Mai Life in Tokyo after the Earthquake on 3.11.2011 'WE ARE OK'

I'm sorry for not writing for a while...there was really nothing to report on but I felt that I should share what I experienced in this past week....so...

Just one week from today, the earthquake that has been evacuating tons of people from Japan took place. Where were you when the huge M9 earthquake happened? When the Tsunami hit the shores of Sendai? I was at Unice Cafe in Daikanyama, waiting for Trip's Angels and preparing for a huge meeting that day...After that I had planned to go to the Le Sportsac x Joyrich event..However, the turn of events that took place changed everything. I'm usually pretty immuned to earthquakes and barely budge when one hits, but this one was pretty LONG...It felt like it lasted forever! It was so strong that I was actually told to duck and cover under the table. Unice cafe has many chandeliers and lighting structures instead of a stable ceiling so no matter where I was in this cafe, I didn't feel safe. When I finally tried to head to a doorway, the shaking had stopped. I went back to the sofa I was working at and continued to work on my mac like normal..But suddenly a few aftershocks, one after the other continued to roll in...After all the emails and facebook msgs I was receiving, I started to wonder how serious this really was...I tried to call my parents in Orange county but realized that all the phone lines weren't working. At this point I still didn't realize how serious the situation was..It wasn't until 30 minutes & 4 aftershocks later that I decided to pack up my stuff and check outside. I was shocked to see how many people were on the corner of Yarigasaki (komazawa dori & Kyu-yamate dori). I was going to try and head to Le sportsac anyway but decided to check up on my fiance first. His shop was right around the corner.. After seeing him and seeing how worried he was, I decided to stop by my house (which was a 10 minutes walk away) first to check if anything was broken. A few of my friends who lived in other parts of Tokyo experienced broken TVs, glass, shoe racks, mirrors etc..I was nervous to see what had toppled over in my house. LUCKILY...my house's damage was nothing more than usual aside from a fallen box of girl scout cookies and some photos that I had put above my doorway. My house was indeed SAFE. 良かった！！However not many people were this lucky. While I was trying to check in with everyone else, I realized that the only services working were my BBM, EMAIL, Facebook & Twitter. Again I attempted to head to Harajuku but there were suddenly NO taxi's available, the streets were gridlocked, crowds of people were trying to walk home & waiting in line for the buses and the trains had stopped working....I had never seen so many people on the streets between Ebisu, Daikanyama & Nakameguro. My friends were looking at the news on ustream and they were recommending me to stock up on canned foods & water. So in the end, I decided to stop by the Tokyu store in Nakameguro on my way home...and this is how the shelves were....

empty.

the convenient stores also...empty..

except for this ハッピパン！

Everyday people seemed to have been glued to the news and I feel horrible for the people in Sendai who have lost their homes & loves ones in this disaster. Watching the news became very depressing and following the posts on twitter and facebook was getting frustrating. So I decided to keep calm and only RT things and shared things that I felt were positive and gave people hope. A lot of my meetings & work have been canceled due to this earthquake, however some businesses and clothing shops are still running. The next thing I heard was the panic of the Japanese Economy and drop in stocks. I'm not really savy about finance stuff so I won't say much about it. BASICALLY, I'm trying to stay out of all the media hype. Some people are telling me that the news overseas is more accurate than the news they are sharing in Japan. I don't necessarily agree. I understand that everyone is scared and anxious and I believe that the experts who have been brought in to control the situation are trying their best to keep things under control. They are doing what they have been trained to do, so let's believe in them. I wish that everyone would understand this and be patient. After the explosion of the reactors in Fukushima, many people panicked and evacuated because of their fear of radiation. It's very sad that a lot of my friends have decided to evacuate too but I have decided to stay and will continue to stay until the US EMBASSY forces me to leave. I live in Nakameguro and even the day after seemed to be quite normal. People were still in the streets, eating at cafes, and hanging out with their friends who were still here. I believe that TOKYO WILL BE FINE!

This was Harajuku a few days after the earthquake..It wasn't as crowded as usual but all the shops were open. So you see, Tokyo is NOT a ghost town...

All I want to say, is that for the people who decided to leave, I understand why you did, but please stop trying to get me to leave too. I understand that you are concerned about me and I am very very grateful but there are reasons why I can't leave...To be honest, I DO NOT think TOKYO will be affected by the radiation. I've been checking the GEIGER METER every morning and it seems that the radiation levels are continuing to drop. I heard that the radiation in ROME is higher than here..so people PLEASE stop worrying about the RADIATION!! Us TOKYO PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE FINE!!!
Yesterday, I was happy to go to go my English lesson in Tamachi...It was very sunny all day but super windy...However, I was happy to see people I knew...Here is a photo from the 14th Floor.

all the buildings are intact.

There was a warning about possible black-outs yesterday... So when I finished my lesson, I had to deal with this crowded train. It was a nightmare, but I managed. It's seriously been a while since I had to take the train during rush hour but d/t the announcement of the blackouts, people panicked...this was my experience yesterday at 5:30pm..
I was pushed in by really frantic people...and carried out at every stop then pushed back in..I was sooo happy to get off this train 5 stops later..

i thought it was funny how everyone was taking a photo of this..

some people were patient.

I stopped in the convenient store and the shelves were still stocked!

so you see, things are really starting to go back to normal in Nakameguro. I can't really say about other areas...if you are out of water, tissue, food, you can always come to Nakameguro. We seem fully stocked here. If you are curious about other areas like Shibuya & Shinjuku you can read Tokyo Dandy's DAN'S blog. I think he put things into perspective as well. DAN BAILEY

I think in the end, all we want is for people to stop panicking and to NOT give up on Japan. Please stop spreading negative rumors about things that you aren't sure about..If you are NOT here, don't spread negative things you 'heard' because it really doesn't make us feel any better. Spread positive things, smile at each other, give each other hope. Don't be angry for us for NOT LEAVING. Don't try to scare us into leaving... One thing a friend who had evacuated told me was to be careful because i wouldn't want an 8 finger baby...This was SOO MEAN..and SO UNNECESSARY and really I don't need to hear stuff like this..

As you can see, everything is FINE on my end. Some of us are stressed, tired, and very emotional...If you must watch the news, don't watch it alone and for more than 30 minutes in a day. Try spending time with your friends or family. I've been spending my days renting movies and catching up on TV DRAMAS with my fiance. This has kept me sane and positive. I really do appreciate everyone's concerns. And I feel great sorrow for all of those affected by the Tohoku earthquake. I will continue to help where I can by donating clothes & money and all I ask in return is for everyone to STAY POSITIVE for me. We will get through this. I'm sorry for this extremely long post. When Tokyo decides to party again, I will make sure to have those reports for you. BUT for now...hang in there Japan..I will not leave you.

P.S.

If you would like to be informed of the normal things going on in Tokyo, you can follow me on TWITTER HERE: MAISASSYGIRL

P.S.S.

If you want to know how you can help, Ultra Super New has bilingual helpful information. CLICK ULTRA SUPER NEW

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