Of a Return to Normalcy?

Not quite so. Those here in Japan right now are trying their hardest to return to normal life. Companies are attempting to stay open, people are going to work, and students are preparing to start school again, but things aren't quite normal. In fact, they definitely aren't normal. Companies are closing around 6, even here in Kansai where the power outages have not been put in place. Workers are still staying home sometimes, finding it difficult to get to work, or their companies are asking them to do work from home. Students, despite getting ready for school, still have the feeling in the back of their minds that their classes might be delayed. And some even know that their classes are delayed. Those of us in Kansai aren't really sure how to react. We watch our neighbors up in Kantou and Touhoku suffer power outages, etc. We hear of food shortages, possible radiation, but yet we're - at least directly - unaffected. The collections for the earthquake and tsunami continue, but we all wish we could do a bit more.

Possibly the first US death was identified the other day. It was a young woman, serving as a JET here in Japan. She had stayed at school despite people telling her to leave. Her reason? She felt that she had to make sure her students all made it home safely. After the last one left with their parents, she started to bike home. Around 10 or 15 minutes later, the tsunami hit.

To those that fled Japan or fled to safe-havens, they are finding it difficult to return to work. Their coworkers are ostracizing them for abandoning their community when they were needed the most. It's a shame. On one hand, you completely understand their flight. They wanted to ensure their safety and reassure their families and friends as well. On the other hand, those people that fled would have been extremely useful in helping to rescue survivors, hand out food and supplies, or just generally help the community with whatever it needed.

Those in Tokyo have been advised not to give their infants (less than a year old) tap water for fear of radioactive iodine. That requirement does not hold for anyone older.

Here in Kyoto, classes at Rits will start up in just 13 days. The placement test for Japanese level is in 8. I'm studying for the JLPT, hoping that will also count as studying for this placement test. Those around me are also job hunting. The job hunting process has been delayed as well, which is rather telling of the effect of this disaster. I'm actually considering buying some job hunting books. When you apply to a company here, like many in the States, you take a test that is extremely similar to the SAT or ACT. These tests are basically full of math that you have not used in years, language skills, problem and puzzle solving. Since I'm planning to come back here to work, I'll likely have to take these. I looked at some online, and they are helpful, but I'll be honest, I haven't done some of these things since high school, and even middle school if you consider word analogies. Anyway, the point of this is that the books are not only helpful for preparing for those tests, but they also help me to learn and use words that I might not use normally.

I've been keeping up with the U.S. news recently and there seems to be this fear that the radiation from Japan will reach the U.S.' West Coast. I admit, I'm a little upset by the whole matter. There have been so many people who have died from this quake. The estimates for the initial cost of the quake alone to infrastructure is in the hundred billions. I believe I saw 300 bil on the WSJ yesterday? There are even people who survived the quake only to die in the shelters from the cold and starvation. I know of course that this is not the majority of the population, and that this also extends to people out in Europe, parts of Asia, etc. but all some of these people can think about is how they might possibly be exposed to a tiny amount of radiation. With everything that's going on here, it's frankly just upsetting to see that it's come to this. To all those news sources that are supplying the nonsense, or the chain letters fueling the panic, I'd just like to point out that if you don't have anything constructive to say, then perhaps you shouldn't say anything at all?

So moving back to the original topic of this post. When will the return to normalcy occur? Weeks? According to news sources, it looks like most of the important work of dealing with the nuclear reactor will take another couple weeks. Months? It will certainly take that long to continue to build houses. Years? For the Japanese economy and for those who have lost everything, it will definitely take years. Just like the earthquake that occurred in Kobe in 1995, this earthquake will haunt people's memories. So, therefore, the complete return to normalcy? Perhaps never. People will remember what happened to their family, friends, and complete strangers as they made frantic phone calls while watching their tvs or listening to their radios.

But Japan survived, and even thrived after the atomic bombs. It rebuilt Kobe after the earthquake. The Japanese have proven they can overcome seemingly impossible hardships in the past, and so, with time, they too can overcome this one. It certainly won't be easy, but by no means is it impossible. This earthquake will live on as a horrible tragedy, but it will also be learned from and used to develop new methods to protect people in the future.