Touhoku

I can't believe what is happening in Japan right now. Earthquakes, a tsunami, fires, tens of thousands of deaths, bodies washing up on shore, two damaged nuclear power plants, snow starting to fall over rescue missions, and it goes on and on.

On Friday morning, the death toll was at 300, and I kept saying to myself, "Well thank goodness Japan has invested so much in structurally-fit buildings." What if they hadn't? The earthquake would have destroyed all the buildings and more would have died.

But then Saturday and Sunday and Monday came- The new numbers kept rolling in and the tsunami had wiped out whole cities. Whole cities and everyone in them are missing. The pictures and videos are devastating. Worse than the aerial shots from helicopters are the videos taken from the ground by some of the lucky Japanese who survived.

I feel helpless when the radio blares out information about updated death tolls and those affected by radiation. Praying won't do anything. It seems that all there is to do is donate money. But it's more than money...I'm sure most of us want to actually be in Sendai and Minamisanriku and do everything we can. I've tried looking up volunteer opportunities in LA and have found some and signed up, but even then I can only keep wondering why this happened.

I'm so happy that no one I know has been affected, but I can't stop thinking about how unfair this is. On the other hand, though, I'm so proud of how the Japanese are reacting. Everyone is still polite, there are no riots, no looting, everyone still waits in lines for buses in Tokyo, the stranded in Sendai take only what is theirs.

Everyone in Japan is so hopeful and resilient and I know they will rise above this.