First disasters

I don't think it can get any worse than it is now. On Monday, my work at the kindergarten started. It turned out that I was not nervous for no reason.

On Saturday, they had a kind of sports festival at the kindergarten, so the children are currently preparing for it. They are practicing songs and certain sports dances (I don't know if the Japanese would describe it that way, but it definitely involves movement with music). So, I arrived at the kindergarten just before 9 and was immediately assigned to my group. The Giraffe group with children aged four to six.

Everything was fine and relatively normal. I was introduced to the group of 25 children and the children also introduced themselves, although I had already forgotten all their names after a few minutes. Then we all went outside together and practiced for the sports day. It's really amazing how disciplined Japanese children are. They stand very neatly in their rows and actually do everything. My biggest problem was whether I should participate or not, so I stayed with my group most of the time and participated in almost everything (more bad than good). I felt a bit like the fifth wheel on the wagon.

On Tuesday, they had a dress rehearsal for the sports day and I participated again and helped where I could. It actually went much better than before. After one 'sports dance', one of the staff members even told me that I did it perfectly. I think I looked at him like a car because I didn't believe a word he said...

In the afternoon, the first effects of the typhoon were felt. The wind became stronger and it alternated between rain and sunshine. In the evening, it got even worse. In my room, I could hear the windows rattling and outside, I could see the trees bending. I could also hear the wind whistling around the houses.

On Wednesday morning, I could see the full extent of the typhoon. You may not have seen much, but at least a whole tree broke right in front of the kindergarten. Because of this (and because of the typhoon), the children were not allowed to play outside all day, and it was really interesting to see the older children playing with the younger ones. It's really fun to play with the children, even if there are sometimes communication problems.

In the evening, I talked on the phone for the first time with another volunteer and it was interesting to hear how things are going at her workplace. Meanwhile, there was a thunderstorm outside and from my window, I could see the lightning beautifully. I think I even sat in front of the window for the whole hour because I was so fascinated.

Eventually, I found my way to bed and thought everything was fine. At night (around 2 or 3 in the morning), I woke up. In itself, nothing abnormal, but shortly afterwards, the floor started to vibrate. My first earthquake. In the middle of the night. All alone. That was a really strange feeling.

Out of fear that the ground could start moving again, I didn't dare to get out of bed (stupid idea, I know). Maybe it was also some kind of shock and I had no idea what else to do... In any case, after it hadn't shaken for a while, I just turned around and went back to sleep.

The next morning, my host family asked me if everything was okay with me and that I should be careful because another earthquake was expected. Thank God it never came. For the first time, I realized that the earthquake must have been a little stronger and in retrospect, I seriously consider whether I slept through most of it...

Well, after that, the power went out. In the city, a car keeps going around (or at least I think so) and makes announcements about the latest situation. The only problem is, I had no idea what was actually being announced... But my host family was really nice and made sure that I spent the night at the temple with two staff members. Plus, I had a really nice dinner with my host family and a few staff members (in total, I think 26 people). It was really delicious and a lot of fun. Especially interesting because everything took place by candlelight and flashlights (at the beginning, I didn't think about the consequences of no electricity, because in Germany we usually only have a blown fuse...). Because we didn't have light, we could see the stars really well at night. I have never seen so many stars in Germany, I could even recognize the Milky Way.

Well, at least the earthquake is over now and for now it's over, unless there are aftershocks over the next week.

So now everything is up to date^^ I hope there are no more disasters or irregularities in the near future. The typhoon and the earthquake were enough for the first few months.

Best regards,

Janina