A Solemn Day

The day began wonderfully!  Woke up to an e-mail from Jamie, skyped with my parents and Nate, then rushed off to meet my fellow JETS at the train station.  There were a few people running late so I had time to go to the local bakery to pick up a pastry and ice coffee.  It was delicious!  Then we got off the train to trade lines.  There was a ten minute delay which apparently is a fairly common occurrence.  The veteran JETs immediately knew what happened--there had been a jumper.  Someone jumped in front of the train, causing the delay.  It was explained to me that because jumpers are prevalent in Japan, train stations lose a lot of money due to the delays and therefore sue the family of the jumper.  This deters jumpers, but the JR line is known for not suing the families for as much money so jumpers are more prevalent on that track.  We took a detour and continued on with our day as if nothing had happened.   

Next we arrived at the earthquake museum.  There had been a big (6.3M?) earthquake in 1995, killing thousands (5k?) and injuring much more (20k?) in Kobe.  Although the earthquake only lasted 11 seconds, it did considerable damage.  The structure of the buildings at the time were not prepared for earthquakes.   We watched a movie which simulated the earthquake.  Kobe is a densely populated city with several layers of  stores, transportation, apartments, etc.  The earthquake caused these structures to collapse.  It was somber walk through the museum. It was strange to see what the city looked like 17 years ago.  It is now very prosperous, like the earthquake never happened.

As we went to and from the museum there were cops loitering around our bus.  I didn’t notice them until a friend mentioned it later.  There apparently was a anti-foreigners rally and the police were with us as a precautionary measure.  I never saw these protestors, but other JETS witnessed them on our walk around town.  

Crazy day.

Please pray for the Japanese.  I’m still processing the jumper and the lack of reactions from the other JETS.  Are jumpers really that common that I will be desensitized too?

Hosted my first dinner party last night!

Waiting for okonomiaki to finish cooking for lunch today.