Aftermath

Yes, well.

I think I am now determined to keep writing this fucking thing. If for no other reason, then for to try and dispel some of the bullshit apocalyptic doom-mongering that some people including the western fucking media whores seem intent on peddling across the world.

Foreigners are apparently leaving in droves, especially from Tokyo, like rats from a sinking fucking ship. Except this ship ain't sinking. It's just taken a bit of a battering.

I suppose I should update a bit.

Right now, as I type this, I am in Chiba Prefecture in the east. I'm about half an hour away from Tokyo in a town called Makuharihongo. It's considerably more east than I would like, a bit too close to the disaster zone for comfort, but this is where I need to be for my training, so mote it be.

It's here, for your reference:


View Larger Map

You must bear in mind though, that last night's quake was in Shizuoka and that is halfway home. Still, really not far from the danger and Chiba was hit by a bit of a wave anyway... but one does one's best not to think about it. It's just something that is that can't really be changed. Thinking about it too much will drive you insane. It's quite similar to when I found out that both my lungs could collapse at once in the spectacularly named 'spontaneous bilateral pneumothorax'. When you are told that you could literally drop down dead for no reason, it messes with your mind somewhat and I was unable to sleep for weeks. But eventually you accept it and get on with it. The agonising surgery has meant that this risk is considerably reduced, but it is still a possibility. In real terms, we could all get hit by a bus tomorrow so there it is. This feeling and acceptance is considerably more pronounced in this country which could be swallowed up by a hole in the earth, or washed away by a giant tsunami, so there we go.

But yes, so impressed and moved have I been by the valiance and the resilience of the Japanese people, I am determined to see this thing through to whatever end it might be.

All the time we think about Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures and the loss and devastation that what's a little threat of death compared to what those poor bastards have been through...?

So no, cutting and running is not a fucking option. In the highly unlikely situation that nuclear fallout does occur (never say never, mind), then my mind might change. But if I can come through this with a fraction of the trauma that some have, then I and all those who still exist, will be all the stronger for it. I've been through some pretty fucked up shit in my, ahem, twenty-odd years on this planet, so really... despite all the fear and all the anxiety and terror, I will stick it out and become a fucking teacher god damn it.

I think I like this post as it is.

I might leave it there actually and put the other shit I have to say and the footage I've captured on another post.

Watch this space for a different world. The world changed on Friday, March the 11th 2011, and I think we all did along with it.