Hands Down...

...the scariest experience that I've been through here in Japan.

Unless you've been living on the moon, you'll know that Japan was hit by a 8.9 magnitude earthquake today. The 7th biggest recorded earthquake ever.

Firstly, I'd really love to thank EVERYONE who sent me messages and apologise to everyone who tried to call - my battery decided to die on me, so I'm really sorry to leave you worried and hanging.

But I'm safe.

I was teaching when it hit. We've felt them before, so when the building started shaking, it was easy to laugh and be like "Oh, an earthquake".

But then it turned into "Wow, that's a really big one" (PLEASE save the innuendos!!!), and then "OK, it's going on for quite a long time". As the trembling became stronger, I looked out of the window and saw the building opposite swaying violently from side to side. That's when it turned into...

...."Oh, F***!!!!"

It was kinda like something out of a movie. Although, I know that earthquakes are a common occurrence here, you still never expect to see it on that kind of scale yourself. It was at the point that you feel terror and fear and as we evacuated the building and were standing outside, you could see smoke coming from buildings and feel the ground moving and tembling beneath your feet. I kinda just felt stunned, and shocked and scared and didn't really know what to do.

After a little while we went back inside, but it wasn't long after that that we felt another one and had to evacuate again. It was at that point that the severity of what was really happening hit and you wonder if you're gonna be OK. People were clearing out the shops for food and other supplies and we weren't able to leave the office - the trains were running and we had to wait around for advice on what to do next.

When the school decided to close, it was such a mission to try and figure out how to get home. Dumbass here was just thinking that I could go outside and jump in a cab with another coworker who lives close to me. The roads were jammed - even if we managed to catch a taxi, we wouldn't have got anywhere and the fare would have been horrendous, so we decided to walk thinking that we would be able to catch a cab later on in the journey. That jouney ended up being 6 hours. I really thought I only lived a couple of hours away, since it only takes 35 minutes on the tube, but in fact, I was going from one end of Tokyo to the other.

It was such a surreal sight seeing the whole of Tokyo walking home. It really was like a movie - thousands of people traipsing along the streets - unless you wanted to stay in the office, it was the only way any of us were getting home. I'm just glad I decided to bring my flats today coz I never would have made it home in those heels. As we walked through Tokyo and Marunouchi, it was so crazy to see the damaged buildings - windows were all smashed up and big cracks in the wall. It was a long haul - even just to Shinjuku where we stopped for a coffee. Tired, frustrated, feeling ill and worried sick about my family who I knew would be trying to contact me - it was a whirlwind of emotions. After 5 hours, I spilt off from my coworker. The roads were still rammed but there was hardly anyone walking and I just felt so crap and tired and irritated. My feet were killing, my legs were (and still are) burning with pain and I was just pushing myself to go on, knowing that I needed to email and skype people to let them know I was OK.

I can't describe how it felt when I saw familiar landmarks and got the feeling that I was almost there. I walked in my house and then my jaw dropped when I saw the state of my room. I have a MASSIVE chestr of draws which had been knocked over. Clothes were everywhere. My laptop and TV were on the floor, but miraculously NOTHING was damaged or broken. The first thing I did was call home and then charge my phone to listen to the string of panciked messages and read my emails.

It hurts me deeply to hear how much people were worrying about me. I feel so sorry to have put you through that. I love you all for caring and I just feel so lucky that I wasn't caught up in anything more serious. Aching muscles, irritability, exhaustion and a 6 hour walk home are nothing compared to what people are having to deal with up in Sendai. Nothing at all, and I'm so thankful that I can come here and tell you all that I'm safe.

There is that moment where I wonder why I put myself in this kind of danger living here, but I remember after I left England, there was a massive earthquake in the North, so it just shows that it could happen anywhere.

The main thing is that I'm safe. I'm be lying if I said I wasn't shaken up. It was a really scary experience and I was at a point where I though "This is it". Everyone here knows that we were overdue a massive earthquake - I'm just hoping that that was it and there is nothing else to follow.

My heart goes out to those who were seriously affected and to the friends and family of lost ones.

Thank you all for your support!

Love you.

jade xoxo