Friday, March 11
At 2:46 pm the 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit. The students were not yet at school, except for a few students in the day care, and everyone at both campuses were okay. The electricity, gas, water, and phone lines went out immediately. We were able to send an email from a friend's 3G iphone to my mom in the evening to let her know we were okay. We surveyed the damage to the school, which we thought at the time to be extensive but in reality it was not.
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| One of the classrooms in the Spring Building |
We spent the night in the school with most of the other teachers from Maruyama, but the aftershocks scared many of us and kept most people from sleeping. The most we knew about the earthquake was that it was the worst that people working at the school had experienced, there was a tsunami warning, and 30 were dead from a fallen apartment building downtown. We thought everything would be back up and running in a day or two.
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This crack in the wall is a result of the earthquake damage.
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| Many of us slept in this classroom so we could all be together |
Saturday, March 12
We spent the day without power and had to fetch water from the pond in the school to flush the toilets with. Luckily MeySen has a well so we had plenty of water to drink and they made us food, so we also had plenty to eat. Six of us formed a cleaning crew and helped clean up each others' apartments. The worst damage in ours was my laptop screen was cracked and a mirror shattered in our entry way.
We learned that there had been a tsunami that had wiped out a train from Sendai to Matshushima and also one that had covered the Sendai airport. We also found out that the earthquake had been the largest in Japan’s recorded history.
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| Shattered mirror in our entry way - the worst of the damage to our apartment (thankfully!) |
But we still had no idea of the extent of the damage. We thought things weren't too bad as we relaxed in the sun and ate the school's supply of ice cream that was melting (though the aftershocks came often and frequently scared me).
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| Impromptu Ice Cream Party! |
But when we walked to city hall to find a rumored phone line for foreigners to call home, we realized how fortunate we were and how God had looked out for us. We saw people sleeping on tarps on the floor or huddled around heaters in city hall. We saw people standing in line for food or gas for hours and realized how lucky we were to be part of a community and didn't have to fend for ourselves as foreigners.
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| Bethany and some of our other friends waited in this line for the grocery store for 3 1/2 hours -- and even then, they were limited to the number of items they could buy. |
In the evening we prayed and sang our thanks to God for his protection and provision and for healing and redemption for the people of Japan. The gospel was shared with Japanese people in their language. Shortly after this time of prayer and worship, the electricity came back on. Not a coincidence (I am sure) but a sign God was showing to the Japanese people at the worship service, as if to say "Yes, I am the one true God and do have power." Having the electricity back on changed our moods drastically. Electricity was restored to the Immersion building and lower campus, but not the upper campus or our apartment. So we slept at the Immersion building again.
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| Makeshift kitchen in the immersion hall that the staff used to keep us all fed |
Sunday, March 13
With the power and one cell phone company working again, we were finally able to call our families. It was a relief to let them know we were safe. The worst part of the whole ordeal for me had been worrying over my family and not being able to contact them.
For the first time on Sunday we saw images of the earthquake and tsunami’s destruction via the local newspaper. No wonder our families had been so worried! The images we saw were of piles of rubble and sticks where buildings had been and a big boat thrown onto the street by a wave. We immediately thanked God that we had been spared that destruction – all the buildings in our part of Sendai were still standing. We also found out that there had been an explosion at a nuclear power plant about 80-90 miles away from us. I was really nervous about the repercussions of that and what could happen, but didn’t really understand how serious the issue was either.
We brought water from our well to the high school across from the Takamori campus, where the government had been giving out water, because we heard they ran out. A truck with new water arrived before we did, and they didn’t want to use our well water, so instead we offered it to people who passed by as a source of bathing or cooking water.
In the evening, just before dinner, the principal of the school offered us the opportunity to evacuate to an Air Force Base in Misawa because of the concerns about the nuclear power plant. We had 2 hours to make our decision, eat dinner, and pack all that we could fit into a carry-on for trip that could take a few days to a few weeks. I was torn up about the decision, because I felt like MeySen was my home and they had taken such good care of us and I wanted to stay an help; but Kris reminded me that we owed it to our families to go so that they could have peace of mind and so that we would avoid any unnecessary ricks. (He later told me he wouldn’t have let me not get on the bus for my own safety). We left the school around 9:00pm.
Monday, March 14
About 40 of us teachers and staff from MeySen arrived at Misawa Air Force Base in Aomora just before dawn and sat on the bus outside the gate for over an hour while we waited to hear our fate. At first they told us there was nothing they could do to help us; but Miss Lillian, a former high-ranking member of the military and also a MeySen evacuee, would not take no for an answer. She was able to speak to a commander who welcomed us onto the base. We were able to shower for the first time in 3 days, ate a good meal, and slept on cots in the gym facility.
We were not allowed to roam freely around the base, but we were able to go to the community center and dining hall when escorted by members of the Air Force. These escorts became our friends and we had the opportunity to share our faith with them over the few days we were at Misawa.
At the community center we were able to finally make phone calls home and get on the Internet to let people know we were safe. And I did feel really safe for the first time in a few days. The three hours of sleep I had when we first got to the base was the best sleep I’d had in the past 3 days combined!
We met together as a group and prayed for the people of Sendai, the families of MeySen, and for God to make good out of the bad and to reveal himself to people there. After that time of prayer, I saw that being at Misawa was an opportunity for me to rest physically and spiritually so that I would be better able to serve God when it was safe to return to Sendai. Kris and I agreed that it was by no accident that God brought us to Sendai, Japan at this time for a purpose.
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| Our sleeping arrangements at Misawa |
Tuesday, March 15
Staying on base again, we continued to pray for the people of Japan and for the people in Sendai. Kris and I continued to feel strengthened in our relationships with God and continued to feel that God brought us to Sendai for a reason beyond just teaching.
While on base, we took advantage of the American food at the café in the community center. We at pizza every day and I had Starbucks every day. Really, it felt like a 5-star resort to us.
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| All of the "evacuees" from MeySen |
Wednesday, March 16
More people from MeySen arrived at Misawa in the morning, around 6am. The school had offered to evacuate the staff again, but not everyone took advantage of the offer.
On Wednesday morning, we had a terribly-run meeting with a consulate from the US State Department, Tim Lyons. He basically told us that we had to leave the base the next day because we were unauthorized civilians and we could either fly back to the United States (which he strongly urged us to do) or we could stay in a hotel and fend for ourselves in a town with no electricity or water. He scared the crap out of me and made me cry during the whole meeting. During the whole thing, he made it sound like MeySen was holding us in Japan against our will and we should get out as soon as possible – which was so not true!!! The other rediculous thing that Mr. Lyons said was that he was proud of us for “showing independence the way that proud Americans should during these times”. I don’t know who the hell he was talking about, because all of us relied on other people and on each other from the moment of the earthquake. If I had been independent during that time, I wouldn’t have survived!
After the meeting, our leaders from MeySen met with us. They told us that they recommended that teachers whose terms would be ending in two weeks should make arrangements to fly home now. He told the new teachers that we could fly back to the States if we wanted and return when it was safe or we could stay at a hotel together that the school would pay for. He assured us that we would not be “on our own” as the State department had said, but that MeySen would take care of us and support us. He also told us the town and the hotel had electricity.
The State department took us aside one at a time to ask us whether we were staying or going. It was a really big decision to make, one that Kris and I took seriously. We prayed and talked and decided, much to the chagrin of our families, that we would stay. We felt safe where we were, far north from the nuclear plant that any radiation or even a melt down wouldn’t cause us harm. The hardest part of the decision for me was telling my family I was going to stay in Japan, because I knew they would worry.
During the afternoon we helped to load some huge trucks full of donations that people from the base had collected. Two people from MeySen drove the truck down to MeySen, where the people still working there destributed the water, food, and clothes to people who needed it.
In the afternoon we helped pack up another truck that the same two people from MeySen drove back up and then back down again to share the donations with those in need. It felt really good to be able to contribute and help in some way.
In the evening, some families from the base made us a lasagna dinner and brought it to the base. It was a huge blessing to soul as well as the stomach. It had been a rough, emotional day, and having that meal allowed us to feel so cared for and loved. Later we helped pack up two more trucks of donations, these ones going to other areas in need.
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| Lasagna dinner |
Friday, March 17
Our goodbyes started on Friday, since some of the group was staying at the base another night to catch early flights back to the US the next morning and the rest of the group was staying at a hotel until their flights or until it was safe to go back to Misawa. On a positive note, a truck arrived at Misawa from MeySen that had the luggage for people who were flying home. The truck was stuck at the gate extra long because the guards who scanned the truck, its contents, and the driver for radiation couldn’t believe how clean it was and free from radiation!
Just before dinner we were checked in Koyo Inn, located just outside the main gate of the Air Force Base. The hotel was really nice – we had our own rooms with all the amenities we needed (including Internet access in each room). There was an onsen (hot bath that requires you to be naked with people of the same sex – don’t knock it til you try it – it is AMAZING) and also a massage chair in the lobby.
Calvary Baptist Church, and English-speaking church three blocks down the road from our hotel, took us under their wing and make dinner for all of us. They were so kind and welcoming to us.
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| Delicious dinner at Calvary Baptist Church |
Saturday, March 18 through Tuesday, March 22
Each day at the hotel, our numbers shrank down as people flew back to the United States or to other parts of Japan. Kris and I were eager to get back to Sendai, but not until it was safe to do so. We bought some small groceries so we could eat breakfast and lunch at the hotel on our own. The people at the church continued to feed and care for us each night – really a huge blessing since it would have been so expensive for us to pay to eat out every meal.
By Sunday, our number had shrunk down to 9. We passed our time by going for walks, playing games, talking with family, watching movies we had downloaded, and making nightly visits to the onsen. I used a lot of my free time to start to learn Japanese, starting with the Hiragana alphabet (Because it’s Japan, there have to be 3 different alphabets with 3 different characters!). We also enjoyed some Karaoke -- hey, even in tough times you gotta have fun!
On Sunday we attended the church service at the church that had been feeding us, Calvary Baptist Church. It was a very nice community of people. On Monday evening, five people from our group went back to Sendai with a bus full of food and diaper donations collected by the members of Calvary Baptist Church. One member of our group was flying out of the Aomora airport to Tokyo to go to Spain on Wednesday night, so Kris and I, Bethany, and our supervisor Esther decided to stay until Wednesday evening to see him off.
Wednesday, March 23
We are going STIR CRAZY up here in Misawa! Since the reactors are starting to stabilize, we are headed back tomorrow to MeySen. We are looking forward to being able to help with the relief efforts and help get the school ready for classes to resume on April 8, the start of the new school year. We feel that, with the reactors stabilizing and with the school being located outside of the US-recommended 50 mile evacuation zone, it is safe for us to be returning. We are sorry for all the stress and worry this decision is causing our family. We are continuing to pray through this decision and feel that it is the right one for us.
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