It took me 6 months to take up pen and paper again, but little did I know that within a week of penning my experience of the earthquake I would be shipped back to the ole' friendly United States halfway through my study abroad with a broken heart, too upset to admit it to the Internet world. Now here I am again, writing one last time to put an end to this blog with a brief summary of my last days in Japan.
Shortly after the earthquake we were informed of a nuclear crisis going on at Fukushima 1. This led to what was called "brown-outs," or controlled power outages to conserve energy and help the crisis. Since trains run on electric power, this made it extremely difficult to get anywhere, therefore my host-family and I were confined to our immediate area. Basically, my (unknownst to me) last week in Japan consisted of boredom. I was unable to meet my friends or go into the city; activities were limited to those that you can do at home, such as reading and watching movies - in a crowded house, no less. Then, after almost a week of this, I received an e-mail from my university informing me that they had cancelled the program, and "strongly advised" me to come home as soon as possible. A few of my friends resisted and were allowed to stay, and though I wished to do the same, my family and friends were horribly worried due to the impending nuclear crisis, so I decided to pack my bags and head to the airport. My dad, the engineer that he is, was worried more than everyone else about the power plant, meaning that he wanted me on the next plane he could get me. Despite my pleading for more time in the country I loved, he was the one with the credit card buying my way home, so I didn't have much room to negotiate. Thus, I was on a plane two days after I got that horrid, end-of-my-life e-mail. In two days I had to pack everything, say goodbye to my host-family who I had come to love dearly, and try and see as many friends as I could. In the end, I was only able to meet with three friends. I boarded the plane trying desperately to keep from crying (but failing miserably) over the friends I never got to say goodbye to, some of which I will probably never see again.
Now, 6 months later, a year has passed (to the day) since I left for Japan. My host-sister is now living here in America with my family and studying English, and a few weeks ago the rest of my host-family came to visit. Even though I left Japan filled with regret over all the things I had planned to do but never got the chance, I know I'll go back. Japan will still be there, and the relationships I've made will last forever. My Japan adventure is not over yet.
