What's Next?

A few things have happened during the last 5 hours. 

First, my dorm has enacted a restricted entry/exit rule for the next 1-3 days. Due to the radiation scare, students, parents, and professors are paranoid about the radiation levels. They are closing off the vents, turning off the air-conditioning, taping the windows shut, and refusing some students to return from outside. Seeing this intense fear of the air (even when researchers claim that Tokyo levels of radiation are not dangerous to human health) has me growing more and more fearful. I would rather not have to deal with such regulations and fears.

Second, schools in America and other countries have started recalling students to the states. My friends and I were huddled on the sofa when one of the boys received and email demanding the other 5 students from his home university leave Japan as soon as possible. Wittenberg has suggested that we leave, but has still left it our own decision since so many of my classmates are already in Kansai, however, there has been talk that they will also issue a summons back to the states.

Finally, some family friends from New York are going to the south and have offered me a chance to go with them and be with someone familiar. After the earthquake yesterday morning and last night, receiving requests from my family in America, and seeing the students becoming so frightened, I have decided that making the move to the south for a while would be the best option for my safety, health, and peace of mind.

Now, earlier at night I was laughing and joking with my friends, eating at a tabehoudai in Kichijoji. Then, when we got back to the dorm, and I saw the others students worrying, I was freaking out. Now, I'm not in tears, or jumping off the walls, but I'm getting a little antsy as to why my friends and I are some of the only ones who haven't gone to pieces from fear. We were having great time at dinner, when we got another quake. This time, we were all underground and the size of it was pretty surprising. By the time we got home, everyone had started freaking out, again. So, it looks like I'm off to the south (or west, depending on how you see it) for a little break. I hope that things clear over so I can come back for spring term. I'll just hang out down there for a while.

The Earthquake, the Nuclear Crisis

I'm not quite sure what to think anymore. After the nuclear plants started to break, then one exploded, everyone got incredibly scared that there would be a nuclear explosion that would destroy Japan and spread to other countries. Some students are running away and other left the country already, but I can't really afford that sort of thing. Witt is saying that the choice to come home is up to each student, and the American embassy hasn't released an official report saying we should escape. What about everything I have left here? What if the scare isn't that great? Where are the real experts? I can't understand this sort of thing, let alone in JAPANESE!!!

Phew.

This is an article/thread that sort of cheered me up, but I don't know if it is completely trustworthy. I guess, at this point, I'm just trying to look at all possibilities.

This thread is intended to move the various discussions about nuclear power, the safety of Japan's nuclear reactors, and related issues out of the general thread about the disaster in Japan. Nuclear talk has overwhelmed the discussion in that thread, along with people coming in asking for information about whether it's going to be another Chernobyl.
But first, a FAQ (updated at 8:15AM GMT, March 14th):

What in the hell is going on here?
In the aftermath of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, two nuclear power stations on the east coast of Japan have been experiencing problems. They are theFukushima Daiichi ("daiichi" means "number one") and Fukushima Daini ("number two") sites, operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (or TEPCO). Site one has six reactors, and site two has four. The problematic reactors are #1, #2, and #3 at site one, which are the oldest of the ten and were due to be decommissioned this year.
In short, the earthquake combined with the tsunami have impaired the cooling systems at these reactors, which has made it difficult for TEPCO to shut them down completely. Reactor #1 is now considered safe after crew flooded the reactor with sea water. Reactor #3 was starting this process as this was originally written (6:00PM CST/11:00PM GST on March 13th). Site crew began preparing to add sea water to reactor #2 around 7:30AM GMT on March 14th, if a cooling procedure does not work.
The four reactors at site two did not have their systems impaired and have shut down normally.
Can this cause a nuclear explosion?
No. It is physically impossible for a nuclear power station to explode like a nuclear weapon.
Nuclear bombs work by causing a supercritical fission reaction in a very small space in an unbelievably small amount of time. They do this by using precisely-designed explosive charges to combine two subcritical masses of nuclear material so quickly that they bypass the critical stage and go directly to supercritical, and with enough force that the resulting supercritical mass cannot melt or blow itself apart before all of the material is fissioned.
Current nuclear power plants are designed around subcritical masses of radioactive material, which are manipulated into achieving sustained fission through the use of neutron moderators. The heat from this fission is used to convert water to steam, which drives electric generator turbines. (This is a drastic simplification.) They are not capable of achieving supercritical levels; the nuclear fuel would melt before this could occur, and a supercritical reaction is required for an explosion to occur.
Making a nuclear bomb is very difficult, and it is completely impossible for a nuclear reactor to accidentally become a bomb. Secondary systems, like cooling or turbines, can explode due to pressure and stress problems, but these are not nuclear explosions.
Is this a meltdown?
Technically, yes, but not in the way that most people think.
The term "meltdown" is not used within the nuclear industry, because it is insufficiently specific. The popular image of a meltdown is when a nuclear reactor's fuel core goes out of control and melts its way out of the containment facility. This has not happened and is unlikely to happen.
What has happened in reactor #1 and #3 is a "partial fuel melt". This means that the fuel core has suffered damage from heat but is still largely intact. No fuel has escaped containment. Core #2 may have experienced heat damage as well, but the details are not known yet. It is confirmed that reactor #2's containment has not been breached.
How did this happen? Aren't there safety systems?
When the earthquakes in Japan occurred on March 11th, all ten reactor cores "scrammed", which means that their control rods were inserted automatically. This shut down the active fission process, and the cores have remained shut down since then.
The problem is that even a scrammed reactor core generates "decay heat", which requires cooling. When the tsunami arrived shortly after the earthquake, it damaged the external power generators that the sites used to power their cooling systems. This meant that while the cores were shut down, they were still boiling off the water used as coolant.
This caused two further problems. First, the steam caused pressure to build up within the containment vessel. Second, once the water level subsided, parts of the fuel rods were exposed to air, causing the heat to build up more quickly, leading to core damage from the heat.
What are they doing about it?
From the very beginning, TEPCO has had the option to flood the reactor chambers with sea water, which would end the problems immediately. Unfortunately, this also destroys the reactors permanently. Doing so would not only cost TEPCO (and Japanese taxpayers) billions of dollars, but it would make that reactor unavailable for generating electricity during a nationwide disaster. The sea water method is a "last resort" in this sense, but it has always been an option.
To avoid this, TEPCO first took steps to bring the cooling systems back online and to reduce the pressure on the inside of the containment vessel. This involved bringing in external portable generators, repairing damaged systems, and venting steam and gases from inside the containment vessel. These methods worked for reactor #2 at site one, prior to complications; reactors four through six were shut down before for inspection before the earthquake hit.
In the end, TEPCO decided to avoid further risk and flooded reactor #1 with sea water. It is now considered safely under control. Reactor #3 is currently undergoing this process, and reactor #2 may undergo it if a venting procedure fails.
The four reactors at site two did not have their external power damaged by the tsunami, and are therefore operating normally, albeit in a post-scram shutdown state. They have not required any venting, and reactor #3 is already in full cold shutdown.
Is a "China Syndrome" meltdown possible?
No, any fuel melt situation at Fukushima will be limited, because the fuel is physically incapable of having a runaway fission reaction. This is due to their light water reactor design.
In a light water reactor, water is used as both a coolant for the fuel core and as a "neutron moderator". What a neutron moderator does is very technical (you can watch a lecture which includes this information here), but in short, when the neutron moderator is removed, the fission reaction will stop.
An LWR design limits the damage caused by a meltdown, because if all of the coolant is boiled away, the fission reaction will not keep going, because the coolant is also the moderator. The core will then only generate decay heat, which while dangerous and strong enough to melt the core, is not nearly as dangerous as an active fission reaction.
The containment vessel at Fukushima should be strong enough to resist breaching even during a decay heat meltdown. The amount of energy that could be produced by decay heat is easily calculated, and it is possible to design a container that will resist it. If it is not, and the core melts its way through the bottom of the vessel, it will end up in a large concrete barrier below the reactor. It is nearly impossible that a fuel melt caused by decay heat would penetrate this barrier. A containment vessel failure like this would result in a massive cleanup job but no leakage of nuclear material into the outside environment.
This is all moot, however, as flooding the reactor with sea water will prevent a fuel melt from progressing. TEPCO has already done this to reactor #1, and is in the process of doing it to #3. If any of the other reactors begin misbehaving, the sea water option will be available for those as well.
What was this about an explosion?
One of the byproducts of reactors like the ones at Fukushima is hydrogen. Normally this gas is vented and burned slowly. Due to the nature of the accident, the vented hydrogen gas was not properly burned as it was released. This led to a build up of hydrogen gas inside the reactor #1 building, but outside the containment vessel.
This gas ignited, causing the top of the largely cosmetic external shell to be blown off. This shell was made of sheet metal on a steel frame and did not require a great deal of force to be destroyed. The reactor itself was not damaged in this explosion, and there were only four minor injuries. This was a conventional chemical reaction and not a nuclear explosion.
You see what happened in this photo. Note that other than losing the sheet metal covering on the top, the reactor building is intact. No containment breach has occurred.

At about 2:30AM GMT on March 14th, a similar explosion occurred at the reactor #3 building. This explosion was not unexpected, as TEPCO had warned that one might occur. The damage is still being assessed but it has been announced that the containment vessel was not breached and that the sea water process is continuing.
Around 7:30AM GMT on March 14th, it was announced that the explosion at reactor #2 has damaged the already limping cooling systems of reactor #2. It may also receive the sea water treatment if they are unable to use a venting procedure to restart the cooling systems.
Is there radiation leakage?
The radiation levels outside the plant are higher than usual due to the release of radioactive steam. These levels will go down and return to their normal levels, as no fuel has escaped containment.
Here is a chart showing the effects of various radiation poisoning levels. For perspective, note that this chart starts at 1 Gy, equivalent to 1 Sv; the radiation outside the problematic Fukushima reactors is being measured in micro-Svs per hour. The highest reported levels outside the Fukushima reactors has been around 1000 to 1500 micro-Svs per hour. This means that one would have to stay in this area for four to six weeks, 24 hours a day, without protection in order to experience the lowest level of radiation poisoning, which while unpleasant is not normally fatal. And this level will not stay where it is.
Also note the chart of normal radiation exposure levels from things like medical x-rays and airline flights.
There have also been very minor releases of radioactive reactor byproducts like iodine and cesium along with the steam. This material is less radioactive than the typical output of coal power plants. It is significant mainly as an indicator of the state of the reactor core.
I read that there's a plume of radioactive material heading across the Pacific.
In its current state, the steam blowing east from Japan across the pacific is less dangerous than living in Denver for a year. If it makes it across the ocean, it will be almost undetectable by the time it arrives, and completely harmless as the dangerous elements in the steam will have decayed by then.
What's this about fuel rods being exposed to the air?
When the coolant levels inside the reactor get low enough, the tops of the fuel rods will be exposed to the air inside the containment vessel. They have not been exposed to the external atmosphere and the containment vessels are all intact.
Can this end up like Chernobyl?
No, it cannot. for several reasons.

• Chernobyl used graphite as a neutron moderator and water as a coolant. For complicated reasons, this meant that as the coolant heated up and converted to steam, the fission reaction intensified, converting even more water to steam, leading to a feedback effect. The Fukushima reactors use water as both the coolant and the neutron moderator, which means that as the water heats up and converts to steam, the reaction slows down instead. (The effect of the conversion of water coolant to steam on the performance of a nuclear reactor is known as the "void coefficient", and can be either positive or negative.)

• Chernobyl was designed so that as the nuclear fuel heated up, the fission reaction intensified, heating the core even further, causing another feedback effect. In the Fukushima reactors, the fission reaction slows down as the fuel heats up. (The effect of heating of the nuclear fuel on the performance of a nuclear reactor is known as the "temperature coefficient", and can also be positive or negative.)

• Chernobyl's graphite moderator was flammable, and when the reactor exploded, the radioactive graphite burned and ended up in the atmosphere. The Fukushima reactors use water as a neutron moderator, which is obviously not flammable.

Note that while Chernobyl used light water as a coolant (as distinct from heavy water), it was not a "light water reactor". The term LWR refers strictly to reactors that use light water for both cooling and neutron moderation.
The news said this was the worst nuclear power accident since Chernobyl, though.
It's the only nuclear power plant accident of its type since Chernobyl. It's easy to be the worst in a sample size of one.
Is this like Three Mile Island?
There are similarities. The final effect on the world is likely to be similar: no deaths, minimal external contamination, and a tremendous PR disaster for the nuclear industry due to bad reporting by the media.
How can I keep up with developments?
The western media has been very bad about reporting this event, due to a combination of sensationalist reporting, ignorance, and the use of inexact or unexplained terminology.
One of the safe sources of information is the TEPCO site, which has been posting press releases on a regular basis. Unfortunately, this site is often unresponsive due to the immense traffic it is receiving.
The important thing to remember is that most of the "experts" appearing on the news are engaging in speculation. Very few of them are restricting themselves to what they can be sure about, and those that are have often been misrepresented.
Where can I find more information about these issues?
Reading:

• Timeline and data sheets for the incident by the Nuclear Energy Institute

• The International Atomic Energy Agency
 is providing regular announcements

• Wikipedia on light water reactors and nuclear weapon design

• The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Systems manual - the Fukushima reactors are BWRs, a subset of LWRs

• More about BWRs

• Tokyo Electric Power Company
 site with press releases - currently hard to reach due to traffic

Video:

• "Physics for Future Presidents" lecture ten, on nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors

• Footage of the hydrogen explosion at reactor #1

Photos:

• before
 and after satellite photos of Fukushima site one

The Earthquake, News Stories

These are the sites and stories that I'm following right now

• Japan's Metereological Agency says there is a 70% chance of at least a magnitude-7 quake in the next few days, with a 50% chance in the three days after that.
• Wall of Water - caught on home video at the coast
• Help is coming from abroad, hopefully it gets here soon
• New numbers from the first hit areas
• Before and After: Sendai airport

The Earthquake, "Where were you?"

Since the earthquake, everyone I've reunited with has asked, "So, where were you?" We want to find out how close people were, if they realized what was happening when they felt it, and how soon they were able to find a way back home. It really reminds me of 9/11, where everyone recounts where they were when they first heard the news or when the towers were first hit. As I said in the last post, a few of my friends were back home in their respective countries. Here are some of the more interesting stories my friends had to tell me.

Jerry was in his room when it happened, but wasn't sure what to think because he couldn't compare the feeling of this earthquake to any other one. Should he leave? Was this a normal intensity? He left his room, but the only other boy in his area was named Ryan and he didn't know what to think of the quake either. They saw the walls of glass and metal beams on their floor shaking, but no one had told them what to do in this sort of emergency. They just stood in the hallway, away from the glass, until the largest amount of shaking was done. Then Jerry returned to his room and went online to find out he had just experienced Japan's worst recorded quake.

Kaze was closer to me than anyone else from our group. He was shopping in Kichijoji when the ground started to shake. Actually, he was playing with a toy Godzilla when the first shakes started to happen. Living in Taiwan, he was used to earthquakes and thought that the Japanese were overreacting when he first saw girls curl up into balls in the streets and people dive towards the pavement. After going back to the original store to buy the toy Godzilla doll, he was able to return home and find out more of what happened by bike.

Meghan was meeting with a veterinary student to whom she's been teaching English. He had just gotten back to Japan from America and was excited to tell her of his studies there. As they were speaking in Starbucks, they felt the shock. At first, Meghan thought it was fun, but started to to wonder why everyone was so worried and surprised. She was prepared to sit and wait it out, but her student rushed her outside and waited with her until all the shocks were done and she could get home.

Matthew (not Gan-san, but a boy from Australia) was swimming in the ICU pool for some extra exercise this spring break when the earthquake reached the campus. The entire pool turned into a mini tsunami as the water splashed against the windows, emptied out the larger pool, and flooding the changing rooms. The swimmers clutched at the metal  ladders on the side of the pool as they were tossed around like buoys. Even though he lived in a distant city, luck would have it that he had ridden his bike to school that day and that he knew the road home well. He was able to return home easily, but his host mother had to walk 3 hours home since the trains had stopped running by that point.

Another boy in my dorm was 5 kilometers from the nuclear reactor and was able to take pictures of the initial heat explosion and smoke cloud on his iphone. He was visiting his grandparents at the time, and they refuse to leave the area, but sent him back to Tokyo yesterday.

Meghan, as I had mentioned before, was trapped with a friend at the Tokyo Disney theme parks and was not able to return until Saturday morning.

Yuta was driving near Yokohama and was not really bothered by the earthquake because of the shock absorption in his tires. Luckily, he made it home to find his family and home completely fine. The Zelkova kids were able to contact him through facebook the day of the earthquake.

Yu-chan, a senior in the Wadaiko club, was finally able to contact her father a few nights ago. He was working in the Sendai area during the earthquake, but is finally doing well now.

This is a fascinating group of Tweets from Japan during the first day. We all experienced the earthquake from different perspectives, and it wasn't until we came together to see how each person was able to deal with it. Since Friday, more and more students are evacuating the area for Kansai or leaving the country. We don't know where to go or what to believe now, but those of us who are staying are trying to find out as much as we can and help each other stay prepared. If there is anything that the world can do now, it would be to pray for us in the next few days and to donate to various relief efforts. More information to come later. Take care - we'll do the same here.

The Earthquake, Roll Call

Ever since I was a kid, roll call has been one of my favorite parts of group work. The litany of call-response was very reassuringly to me. Whenever my friends and I go out, we always have a roll call or sound off of some kind to keep track of the group. Because everyone was scattered in the midst of daily activity, one of the first things that happened after the tremors stopped was to take roll call.

Just of few of the 40-some Wadaiko members
we needed to call roll for everyday

This was easy enough for my Wadaiko kids, who I was with at the time. After the first evacuation, we were able to call roll and establish that everyone was there. But getting a hold of someone outside of the area was more of a problem: the phone lines had been jostled, everyone was contacting each other at the same time, signals were down or lost, and there was too much going on at one time. I couldn't even call the girl standing right next to me. We went into a tizzy trying to contact everyone we could think of, find out how they were, where they were, and how they'd get home. After the major quakes, I started emailing my family, Gina in Thailand, friends studying abroad here in Japan, and and people who have been taking care of me here, like Mr. Spengler and my Wittenberg sempai. They all sent, but none of them arrived on time. My phone, too, wasn't receiving any of the emails sent then; it wasn't until 4-5 hours later that I began to receive messages from my friends.

As it turns out, my close friends and classmates are doing well and are safe now, but some had a more difficult time than others. Of course, the Wadaiko OYRangers (Alice, Jorren, Sarah, and I) were all together with my roommate, Miki, and the rest of the team when it happened. Thankfully, my best friend Gina was enjoying some amazing summer weather in Thailand wasn't in harms way in the slightest. My Zelkova Familia, however, were all across the board: Lia was in New York, Sho was in Virginia, Rei was in New Zealand, Ellie was in Hong Kong, Meghan was at the Starbucks near Musashi-sakai here in town, Yuta was driving near Yokohama, Matt H. was in the pool, etc. In the end, we were all accounted for and made it home that night, except for Mika, Jorren's sister, and Meghan's dad. It turns out Mika and her childhood friend had gone to Disney Sea (that place I was so excited about with the Soul Run kids) and they got stuck there once all the trains stopped running. She, her friend, the entire Disney Sea and Land staff, crew, and customers, were stuck there the rest of the day and into the next morning. They slept in a movie theater as the Disney staff scrambled to find bread and rice for people to eat (the local cafes, stores, and vending machines were all empty). Jorren's sister was visiting him from the Netherlands and arrived in Japan on the morning of the earthquake. She doesn't know Japanese or anyone else here, let alone have a phone, so he was terribly worried about her. Meghan's dad had come to visit her, too, but his company forced him to board the next flight to China when they found out there had been such a major earthquake, so they did not get to see each other before he left.

The girls organized the sofas into a nest with room for
2 girls per couch. Even at night, they left the TV on
in case a new development was announced.

Since then, we've been holding up together in groups, and the girls on my floor have been sleeping together in the lobby for the past few days and many of the foreign students have made camp in the first floor lobby. The Wadaiko team has been super paranoid about us always traveling with a partner, especially between cities. Meanwhile, some people have started to leave the country. My friend Elliott is the kid who usually has all the information, so I steal a peak at his blog every now and then for good links and up-to-date reports. He is currently on his way to/has arrived in Australia where he will be for the next two weeks. The rest of us are going to sit it out here. I'm keeping track of where everyone is, in the meantime. We are still on break for the rest of this month, so I don't have to worry about classes, homework, or tests. I'll do my best to get more information out there.

Keep us in your prayers.

The Earthquake on Friday

I know that I'm behind the times on my blog, and I will fix that, trust me, but this is breaking news!

As most of you now know, Japan was hit by a massive earthquake/tsunami mix on Friday. Truly, truly frightening! I can't really give all the facts, but those are swimming all over the news and internet now. At first they were calling it an 8.8 M earthquake, but said that Tokyo was only hit with a 5.5 M quake, but it seems these first numbers were inorrect. All I knew at the time was it was a big enough earthquake to make the Japanese scared, so that is saying something! After the first major shake, and many aftershocks, we all began rushing around for answers, damage, friends, and a safe place. I'll try to use these next few entries to share what it was like for me.

For the English version of the first Japanese report, click here
Read more about the earthquakes results here
View photos from the time of the quake here
See more photos here

Bonsai Tree

Since fall term, Mrs. Kaji and I have been meeting for weekly English-Japanese language exchanges, having tea and cookies, and reading books together. She knows that I like traditional culture, so she always gives presents and treats. But this week (starting from St. Valentine’s Day, actually), she and Mr. Kaji had to leave on family business, so I am taking care of….ready for this?....their bonsai plant. That’s right, the tree, I, and Miki are all living together in for this week. I introduced the tree to Miki and everything the first night I got it. Before she left, Mrs. Kaji gave me instructions on how to water it with this little spritz bottle once a day, but I think my room is too dry for the plant. After the first day, I told Miki,*この盆栽は私のこのがあまり好きじゃないと思うよ。もう四枚の葉が落ちたし、かじさんもいないから、盆栽は死にたいそうなぁ。(See, Anna? I use Japanese in daily life – might not be correct, but I use it). All I have to do is make sure this little tree lives until Mrs. Kaji gets back from her trip. She would be so disappointed if it died while she was gone! **今からもよろしくね、盆栽ちゃん。


*"I don't think this bonsai likes me very much. Because 4 leaves have already fallen and Mrs. Kaji isn't here, it seems like it wants to die."
**From now on, be good to me, little bonsai.

Time

I guess that this marks the beginning of my fourth month in Japan. September, October, November: three months done with and most of the California students leaving soon. It is strange to think that many of my new friends and the now familiar faces are going to be gone. Their time with here is done already. Come to think of it, Keith only had three months here, too. How could they be down with so quickly? I was speaking with Liane the other day and she gave me some advice that I should have been following all this time. Because I came here knowing that I would be staying all year, whenever something was scheduled to happen, I didn’t make such a strong effort to attend. Sure I went to activities or events that sounded fun or exciting, but if I missed one outing, I told myself that there was always next time. But for some exchange students like Liane, there would be no next time. She told me that she did not sleep much here. If she did, then she’d miss out on hanging out with friends, going somewhere new, or doing something she can never do again. The other day, I didn’t climb Mt. Takao because I told myself that I could do it in the spring. I also missed out on dinner with my friends because they told me that it would be too late. I didn’t fight them on that subject, but just went home because I thought that we could always just go out another day. No big deal. But maybe it is a big deal. I might be too busy in the spring. Something might happen between now and then that makes it impossible for me to go. That night could have been the last night for me to go out with everyone. Likewise, just staying home in my dorm with the other students could be an important event. By going to bed early or heading up to my room before everyone else, I thought that I was being responsible and getting proper rest. But look at Liane, she didn’t sleep for fear of missing out on the moment and still she had regrets. What if I stay for a year and keep living the way I’m living? Will I have more regrets than her? I still have time, and she is already gone. I should stop holding myself away from everyone when they are close to me now. Later, when I have no way of being with them, I will wish that I had another day, another evening, or another moment to make them smile or share a drink. This may sound like I am talking about death instead of leaving Japan. Maybe I’ll come back, but no one could even guarantee that I’d come here the first time. Who can say that I will come back just because I plan on it?

In retrospect, I have done so much already (like Wadaiko, the OYRangers, teaching English to the high schoolers, and making friends - a difficult task for me), and my Japanese is better than when I first came. I would definitely not say my time has been wasted, but did I miss out on too much by trying to be practical? Should I take more chances, get more involved, go more places, not worry so much about money? Not go crazy, but not be as scared about if something is feasible or entirely rational. It makes some sense. I should live like next week isn’t coming, like I’m leaving at the end of the term, or like I actually won’t be able to come back to Japan again. This means that I won’t be on facebook or skype as often, I’m afraid. I’ll be there by appointment only to help keep me from being so dependent on home.

I’m sorry to have such a downer of a blog entry, everyone, but this has been on my mind for a while. Maybe it was the unhealthy amount of sugar recently that left my mind in a candy-coma. Maybe it was all the cheesy Japanese dramas and music videos that have me feeling a little depressed. Maybe it is because I've been stuck nearly alone in my dorm for 2 weeks! But I digress; speaking about not wasting time, I’ll be sure to post pictures and info about Disney, the Taiko after-party, traveling to Kobe with Gina, and other adventures on here for you to see.

p.s. People came back to the dorm today, so now there are actually people to talk to again. I was starting to spend all my time in the Yearbook club room, but now I can be social in my own dorm again. Finally!

Lost and Found: A Duck's Story

Horror of horrors!

Yesterday was Keyaki's 2nd floor yearbook photo. So as many of the residents who remembered (not a whole lot, actually) came back to the dorm during lunch to get a group snapshot by the yearbook staff. Most of the girls were already gathered, when I started asking around for Kaya-chan. That's not the name of a girl: it is the name of our floors mascot -an adorable little duckie. All the girls start looking around, but he's not in the social room, the common area, or the kitchen. One girl even sent a floor-wide text asking if anyone gathered or absent had accidentally moved little Kaya. But none of the floormates remember seeing him for some time. So we had to take the picture duck-less.

That night, everyone received this email asking for anyone who knew were Kaya-chan was to return the duck safe and sound:

皆さんこんばんは、有加です。

実は私のぬいぐるみの「かやちゃん」が消えてしまいました。私が長い間放置していたのもあり、本当に申し訳ありません。すみませんでした。  見付けたり、見かけたりしたら私までに連絡をくださいf^_^;ルームメイトにも聞いてくれたらとても嬉しいです。御礼に何か差し上げますf^_^;  お忙しい中本当にすみません〓  有加

Soon after that, someone posted a Wanted sign for the beloved, pajama-clad mascot. But, in the end, all the worry was for not, because Kaya-chan was promptly returned to his usual spot on the social room's sofa. The terror had ended, and there was much rejoicing.

(Side note: Since Keyaki dorm is so new and pretty high security, many people at ICU have never seen the dorm. After taking the yearbook shot, the two photographers asked for my permission to snoop about the place while they still had clearence. It was so funny to see them oohh-ing and aahh-ing over everything in our kitchen, laundry, and pod areas! I would have offered to show them my room, but Miki and I had to make a mad dash for Mitaka! Haha, hopefully what the yearbook kids saw will help raise the hype for our dorm among next year's new students.)

Japanese Crows, A Warning

These birds are terribly frightening! There laugh sounds unnaturally evil, they eat small dogs, attack Japanese children, and they have a bad habit of stealing things left outside (cell phones, keys, ipods, your dinner, etc). And they are around. All the time!! If there is anything about Japan I dislike, it is the CROWS!

They are huge!! I swear, the smallest one stands up to my knee! They are bold too. Most birds fly away when they see you coming. Crows look at you and say "bring it on!" with their eyes. Too scary for me. I don't like them one bit. Imagine if some mad scientist took a wolf, shrunk it down, turned it into a bird, accidentally let it loose, and all the subsequent birds developed a New Yorker's attitude: that is the Japanese Crow.

I tried to imitate an American crow's call and a Japanese crows call for my roommate. She was not too impressed with my bird noises and said that they sounded alike. But I don't remember American crows actually laughing at people the way the Japanese ones do. And when I was in the park, a girl named Olivia and I heard one of the crows repeatedly say "Ohayo", which is a typical greeting in Japan. Scary, scary stuff. I don't trust them in the least.

Fear the Japanese crows. You have been warned.

By the way, I found this rather adorable bird that looked almost like a piper. So cute! But they move very quickly. I'll try to find it again, but now that it is getting cooler and very rainy, I don't if it has migrated or not. We'll see.

Getting There is Half the Fun

So, you know how at the beginning of every trip, you stop and say "I can't be leave I was about to leave the house without taking the ______"?

Well, that didn't happen for me.

Actually, I was flying along quite pleasantly for 13 hours, thinking myself the cat's meow until I got to the Japanese Customs and Immigrations Offices, convenient located at the lovely Narita Airport. I got through the line, showed my visa and boarding pass, smiled for a photo, and scanned my fingerprints (none of that ink business in Nihon-land-of-the-digital). Then as I was about to gather up my carry-0n baggage and head through the shiny, glass doors of Japan....I was asked for my Certificate of Eligibility. I'm sorry, what? I needed that paper months ago to get my visa. And, there is my visa, so obviously I had that paper. Why do I need it? You have my visa. They say the EXACT SAME THING! Are you calling me a LIAR?!

No, I didn't say that! It was all running in my head. Apparently, the fine print on the bottom of said certificate states that: in order to enter Japan, this certificate and the visa must be shown to the customs officials upon arrival. Ooohhh......yeeeeaaah.....ummm. About that. I might have, just by accident, kinda-sorta left that in my room. At home. In America. (oops)

And that was why I was detained by the customs officials at Narita for 30 minutes. Yeay!! :) Lucky for me, the Japanese consulate in Detroit had sent my return address slip proving that I had sent them my certificate and that the visa was valid. But that wasn't good enough for the Japanese; they wanted my certificate in person. So I agreed to send it to their extremely difficult to write address in exchange for my temporary freedom in their country (it wasn't this cool in reality, but it sounds more interesting if I phrase it this way.)

I've just avoided an entanglement with the Japanese govenrment and I'm feeling pretty shaken (not sturred), so I retrieve all my luggage (I'm carrying slightly less than 100 pounds at this point) and I try to find a way to get to Shinjuku. "All I have to do is get to the Shinjuku train station," I told myself, "then a Wittenberg alumni will help me get to ICU.

Haha, as if life were ever so simple.

Poor me, trembling in a new country, I was so scared from sitting alone in that quiet room with all the benches, that I coincidently bought a ticket to Shibuya and not Shinjuku. What is the big difference between those cities? Well, let's just say I should have taken a left turn at Albuquerque. Shibuya is a cool place, don't get me wrong, but it isn't where I want to go with suitcases dripping from my every limb. Once I saw my mistake, I jumped off the bus at the nearest stop and tried to reorient myself. Here's the short story:

1. Stored my stuff at the nearest hotel doorway

2. Dashed to the next door LAWSONS for some 100 yen pieces

3. CALLED FOR HELP!!!

And it came, funny enough. It took me a total of 5 hours to get from Narita airport to ICU near Mitaka-shi, and it sure did feel like 5 hours, too. On my first day in Japan, I broke all of the traveling rules and looked like an idiot on at least 6 points in my day. But, at least I got to see the city, and proved that I knew what to do if I got lost.

On a positive note, when I got to my dorm that night, my dorm mates were all outside having a huge barbecue and I got to start my ICU campus life with several huge plates of grilled sausages, meats, noodles, and veggies. Everyone was super friendly, and my roommate was so welcoming that I couldn't help but feel better. It was just what I needed to make the day worth the while!

Final Photos and Goodbyes

Leaving for ICU has me feeling like a college freshman all over again: I don't know much about the campus, teachers, classes, or student life save for what I've heard and found on the internet. But I figure that since I'm back to square one, I might as well act like it!

Before Witt, I made sure to see all of my friends, family, and dojo members so that I'd have some recent memories of them all to take with me to school. Sure, I'd be coming home for Christmas, but when you find an excuse to be with the people you love, you grab it, right? Being back at home has let me relax and talk with my family, Fanam, and friends from high school. I am spending a few days with my grandparents right now, and most of the family came out for the cousins' yearly picture session. It is so odd to think that we could stand in the same house that we played in as kids! I took a whole bunch of photos of my grandparents' home and garden to help cheer me up in Japan.

Yeah, that's right! I have a camera now!! It still blows my mind that camera's don't need film anymore (well, alright, some still do, but that is on purpose).

After the family photo shoot, a bunch of us went out for Starbucks. My aunt gave me a fantastic pep-talk (she studied abroad for 3 months in Brazil) and it was heartening to hear the language adventure stories from a member of the family. It is one thing when people my own age come back and say, "That was a blast! You're going to love it! I wish I could go back!" and to hear her talk about what an impact it still has on her life.

I know that few of us want to grow up. There is always a bitter-sweet feeling at graduations, good-bye parties, and before a trip. I know that this is going to change me in more ways than I can see right now, and I wanted to see the people I've grown up with to almost reassure myself that I've changed before and they still like me.

Sorry, to get so mushy, everyone. I'll promise to pep up!

一生懸命頑張ります！

Gearing up to go!

When I tell people that I'm going to Japan, the first thing they say is, "Oh, really?! Well, isn't that something! Are you excited?"

Am I excited?

Am I excited to go to a place where not only do I not speak or read the language like a 3rd grader (on a good day)? Am I psyched to know that when I arrive the closest thing to a familiar face I'll have is the KFC mascot? Am I pumped that I still don't have a place to live or know what classes I'll be taking until two days before school all starts? Was it excitement that made me cry myself to sleep a couple times thinking that I'm utterly unprepared? Does knowing that I'll be the fattest girl in Mitaka just tickle me pink?

Um,...no. Not really.

But, am I stocked that I'll finally know what those cheap, instant ramen packs are supposed to taste like? Am I excited that I'll be living in the homeland of Bushido? Not to mention some of the last remaining Lawson's stores! Am I ecstatic to learn what it means to live in a big city, let alone the fashion capital of the East? What about the opportunity to see the ocean, temples, and shrines on a near daily basis?

Yeah, that part is pretty cool!

Don't get me wrong; I wouldn't be going to Japan if I was completely mortified of what might await me there. I have had some great advice from other Bujinkan members, Wittenberg students, and close friends about where to go, what to eat, and whom NOT to get close to. I am just starting to feel really anxious about all the negative aspects to moving (again) to a new city. My main worries at the moment are:

1. Where am I going to live?!
2. How will I get my Arabic/American food fix?
3. Where is the closest dojo?
4. How will I understand my professors?!

I've still got a lot of time to practice vocab and basic greetings, put together some omiyage, and snag some family time. Maybe my excitement list will be longer in August. Maybe I'll have found new fears. Either way, I'll keep you all posted and let you know how I'm faring for the next 11-odd months. Thanks for your support in getting me this far!