A Little Surprise
Earlier today, a little before dinner time, all seemed quiet. I was showing Jittan some videos from the internet, and looking at some pictures that she had saved on her hard drive. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, the table started to shake a bit. I stood up and felt the ground sway underneith me. Shoko seemed very excited, and Jittan looked a little scared. I grabbed my camera and took a video. In about 10 seconds the whole episode was over, but I had just been through my first earthquake. We quickly turned on the TV, as my mind tried to recall all the information about P and S waves I never thought I'd have to know from science class. The TV confirmed that indeed there had been an earthquake (apparently a semi-common occurance in japan) and issued a tsunami warning for some prefectures (not okayama). The tsunami warning said there could be waves reaching .5 meters (not very tall in my opinion), and I believe the earthquake was a 5 on the richter scale.
After all the excitement, many people came over and we had a tempura party. Jittan and I cleaned some shrimp and shreaded horseraddish. The evening was wonderful and I recognized some of the guests from Shoko's chinese lessons, such as the guy who teaches computer lessons. We played shogi and he won then we played othello and i won. I'm also learning, slowly, how to play Go. There are two versions, Go() and Igo. Igo is the traditional game, and go( i use the () because there is some japanese word after it that i can't remember) is sort of like connect four. They're both very fun, but Igo is difficult. On TV there is a show devoted to shogi and Igo, where they teach you how to play (in japanese).
The funny part is later that evening, after the tempura party, I sat down in my room to write about the day's excitement. I turned on the air conditioner and the door to my room shook a little bit. I thought it a bit odd but it's a sliding door and sometimes makes sounds when people come in and out of the house. As a turned on the computer, the ground started to shake again. I quickly grabbed my camera and took another video of the second earthquake. Again people seemed more excited than alarmed. After about 5 seconds it was over, and everyone went back to getting ready for bed.
So my first earthquake, first typhoon, and first tsunami. What a welcoming party.
After all the excitement, many people came over and we had a tempura party. Jittan and I cleaned some shrimp and shreaded horseraddish. The evening was wonderful and I recognized some of the guests from Shoko's chinese lessons, such as the guy who teaches computer lessons. We played shogi and he won then we played othello and i won. I'm also learning, slowly, how to play Go. There are two versions, Go() and Igo. Igo is the traditional game, and go( i use the () because there is some japanese word after it that i can't remember) is sort of like connect four. They're both very fun, but Igo is difficult. On TV there is a show devoted to shogi and Igo, where they teach you how to play (in japanese).
The funny part is later that evening, after the tempura party, I sat down in my room to write about the day's excitement. I turned on the air conditioner and the door to my room shook a little bit. I thought it a bit odd but it's a sliding door and sometimes makes sounds when people come in and out of the house. As a turned on the computer, the ground started to shake again. I quickly grabbed my camera and took another video of the second earthquake. Again people seemed more excited than alarmed. After about 5 seconds it was over, and everyone went back to getting ready for bed.
So my first earthquake, first typhoon, and first tsunami. What a welcoming party.
3 Comments:
ben--we thought of you when we read about the earthquakes and said, "No way it could be where ben is...". glad you're ok and no damage. we love to read your comments. your friends in not too sunny FLA., the weiss's.
By Anonymous, at 12:29 PM
Ben,
Glad to read that you are having all these new experiences and having a good time. We all love to read your blog! Keep it up.
Syam
By Girija, at 6:43 PM
just read your most recent logs, that sounds pretty crazy, and school sounds fun
-bernie
By Anonymous, at 7:18 PM
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