ただいま！

To my friends and family:

I AM SAFE. Please do not worry about me and focus your attention to those in the north who need your help the most. =)

I am back in my Japanese hometown of Karatsu in Saga-ken, Kyushu.

Where?!!??!

EXACTLY!! This prefecture if driven through and never stopped in by most Japanese people. It's pure inaka - there is nothing here and as a city girl through and through, it never fails to amaze me how I managed to live here for 2 years.

It's a beautiful place - I've decided to take a load of photos and upload them onto Facebook to show Tokyoites what the REAL Japanese countryside is like. I haven't even been here for 24 hours and I'm already feeling SO MUCH stronger and recuperating well. Everything is so NORMAL here and you really would never believe what was going on at the other end of the country.

So quiet. So calm. So normal. So THERAPEUTIC. It's weird not having constant aftershocks and seeing empty shelves and crowded subways. It's a stunning morning here - the sun is shining, there are only a few clouds in the sky and when I look at the window, I just see a massive green mountain. It's gorgeous and it's making me smile.

One problem?

I'm bored already! HAHAHA! My friend is coming back during his lunch break so I can steal his car. Gonna go for a drive and get some snaps for you. I have some amazing friends, I really do. Even though it was so late by the time I touched down, he had already set up a room for me and prepared everything for a kimchi nabe! So welcoming - and it was awesomely delicious.

Still checking the news and checking up on my friends. I feel a million miles away from Tokyo and even though this is good for me and exactly what I need right now, I still can't help but feel guilty about just upping and leaving my clients at work like that. I know it's not important in light of everything that's going on but I'm not an abandoner. In fact, if I didn't have to deal with the loss of my friends on top of everything else that is going on, I wouldn't have left. Plus this way, my parents get peace of mind and I don't have to hear them panic and worry about me.

Like I said - I am far, far away from any danger. Please focus your efforts on the north. As someone who has people stranded there in evacuation centres, I am appealing to all of you to make a donation. ANYTHING that you can give - money, blankets, medical supplies, anything at all. I myself have made a mammoth donation of 100,000yen, which won't go far but if everyone did that bit, we can help bring this country back to some kind of normality - no matter how long it takes.

Please.

xoxo