of 10 centimeters. So, I guess I saw it...but just thought is was a regular wave. Disgusted. haha

I started Japanese lessons last week!! I am learning how to read and write in Hiragana. I am loving the class, and it will be extremely helpful as I'm living here. Hopefully, I will be able to communicate with people more!

Phrase of the day: sumimasen
English: sorry or excuse me

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