http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_bet_on_japan_20110320/
I live in a fantastic country. Though I am very happy to be an American of Mexican, Spanish and Apache descent, I love mi querido japón very much. The support network of caring individuals here makes up a powerfully strong collective spirit of 我々(wareware) or "we." Here is a list of cities and prefectures all across Japan that are making space available for victims of the earthquakes and tsunamis, that is, giving them a temporary place to stay: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/kizuna311/.
This kind of sharing and looking out for total strangers is one simple example how the Japanese truly consider themselves a family. I was wrong to say to my wife when the details of the tragedies began to appear on TV that "I can't do anything about it." I hadn't been watching the images that Friday, March 11th because I had been working and then I had my last evening class for English conversation. My wife told me what had happened over the cell phone and was very distraught. I thought, though it was a tragedy, that I should continue with my plans for the night which were to join friends for a farewell party for those leaving the program. Little had I realized until the next day how devasting the earthquake, tsunamis, aftershocks and nuclear plant crisis were to be.
Yet, I know that I should have been much more considerate and mindful of everyone's safety, including my own and that of my family. Everyone was physically safe, but we should have been together to grieve and mourn those who had fallen. And I should NOT have gone out that night, which turned out to be a personal tragedy and a milestone for the importance of sobriety and full realization of family responsibilities. I fell many times on my way home, I think, in part, to physically remind myself of those responsibilities. The day that followed, I recovered and then opened my eyes to the news of thousands of stories of people who had died and many family memebers that were missing because of the triple punch string of disasters.
Now, I'm trying to make up for my selfishness. I hope that others around the world can do the same. Please help however you can and watch how Japan will lift itself up again and shine in the Rising Sun.
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