Tokyo Earthquake

Hi everyone!  Wow i never thought my first official blog i would have time to write would have any news of living through the largest earthquake in japan's history.  First things first, all of the performers are safe and right now we are all in our apartments which is at a place called e-village.  So fortunate to have electricity, heat, and good company.

FYI i am not doing any spell check so this is just a big free write journal...

I will update you more on the tokyo journey so far once emotions and everything has settled here, but i definitely would like to dedicate this first blog to sharing this crazy experience with you.

Where was I when the first earthquake happened?  Well i shall tell you.  Yesterday was the first day i took the train by myself as i had some free time in between rehearsals, but had to go back separately from the other girls in my rehearsal group because I was going to the conditioning room to get my shoulder checked out.  I've been having some serious pains in my shoulder blade that started before i left and it is getting worse so i wanted to see what exactly this pain is.  Right now i am not too concerned about my shoulder lets just say that.  So here i am walking to the conditioning room outside when all of a sudden i felt really naseous and weak...like i was about to faint (little did i know the earth was moving underneath my feet). A few japanese cast members came out of a building and were screaming in japanese and motioning to get down and stay close to the ground (body language is definitely a universal language thats for sure).  What was scary is that i was by myself with only a few japanese men and women around me, who i thought were very used to this type of thing.  Then i saw a bus started to tip from side to side and water come out of the sewer drain and the buildings started to shake around me.  I had a few thoughts going through my head like, "how long is this going to last for, i wonder how often this happens in japan, i wish i was with other people, and of course a yogic thought if i could meditate in this craziness.  On a humorous note i also thought of hte earthquake episode on saved by the bell. Silly, but comic relief for myself.

After what felt like minutes, but probably only about 90 seconds we were told it was okay to walk so i went on my way and then saw a crowd of my fellow performers who were rehearsaing for the easter parade.  They were all gathered outside and i was so grateful to see other people i knew.  So we waited outside for them to give us safety clearance and i headed to the trainers office.  Two japanese cast membetrs were in there who barely spoke english just crossed their arms in a big X and said no more appointments...too dangerous..reschedule.  So i went back outside and the second wave of the earthquake began.  We were told to duck and stay close to the ground again.  The day parade was half way out there and all the floats were shaking...poor blue fairy out in the parade high up in the air in a float and had to keep performing to frightened guests (she made it down safetly after the shaking subsided).

The time was about 3pm and then all of the performers waited outside for about an hour or so...it was getting quite cold so we were brought towels and blankets and pillows, as well as heat packs.  The cast members and talent team could not have been more helpful.  Then of course the rain cloud came and we had a bit of a rain shower...but we were thankfully brought umbrellas.  Finally they said they still needed to check some of hte buildings but the main wardrobe building was cleared for inspection so we sat in there for about four hours or so not knowing hte extent of hte earthquake.  Some performers had cell phones who were gettig bits of the devasting news and contacting home.  Never have i ever wanted a cell phone so badly!  Every hour or so a member of hte talent team came in to give us news about other performers who were not rehearsal and evacuated out of e-village to a nearby junior high...but they told us they were all safe.  They brought us some food to hold us over, which was very kind and made sure to ask if we were all okay.  Someone had some cards so we played uno, which i am embarrassed to say i never played before..but it was a good way to pass the time.  Haha we also played never have i ever and love it or hate it!  It was a nice distraction but all i wanted to do was contact home and let the family know i was okay.

Finally we were all brought into a big room (i felt like american idol when they break up into 4 rooms and let 2 of the rooms know if they were through to the next round..only this held the question of "what will the next step of my earthquake experience be?").  The president of entertainment spoke in japanese and the translator told us the 8.9 magnitude of the earthquake and the state of the areas around us, but at least gave us the news that e-village was finally safe to go back to.  Authorities gave the go ahead for  anyone who lived locally to journey back home...which was our choice whether or not we wanted to stay the night in the main building or walk back to e-village, which is an hour and a half walk about.  There were buses and cars still on the roads so they knew travel was safe and they even went down to e-village themselves to make sure that the travel would be okay for all of us.  All of us (about 60 plus) went as a big group back to e-village and walked a very  muddy and bumpy path.  I dont think it was as bad as we all thought, however the damage was still shocking between the breaks in the roads, the street lamps tilted over, water rising and pretty much mud everywhere.

So around 10:30 we made it back to e-village and reunited with some of the others that were here.  It felt so good to see my apartment was pretty much in tact with only a few things tumbled over.  We were told by the super that water and gas would be turned off, but all eletricity works (thankgoodness for heat and being able to connect back home via the internet)!  The girls here from orlando and i had a little sleepover so we could keep eacother company.  We of course were digesting all of the information and just so happy to be protected and with eacother.

We woke up this morning to an announcement that entertainment has provided us with "emergency vegetable flavored rice" and water for lunch/breakfast.  So we all met in the community room for a little rice and connecting with everyone.  we were told that there is not too much damage to the parks, but they are not opening them until it is completely safe.  Then the orlando girls and i went for a walk down to the sea wall (we live about 1/2 mile from the bay) and it was a suprisingly beautiful sunny day outside.   We saw lots more street damage and i have some pictures to share so u can see too.  The super market called "Ito yokado" was open, which is a huge huge store kind of like a target..it felt like a big party in the super market wiht everyone buying food that we need for a few days because we dont know how long we will be without water and there is rumor they may have to shut off our power because of the nucelar plants nearby.  I was shocked to see how much was still on the shelves, as we went later in the day..but we are fully prepared and now are stocked up.  We are having a movie night tonight with lot of snacks and a few drinks too cause we definitely need it!  Natural disasters have quite a way of creating bonding experiences.

Well, i am going to get going cause i feel i have written quite a bunch...I am going to post this and then add the pictures later.  I am not going to lie i really want to fly home right now and be back in NY with my family.  Its really quite scary not knowing if we will have power/water or if there will be trecherous after shocks.  Talk about living in the moment!  Ahhhh...anyway.  Please keep all of japan in your prayers and thoughts.  at the moment i still have power and skype so i hope it stays on (fingers crossed).  Love to everyone and big big big hugs!

With all  my heart,
Julie