March 11th 2011 Terrible Earthquake

1 year has passed after the terrible earthquake attacked  in Japan.
Our daily lives have completely changed after the disaster.
19000 lives in the northeastern region of Honshu were lost .
May they rest in peace...

During that  time, I was  teaching cooking to the Japanese housewives in Chinatown,Yokohama.
Suddenly the new and massive condominium was shaking strongly,the lights which were hanging from the ceiling in the room were madly swaying.I heard eerie sounds of swaying of the building so I thought I was going to be crushed, It was the worst terror in my life.

At first,I thought that I needed to squat under the table but very soon I realised that it was not the usual one as it lasted longer and much stronger than I've experienced before.I was working on the second floor so I decided to rush out of the condominium.Due to the massive shake,I could not walk straight and I almost  fell  down the stairs.All the cars have stopped and there were many people standing outside of the buildings.I stood stunned in the centre of the street.I saw the blinds of the building that I've just left were jumping as if they were dancing.After the first earthquake,I returned back to the building but soon after,the next one attacked and all of us rushed out again.

I was worried about my husband who was working nearby.I could not contact him as all the telephone circuits were cut.I wanted to go home but the JR station did not operate so I stayed at my student's house.How lucky we were   at that time as we were not alone and  we had good food ,too because of my cooking class!!  But I was worried about my husband the whole night.Actually,I wanted to inform my family members and friends in Japan,UK and Singapore that I was safe but could not as both the connections of the Japan and Singapore hand phones were cut.

Fortunately,my son-in-law who's working in London as a banker,called me using the emergency line around 8pm.I was so happy and relieved that finally I was able to speak to one of my family members.I could only hear him saying'Yoko,are you ok?!'To my embarrassment,I couldn't understand his fluent speech as he was panicking.I did feel how much he was worried about us.I appreciated his calling and the system of emergency in UK.

Yokohama is very far from the disaster area  but  its land was  reclaimed  and furthermore just next to the sea so the swing of the earthquake was a heavy one.

The next morning,I went to the JR station.On the way home I saw lots  of litter in the underground arcade where many commuters had stayed over and eaten.If the cooking class had finished earlier than I had expected,I would've been stuck in a shopping centre which is few stations away from Chinatown and would have to spend the night there with the other commuters.
There were many long queues at the station and I had to wait for almost an hour to enter a train which was packed with people.

My husband had stayed over at his company and early in the morning,he came back home by a taxi.I was over joyed when I saw his face!