With a huge sigh of relief I checked my e-mail tonight and found a long letter from my Sister-in-Law. It is a great view of what is happening on the other side of the world. A little background is that my Sister-in-law works for the international division of our favorite big box store. This is her second stay in Japan. She has been there since August and this is a two year assignment. Several years ago, she also spent two years living in Tokyo. I did not include the personal family stuff in my post. She did say that her company has not made the decision to evacuate their employees at this time. Kind of makes me wonder what they consider a serious risk to their employees! What follows was written by my sister-in-law.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I am still doing okay. Life in Tokyo has taken on a slightly different tone these days, but essentially we are all doing okay. I still go into work each day, although we sometimes have to leave early because the trains are going to stop running in early evening to conserve power.
We have "rolling blackouts" due to the loss of generating capacity due to the nuclear reactors being destroyed. The blackout is typically about 3 hours and it means absolutely no electrical power during that time. I don't get affected by it in my apartment building because I am right next to the American Embassy and the Japanese Gov't Offices; so the power stays on here. But it does affect us at work....and my ability to travel back and forth, so I still have to schedule around the blackouts. For any of you who have been here, you will understand this impact as well....the escalators and elevators in the subway system and train system do not run. They have all been shut down to conserve power. That means I climb more steps that I have ever done in my life....everyday. I try to remember that it is good exercise....at least once I get my breath back.
Food and fuel are scarce right now. Daily basics are in very short supply and sell out as soon as they hit the shelves. Stores close very early in the evening or delay opening until noon to try to conserve energy and maintain some sort of product availability. So you shop when you see the store open and buy what you can find....even if it isn't exactly what you might like to serve. I am fortunate in that much of what the Japanese don't care for; is food I would look for....so I can usually find choices I am happy with, but there is a true lack of fresh produce, eggs, bread, milk products, seafood or meat. Probably that is mostly due to the fact that it is typically delivered on a daily basis over here and with the fuel shortages, suppliers can't make their usual number of deliveries.
It is almost impossible to find gas. I rarely drive, so it isn't an issue for me; but it has had a big impact on businesses and the transportation companies. The country imports virtually all fuel and due to port closures from the quake and tsunami, only about 1/8 of the normal volume of fuel is being received. Virtually all of that goes to the military and the relief efforts up in the quake zone.
They are still working! Can you imagine? Disaster all around and they are still going to work. I think half of my department was off work today to watch college basketball. This could explain why the Japanese are leaders in technology! Very impressive. I have also been amazed watching the calm the Japanese possess. In some news footage I saw a line of cars evacuating. It was not bumper to bumper. They had a car length between every car. A very calm evacuation.
I have been watching videos of the tsunami. Several times I have seen people washed away because they stayed behind trying to help people that were not able to walk on their own. I do not even want to imagine how I would hold up in a disaster. I hope I never find out.
I hope we all take something from this terrible disaster. The power of nature. The compassion and integrity that people can possess.
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