I'm back

I've made it home safe and sound. I'll be continuing my studies at the University of Delaware for April and May and then will graduate at the end of the semester! My time in Japan was great and I will never forget it. I'm thankful to have had such a wonderful experience. This will be the last post of this blog, thanks everyone for reading!

Brian

I'm coming home

As many of you have already heard, I'll be coming back to America on Tuesday. While Fukuoka has yet to be directly affected by the disasters that have devastated Northern Japan, things have failed to improve over the past week and the future is still uncertain. My friends and family at home are concerned about the instability in the country right now and I am too.

About the Nuclear Power Plants that were Damaged by the Tsunami

I know many people are concerned about the instability of the nuclear reactors in Fukushima, especially with lines like "Japanese nuclear plant rocked by new explosion" on CNN's homepage. Remember the news industry is exactly that, an industry, and getting people riled up keeps the viewers tuned in. Here is an analysis a friend of mine wrote up based on his research online about the incidents.

I'm fine!

As many of you have probably heard, there was a massive earthquake in Japan, the 7th largest in recorded history. Since I'm in Fukuoka, we didn't even feel the tremors. As is a common result of earthquakes, a tsunami decimated the coastline of the Sendai region of Japan, and most of the east coast is still on tsunami alert. Fukuoka is on the western side of Kyushu though, so I am well out of harm's way. Picture a giant earthquake in the north Atlantic Ocean with enough power to severely damage Boston and sway buildings in Washinton D.C. In this analogy, I'm on the west coast of Florida. Yes I hear about it on the news constantly, yes I have friends with friends or family in the affected region, and yes my phone service has been a little shakey due to the high amount of traffic, but I'm completely fine.

There are a lot of people in Northern Japan who aren't fine though. I appreciate everyone's concern, but right now the people in Sendai are the ones who are in need. Direct your concern and prayers to those who lost their homes, families or lives from this catastrophic force of nature. I have heard that there was enough warning to properly evacuate a large portion of the population. Hopefully this has minimized the casualties of this natural disaster. It will be a long road to recovery, but I have no doubt that this tragedy will bring out the best in so many people who will work hard to rebuild what has been lost.