This past month or two I’ve been fantasizing about travelling to Japan. I watched Memoirs of a Geisha and it got me yearning to see those beautiful Geishas walk over snow dusted bridges shaded by Japanese maple trees. I also want to go there and eat all the sushi I can get my greedy little hands on. I find the Japanese people I’ve met are quite quirky, unlike Asians from other countries who are typically quite quiet and subdued. I find them hilarious with their little trinkets and peace signs. They’re a lot more outgoing than most Asians and they’ve got a crazy style to go with their personalities. I really just want to go and immerse myself in the mayhem of the crowded streets and turn Japanese for a while.
When the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan last week we were driving to a campsite a couple hours north of Melbourne. I really didn’t understand the extent of it, as it was early broadcasts, and the death toll was still low, and no nuclear explosions had taken place. I thought it was so very sad, but it wasn’t until we got home and watched the video footage that it really hit me just how catastrophic this event really was. Entire towns were literally picked up and reduced to rubble from the waves. Thousands are dead and the town looks as though it’s a large rubbish dump.
I can’t help but feel sick for all those who were there at the time and have lost their loved ones, their homes, their past and their hope. It terrifies me that my family lives on a fault line in B.C. But realistically, can people really pack up and move away from their lives on a fault line just to be safe in the unlikely event of a major earthquake? It’s just so sad when such a horrible possibility actually eventuates and causes such destruction.
My heart goes out to all those in Japan fighting for their lives, and grieving for their past. Life is so very unfair sometimes and it’s hard to come up with a reason as to why things like this should ever happen. The world is a crazy place and we are at the mercy of the Earth.
This is not going to deter me from visiting Japan, but makes me want to go there even more to meet some of these amazing people that have lived through this historic event. Stay safe Japan, I hope to see you soon.
