Eiko says...Everyone has their own story of where they were when the quake hit, what they were doing, how they coped, and what thoughts went flashing through their mind as the ground shook under their feet and things started falling all around them.
Apparently,...
-Sunny got stuck in a train during the quake and got home 48 hours later than planned.
-Yasu and Dawnie and Kippins were in their loft 3 stories off the ground when the quake hit.
-Ken was making afternoon tea on the 4th floor of Lodge Home.
Here's MY story, if you like.I was 3 hours early for my first English lesson for the day in Kinshichou. Having missed my last train accidentally on purpose the night before, I remember being tired and in desperate need of more sleep. So after dropping by my office and letting the staff there know that I was in Kinshichou and that I'd be back for my first lesson, I decided to go for a cup of hot coffee at Mc.D to wake me up, and also hoping to make some progress on 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', a totally addicting, twisted book by Oscar Wild.
At the counter trying to figure out whether or not I wanted any munchies with my coffee:
Me: エーットデスネ。。。
Mc.D person: はい。
Me:コーヒーとですね。。。
Mc.D person：はい。
And that's when things started shaking.
BUT! There was really only one thing on my mind at the moment, and that was coffee. And perhaps something sweet on the side since I like my coffee black? Definitely not fries. Or I could really just have a cigarette with my coffee in the smoking area. I didn't have much for breakfast though. A pack of natto was it? I'm kinda short on money this month though... I just could NOT make up my mind!
I held on to the counter to steady myself from the now much stronger shaking, and quickly glanced up to see if the 'Mc.D-person' was still with me. さすが！！Her lips were still holding that plastic smile! Eyes were a bit worried, but the smile was still there. Great!
Me: そうですね。。。アップルパイにしようかな。
Mc.D person: ホットコーヒーとアップルパイで？
Me: フム。でもどうしようかな。最近甘いものバッカだし。。。
By now things were really shaking up, and all the customers were looking very alarmed and jumping out of their seets. I held onto the counter a bit stronger and cursed myself for not being able to make my mind up quicker. The girl who was taking my order still had the plastic smile going, but her eyebrows gave away her true feelings about what was happening inside. She was terrified! I decided to be nice and just order!
Me: じゃ、それで。
Mc.D person: ２２０円になります。
I let go of the counter and pulled out my wallet and put down the coins. By now though, things were quite crazy. All the staff in the kitchen were jumping over the register counter and were heading straight for the exit.
Fuck the customers! Save your own asses! I decided to junk the idea of sitting down for a read, and decided to just take my coffee and leave. The problem was that she just wouldn't hand me my coffee!! I didn't really care for the apple pie, but my eyes were on that black energy drink, and she just wouldn't hand it over. Well, fair enough, I guess. Things were shaking so hard I thought I might as well join the crowd and make it down to the first floor myself just in case things got even more shaky! I wobbled/stumbled through the shakes to the escalator and half ran, half stumbled down and stepped outside.
EVERYONE was out there! The Mc.D was right outide the station, in front of the bus/taxi stop, and EVERYONE from the station and buildings around were there trying and failing miserably to contact somebody or anybody on their mobile phones! So BAKA! Me too. I pulled out my phone and tried dialing BORIS FIRST!! *wink* After failing at that, I quickly text messaged one of my colleagues if everything was alright at the office, and tried to find my footing.
All the lamp posts and everything that wasn't suppose to be shaking/swaying was shaking dangerously. Everybody was in shock and freaking out! Everybody that is but the people sucking on their cigarettes in the smoking area. They looked as if they were in another world and that nothing out of the ordinary--like a 9.0 earthquake--was happening around them. Brilliant idea! I thought. But quickly remembered that I puffed on my last two the previous night. Shit.
By the time I completed that thought, the first biggie seemed to have calmed down. I must admit, by then I was quite shaken, but WAY too short on energy from lack of sleep the previous night to be freaking out with everybody else! I decided I really DID need that coffee, and since I had already paid for it, it only made sense to go back and get it.
I went inside the Mc. D and grabbed my coffee with a humph, and sat down. All the staff members were back in the kitchen, smiling and serving customers again. Very good. I opened up my lap top at a table, and started sipping and reading away. I had a bite of my apple pie. It had been ages since I had one of those! I started relaxing. Unfortunately, I think I got something under 5 minutes of peace, because the second big shake started up just around that time. I rolled my eyes and looked around. By now, everybody was already in 'freak-out-mode'! There were a few customers who instantly got up and ran for the exit. A lot of people were reluctant to leave their MSG laden, food-colored cardboard sandwhiches that they nickname 'burgers', and looked like they couldn't make up their mind whether they should drop the shit in their hands and run for it, or finish their crap and THEN run for it. I honestly was just so tired! I decided to finish my hot coffee as fast as I could without burning my tounge, finish two more chapters of the book, get a refill on my coffee, and head out.
Wasn't as easy as I thought though. When everything is shaking like that, and everybody else is freaking out around you, it's really difficult to concentrate on reading a book--especially one like 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'! Also, if I could help it at all, I didn't want to die in a McD!
I quickly ran for my refill. This time a dude-staff. He just stared at me like I had lost my mind. I stared back and raised my eyebrows.
Gimme my refill so I can make it through my day without sleeping on one of my students, yeah? He awkwardly took my cup, and half pored half spilled coffee in my cup, tried hard to put the top back on and failed, and clumsily handed me my cup of coffee. I rolled my eyes, forgot to say thanks and stumbled/ran out of the building with everybody else for the second time. People were still on their phones saying stuff like, 「だめだ。ぜんぜんつながらない」 while trying to keep steady on their feet. Once again, all the smokers seemed so surreal, peaceful. Amazing.
Headed over to my office which is on the 4th floor, and was delighted to see that all my colleagues were alright and beaming from ear to ear.
"You're alright!" Andy, my boss, gushed.
"Not really. I'm exhausted."
"Oh, no! What happened?" A concerned fellow teacher at work.
"No sleep last night and
horrible service at Mc. D. I really just wanted my coffee, you know? Seriously!"
"Ok...that means you ARE alright?..."
"I guess" I sighed, and took a sip from my coffee. The coffee was too hot. I burned my tongue.
Apparently, everybody was unharmed by the quake at work. All the guys at my work place are SO cool! Their totally chaos savvy! One jumped up and held the partitions up from falling on student. Another ran over to the tall book shelf and held it against the wall while keeping the door open. Andy ran over to the drinking fountain which was propped up on the fridge to keep that from toppling over. They said it was a nasty shake, and that they loved it. It was time for a drink!
The reasoning behind that was that the trains will have stopped and no students will be able to come to the office even if they were crazy enough to want an English lesson after something this big--the trains were fucked! This means work for the day was over like it or not. Also, we had a 6-pack just chilling in the fridge. Lastly it's a Friday, and we were all going to drink that evening anyway! Why not start early? We did!
We took the beers outside and toasted to being alive! A few random people joined our little group with beers of their own, and some otsumami as well. A liquor store ran by a sweet old man had lost over 20 bottles in the quake, and so out of compassion we bought 2 more 6 packs of beer off of him, and chugged them down. It was a party!!
After confirming that no students would be arriving, we headed over to the HUB and caught Happy Hour. It was a full night out! Wee-hoo! By the time I was properly tipsy, I was able to get in contact with all of my loved ones and found out the wonderful news that everyone was unharmed! Relieved. I had a few more drinks while watching the news in the HUB. Spent the remainder of the night with Andy and Aich at Karaoke. Trains won't be running till morning anyway, right? Our Karaoke box was on the 8th floor! You could imagine how all those little tremors felt like up there! Big yikes!
Got home safely though. I honestly thought my lungs will be crushed while in the Yamanote line heading for Nippori! I've never been pressed against so hard in a train before! The train was beyond packed! Since there were so few trains running, people had to wait out in the cold for long periods of time before getting a ride and were consequently grumpy! I thought I would get trampled over at one point and have my lungs squished by a fellow human who was in danger of his/her lungs being squished by yet another human in danger of the same horrible death! It was pretty damn painful! Yasu was lovely and picked me up at Nippori since the liner wasn't working. I got back home at around noon, Saturday. It was a looong night.
Showered. Slept. Stocked up the fridge with food. Watched a lot of Glee. Read more of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. Called a lot of friends. Received a lot of calls from concerned friends as well.
It's all good.
No pictures. If you want some there are plenty everywhere on the internet, if what you see when you step out of your door isn't enough.
Write more later.
Take care, all!
