Up, Down, Up, Down!

My goodness me - what a day of rollercoaster emotions!

One moment I'm as calm as anything, the next I'm flapping about in a panic!

If you haven't already - check my facebook for links to interesting articles and very regular updates. I'm going to try and bring you up to speed on here now.

I woke up this morning at 7.30am. Pissed since it was the first day in a long time that I haven't had to wake up to an alarm. I jumped on the computer and haven't moved since - it's now 13.30!!

Shame on me! I just can't drag myself away from looking at different news sites in English and Japanes, trying to keep myself (and everyone else) up to date with what is happening.

I was gonna make it to the tax office, tidy up and pack. I haven't done any of those things. The only thing I did was jump in the shower - still haven't gotten around to putting any clothes on!

So when I woke up this morning, I seemed to have a whole load of strength that wasn't there before. I still feel emotionally drained, but more positive, more in control, more calm, STRONG. It's a good feeling.

But as news at the Fukushima nuclear plant started to unfold, I went from panicking, to getting scared, to relaxing, to feeling calm, to panicking, and now I'm back to feeling calm again. It's an emotional rollercoaster and really exhausting!

So there has been another explosion and radioactive material has been leaked. People within a 20km radius have been ordered to evacuate and people within a 30km radius have been advised to stay inside. Foreign media went crazy and before you knew it, there were rumours of radioactive material reaching Tokyo within 10 hours.

Radiation levels are 40 times higher in Saitama, but this is not enough to damage human health. Gunma is looking good and there has been iodine and cesium detected in Tokyo but the sievert levels are not rising and the levels are not dangerous. Tokyoites have been advised to go about their daily lives.

So many people are panicking and fleeing. I'm not gonna scorn them - I was thinking about doing exactly the same thing, and I still intend to if things get serious. But you know, I need something CONSOLIDATED before I just abandon everything here. It's really tough to just walk away like that - props to people who can just do it.

On a really greta note though, 9700 people in Miniamisanriku have been accounted for. They are still looking for about a thousand people, but given that the original number of missing people was over 10,000, this is EXCELLENT news! :D

I really need to get off my arse and do something!

xoxo