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I’m alive

As you are probably aware, a big earthquake hit the north-east part of Japan on 11 March and I stopped updating this blog since then. This is a quick notice that I’m alive. The part of Japan where I live (Saitama – near Tokyo) is hardly damaged, and far away from the recommended evacuation zone of the Fukushima nuclear plants. So, despite what you may have heard from media, I can safely say that I’m in a safe place.

However, we must not forget that there are people who suffered from this big earthquake as well as from the nuclear plant accident. If you haven’t done so, please donate for them (Seriously, I hear that people haven’t donated much for this cause). You can check this page for where to donate. It’s not listed in that page. I recommend GlobalGiving as well.

I have been pouring my energy into things like researching about what’s going on and learning some fundamentals about nuclear plants and radiation, trying to inform non-Japanese residents of Japan about the current situation and how it’s more likely to be safe in Tokyo and in places far away from the nuclear plants so I can calm down some of them, and some translation projects related to this earthquake (by the way, if you didn’t know, I’m a freelance translator).

Now, things calmed down a bit and I was ready to go back to blogging. But then, I got injured from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu on Thursday and now my right orbit bone got broken. It wasn’t as bad as I needed to have an operation, though. So, I’ll wait and see. My eyesight seems to be normal, but from certain angles, things look doubled. A bonus is that I got my head CT-scanned, and that means I was exposed to radiation much more than I would get exposed to it from spending a day outside or even a week or a month in this area. I find it amusing, actually.

So, now it’s hard for me to face my computer and to work on something, because it makes my right eye tired quickly and that’s not good for recovery.

I might take some more rest from blogging and instead try to think more about the design and foundation of this blog as well as things like the unique selling proposition of this blog (i.e. it’s an answer to the question why people should read my blog).

I learnt a number of great lessons from this earthquake and I want to share them with you all. That will be my comeback post.

My eye started hurting a bit, and I want to have some rest now. See you until the next time.

Stay calm, stay safe, keep loving, and have hope.

Cheers,

Masa

Photo: kelby93