One of the first things that entered my mind was the song done by the Clash!! It's called ... ''Should I stay or should I go?''
It was graduation day. The company I work for holds a ceremony for all the children that will be moving up to kindergarten for their next school year. They are between the ages of 3 and 4.
What happens to them today will be taught in their history classes when they are older, some of them may remember today.
There are a number of schools that have practiced endlessly for months on end to put on their own performance for the children's mums and dads that are waiting patiently in the audience.
The hall we go to every year is down near Yokohama at a place called Kamata. It's quite a train journey down from central Tokyo.
It's a great venue. Lots of amenities, shops close by if you want to buy your lunch, have a coffee or just relax in the surrounding gardens.
The stage is quite daunting. It's a big place to perform on such a simple level. Stage fright comes to mind. There are spot lights and curtains everywhere.
Lunch time came and went. It was time for the afternoon performers to strut their stuff. For us teachers it's a long day. We have to be there early and prepare a lot of things.
Two minutes before my school's performance and we are back stage in a line waiting for the current groovers to finish their final boogie.
I knelt down to get to eye level with the kids which were lined up in front of me. There are 21 kids in my class this year. They needed a last second pep talk.
Suddenly I fell over!!
As I got up I thought to myself that I didn't realize I was so tired!!
As I was getting to my feet it wasn't hard to work out while I fell over.
The whole building was shaking, rocking and looking like it was going to fall over any second!!
The teachers from the school I work at huddled around the children to protect them, mind you that is hardly effective. My head looked up out of instinct. The stage lights looked like a crazy maniacal typhoon had grabbed hold of them and were just waiting to be thrown into the audience, us and the children!!
The M.C. was A.J., he was standing next to me. American Darren had also joined us and was slightly freaking out!! I say slightly because I was surprised at his hysteria!!
Suddenly!! ... BANG ... CRASH ... the sound of glass smashing right next to us is heard. A.J. and I look and see a stage light above us had fallen down ... if A.J. had been half a meter to his right it would have landed on his head!!
''GET OUT!!! NOW!!!'' ... I shouted!!
... and rapidly walked over to the doors that lead to the escape routes. As if in a daze, all I could hear in the back ground was ''Where do we go?'' ... ''Where do we go?''
''THIS WAY!!''
''HURRY UP!!''
The other teachers and the children came my way as I stood with arms stretched as far as they could to hold the double set of doors open for a clean escape!!
We were outside!!
A quick head count showed us that all our kids had made it out safely. A few minutes later the mums came to see their children. There were masses of people on the streets!! Not just the huge gathering of my school staff, kids and mums but lots and lots and lots of people from all the other surrounding buildings had evacuated their offices as well. In fact the streets well swelling up big time.
I had ducked back inside a few times to check on things. The stage area had been closed off and it was a short time later that the news of the graduation ceremony was cancelled. No kidding I thought ... being back stage and seeing those lights swinging and clanging around like that was extremely scary!!
Out on the street, and suddenly the the main aftershock hits us!!
Light poles, signs from buildings, cables hanging over head and cars were all rocking in the street ... but the most scariest sound for me was hearing the buildings around us screeching and groaning under the pressure!! I'll never forget that sound!!
By now the full impact of what had happened was beginning to sink in.
Most of us went back inside the hall to rest, clean up and generally get our heads back in order after the initial burst of quakes.
Television sets were in abundance around the hall. Crowds had gathered around the T.Vs to watch what news reports were surfacing. The breaking story was a big quake up north. Slight confusion was on the exact magnitude. Though we all new is was a whopper!!
Then the Tsunami warning was issued!!
( Throughout my life so far I have been fortunate to witness many situations from various countries that I have travelled to ... I was just about to enter and witness a new world of terror!! It brings tears to my eyes right now knowing that I will write about these memories, to witness that is something nobody wants to ever see again )
A 10 meter Tsunami was on it's way!!
On the T.V. set in front of my eyes, and the other people that had gathered as well, the Tsunami rolled in to the town that was on the screen.
Boats, the size of which one would think just stay out at sea for the rest of their lives, were lifted like a floating twig that was on the surface and literally washed into the center of the town!!
Cars, trucks and vans, like match box toys kids play with on the streets or at home when they whizz them across the floor were just picked up and scattered and collected and thrown about like some giant hand!! Then disappearing into the depth of the water that filled the town ... the town that was vanishing before our very eyes!!
All the buildings you saw just moments ago near the shore's edge were suddenly not there any more and you are left thinking ... where is the shore!?
Actually, you are thinking, how much more water can come from the ocean!? The Pacific is massive, surely it's got to be enough!!
The town had gone!! The water was subsiding!!
SHIT!! OH SHIT!!
WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?!? IT'S GONE!!
WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE??
The channel was flicking through now to other stories that were coming in and other Tsunami hit areas!!
HOW CAN SO MUCH DAMAGE BE HAPPENING??
Debris was being pulled out to sea, houses left in skeleton shapes, grotesquely twisted into some horror movie scene, some boats going back out with the water, cars too!!, trucks too!!, ... and lots of people!! People that couldn't make it quick enough to safety, people that just didn't listen to the warning announcements and people that were just too old and stubborn to move from the security of their households!!
Almost 1 month later there are still over 15,000 people missing!!
The Tohoku Earthquake of 9.0 was the 5th largest earthquake in recorded history
Japan's main island of Honshu was moved 2 meters east
The earth's axis changed by 6.8 degrees
The earth's spin accelerated 1.6 micro seconds
Just 5 days after the initial quake 300 aftershocks have been recorded
3 nuclear power stations were seriously damaged
I thought that I could write my first week of the aftermath today, even though it is almost a month since the devastation has occurred.
It has been difficult reliving what we all went through.
More coming soon ... I need a beer!!
Craig
It was graduation day. The company I work for holds a ceremony for all the children that will be moving up to kindergarten for their next school year. They are between the ages of 3 and 4.
What happens to them today will be taught in their history classes when they are older, some of them may remember today.
 |
| Lots of happy faces just a short time before the big shake!! |
There are a number of schools that have practiced endlessly for months on end to put on their own performance for the children's mums and dads that are waiting patiently in the audience.
The hall we go to every year is down near Yokohama at a place called Kamata. It's quite a train journey down from central Tokyo.
It's a great venue. Lots of amenities, shops close by if you want to buy your lunch, have a coffee or just relax in the surrounding gardens.
The stage is quite daunting. It's a big place to perform on such a simple level. Stage fright comes to mind. There are spot lights and curtains everywhere.
Lunch time came and went. It was time for the afternoon performers to strut their stuff. For us teachers it's a long day. We have to be there early and prepare a lot of things.
Two minutes before my school's performance and we are back stage in a line waiting for the current groovers to finish their final boogie.
I knelt down to get to eye level with the kids which were lined up in front of me. There are 21 kids in my class this year. They needed a last second pep talk.
 |
| Look out through the windows of the hall and you can see thousands of people on the streets!! |
Suddenly I fell over!!
As I got up I thought to myself that I didn't realize I was so tired!!
As I was getting to my feet it wasn't hard to work out while I fell over.
The whole building was shaking, rocking and looking like it was going to fall over any second!!
The teachers from the school I work at huddled around the children to protect them, mind you that is hardly effective. My head looked up out of instinct. The stage lights looked like a crazy maniacal typhoon had grabbed hold of them and were just waiting to be thrown into the audience, us and the children!!
The M.C. was A.J., he was standing next to me. American Darren had also joined us and was slightly freaking out!! I say slightly because I was surprised at his hysteria!!
Suddenly!! ... BANG ... CRASH ... the sound of glass smashing right next to us is heard. A.J. and I look and see a stage light above us had fallen down ... if A.J. had been half a meter to his right it would have landed on his head!!
''GET OUT!!! NOW!!!'' ... I shouted!!
... and rapidly walked over to the doors that lead to the escape routes. As if in a daze, all I could hear in the back ground was ''Where do we go?'' ... ''Where do we go?''
''THIS WAY!!''
''HURRY UP!!''
The other teachers and the children came my way as I stood with arms stretched as far as they could to hold the double set of doors open for a clean escape!!
We were outside!!
 |
| This is inside the entrance area of the hall. It was hard to move around. |
A quick head count showed us that all our kids had made it out safely. A few minutes later the mums came to see their children. There were masses of people on the streets!! Not just the huge gathering of my school staff, kids and mums but lots and lots and lots of people from all the other surrounding buildings had evacuated their offices as well. In fact the streets well swelling up big time.
I had ducked back inside a few times to check on things. The stage area had been closed off and it was a short time later that the news of the graduation ceremony was cancelled. No kidding I thought ... being back stage and seeing those lights swinging and clanging around like that was extremely scary!!
Out on the street, and suddenly the the main aftershock hits us!!
Light poles, signs from buildings, cables hanging over head and cars were all rocking in the street ... but the most scariest sound for me was hearing the buildings around us screeching and groaning under the pressure!! I'll never forget that sound!!
By now the full impact of what had happened was beginning to sink in.
 |
| Some of the families that were stranded ... there were lots!! |
Most of us went back inside the hall to rest, clean up and generally get our heads back in order after the initial burst of quakes.
Television sets were in abundance around the hall. Crowds had gathered around the T.Vs to watch what news reports were surfacing. The breaking story was a big quake up north. Slight confusion was on the exact magnitude. Though we all new is was a whopper!!
Then the Tsunami warning was issued!!
( Throughout my life so far I have been fortunate to witness many situations from various countries that I have travelled to ... I was just about to enter and witness a new world of terror!! It brings tears to my eyes right now knowing that I will write about these memories, to witness that is something nobody wants to ever see again )
A 10 meter Tsunami was on it's way!!
On the T.V. set in front of my eyes, and the other people that had gathered as well, the Tsunami rolled in to the town that was on the screen.
Boats, the size of which one would think just stay out at sea for the rest of their lives, were lifted like a floating twig that was on the surface and literally washed into the center of the town!!
Cars, trucks and vans, like match box toys kids play with on the streets or at home when they whizz them across the floor were just picked up and scattered and collected and thrown about like some giant hand!! Then disappearing into the depth of the water that filled the town ... the town that was vanishing before our very eyes!!
All the buildings you saw just moments ago near the shore's edge were suddenly not there any more and you are left thinking ... where is the shore!?
Actually, you are thinking, how much more water can come from the ocean!? The Pacific is massive, surely it's got to be enough!!
The town had gone!! The water was subsiding!!
SHIT!! OH SHIT!!
WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?!? IT'S GONE!!
WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE??
The channel was flicking through now to other stories that were coming in and other Tsunami hit areas!!
HOW CAN SO MUCH DAMAGE BE HAPPENING??
Debris was being pulled out to sea, houses left in skeleton shapes, grotesquely twisted into some horror movie scene, some boats going back out with the water, cars too!!, trucks too!!, ... and lots of people!! People that couldn't make it quick enough to safety, people that just didn't listen to the warning announcements and people that were just too old and stubborn to move from the security of their households!!
Almost 1 month later there are still over 15,000 people missing!!
The Tohoku Earthquake of 9.0 was the 5th largest earthquake in recorded history
Japan's main island of Honshu was moved 2 meters east
The earth's axis changed by 6.8 degrees
The earth's spin accelerated 1.6 micro seconds
Just 5 days after the initial quake 300 aftershocks have been recorded
3 nuclear power stations were seriously damaged
I thought that I could write my first week of the aftermath today, even though it is almost a month since the devastation has occurred.
It has been difficult reliving what we all went through.
More coming soon ... I need a beer!!
Craig
Cute pic there Craig in ya "Hiroo" T-shirt! Do you know that when you take a photo, you still do a classic "bear" smile?? Hee hee! Lots of love, Fi xxxes!
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