April 2011 Newsletter: Yumi's Monthly Note
Hello everyone! Project in Vietnam has started its operation with no hitches to hold its opening ceremony on March 3rd at Ho Chi Minh City. As I got back to Japan through Kansai Airport on March 8, I was preparing for the report at my home in Kyoto. I was so busy then that I could not remember when I took the day off the last. Then suddenly, I felt dizzy so I lied down on the bed, thinking that I was too tired, but my dizziness did not stop. As I was wondering, the entire house has started shaking and squeaking, for my realization that it was the earthquake, which shook the ground quite a while.
My room shook badly on the 4th floor of the small 4-story apartment that was built more than 30 years ago. I hurriedly turned the TV on to see the telop “very strong earthquake at Tohoku district”, then the screen has switched to the news for Tsunami warning. I got goose bumps thinking of the magnitude of it, as it shook Kyoto that is so far away. Then we heard unbelievable news one after another, including the one about nuclear power plant. My Tokyo acquaintance who kept Skype on replied to me that s/he was going to die as I asked if s/he was OK. Her/his office was on the 14th floor and s/he said s/he could see the fire going up the sky from Odaiba. The aftershock was lasting all the while. Regardless of the fact if you were there or not there, it took some time for everybody to understand that it was really happening.
My deepest sympathy goes to those who are troubled by this great earthquake. My heart also aches hearing the news that agricultural products are radiation-contaminated, as I recently interact with many farmers in Vietnam. We were planning the last activity of the school year at Yoyogi, Tokyo but decided to cancel it due to the quake. It was judged as dangerous, as there are multiple children who would come to the site by train, while blackouts were expected, the train services were limited, and the ones available may have been crowded than usual. We are going to newly start the OKWave Pangaea Activity near Ebisu station, Tokyo in April. I called Yoyogi children to let them know the cancellation to find out that there are more ones who wanted to come to the new site despite the fact that it will be a little farther. Hope we would be able to get together soon.
In Seoul, Korea, the activity of the new school year has started at UNESCO Mizy Center. It seems they have decided at the last minutes to send Japan the message to cheer us up, as the quake occurred right before. After the activity, they immediately sent us the photo of the message board that children has prepared using pictographs and Japanese characters, which you will be able to see on the Pangaea Blog (http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2011/03/message_from_ko.html).
Hope aftershocks will be over very soon. Thank you very much for Pangaeans who sent us the emails from Kenya, Sweden, Malasia, US, Korea, Vietnam and UK for your support. We will get over this.
Well, I introduce, Mr. Yohei Murakami, Senior Researcher of Language Grid Project, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, as a Pangaea Ring Writer for this month.
Yumi
My deepest sympathy goes to those who are troubled by this great earthquake. My heart also aches hearing the news that agricultural products are radiation-contaminated, as I recently interact with many farmers in Vietnam. We were planning the last activity of the school year at Yoyogi, Tokyo but decided to cancel it due to the quake. It was judged as dangerous, as there are multiple children who would come to the site by train, while blackouts were expected, the train services were limited, and the ones available may have been crowded than usual. We are going to newly start the OKWave Pangaea Activity near Ebisu station, Tokyo in April. I called Yoyogi children to let them know the cancellation to find out that there are more ones who wanted to come to the new site despite the fact that it will be a little farther. Hope we would be able to get together soon.
In Seoul, Korea, the activity of the new school year has started at UNESCO Mizy Center. It seems they have decided at the last minutes to send Japan the message to cheer us up, as the quake occurred right before. After the activity, they immediately sent us the photo of the message board that children has prepared using pictographs and Japanese characters, which you will be able to see on the Pangaea Blog (http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2011/03/message_from_ko.html).
Hope aftershocks will be over very soon. Thank you very much for Pangaeans who sent us the emails from Kenya, Sweden, Malasia, US, Korea, Vietnam and UK for your support. We will get over this.
Well, I introduce, Mr. Yohei Murakami, Senior Researcher of Language Grid Project, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, as a Pangaea Ring Writer for this month.
Yumi
Posted by: kumakinoko | 3. Newsletter
