safe in the Guch

Praise the Lord I am fortunate enough to begin this blog with such a title. First and foremost, I want to reassure everyone back home that I am safe and sound here in Japan. Your emails and facebook messages were truly touching as I could feel your concern and prayers from thousands of miles away. I am so very blessed to have people like you in my life who love and care for me.

Again, blessed by God, I was far from the chaos and destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami. Here's a map made by my friend Brandon to help better clarify my whereabouts.

Being so far away from everything, it almost feels as if nothing has happened. Construction workers were still out early Saturday morning, building up a new set of houses; families were out to the malls and grocery stores of Yamaguchi. Honestly, if I hadn't been at the BOE on Friday afternoon, I probably wouldn't have even known there was such a tragedy. I recall my boss getting a phone call at around 4pm on Friday, March 11, 2011, and then frantically barking orders to my supervisor and other office mates. Before you knew it, everyone was running around every which way, calling up the different schools to let them know the news while at the same time dialing up their loved ones on their personal cell phones to make sure they were alive and well. Then came the haunting sounds of the sirens which echoed throughout the streets and a direct announcement completely in Japanese. It felt like we were in a war. I had no clue what the announcement was saying but followed everyone downstairs where a TV displayed the unbelievable footage from the tsunami.

As of right now, it is believed that over 10,000 people have been killed. Many people are missing and many more are being found dead on the northeastern shores of Japan. The earthquake is said to have measured 8.9M, the greatest magnitude ever recorded in Japan (in comparison, the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995 measured 6.8M), and the tsunami about 10 m high (33 ft). There's already a wikipedia article entitled the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami. Hundreds of thousands of people are without food, water, and shelter, all the while searching for loved ones.

Praise the Lord all my friends are safe and accounted for. Two of my friends were at Tokyo Disneyland together during the earthquake. They were kept overnight in the park and had to sleep in a restaurant relying on cardboard boxes and garbage bags as bedding. They've since returned to Yamaguchi and are safe.

It's crazy to think that that earthquake/tsunami could have hit anywhere. I could have been teaching a class and pondering my dinner plans one moment, and then be gone the next. It's times like these that remind me that every day is a precious gift from God.


Please keep the people of Japan in your prayers.


Before-after shots of the Tohoku region of Japan:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html

American Red Cross relief efforts for those who want to help:
http://www.redcross.org/

サザンセトロードレース (Sazan Seto Road Race)...CHALLENGE #2!!! :D

Brandon, Michelle, me, and Choruru - Yamaguchi's mascot - before the race.

The day had finally come. Exactly one year ago I had found myself in the same predicament: running 21.097 km in under 2 hours 10 min for the half marathon portion of the Sazan Seto Road Race here in Suo-oshima, Yamaguchi, Japan (my hometown). My BOE had made me a special T-shirt with everyone's signatures. I was pumped and ready to fulfill the dream I had set for myself one year ago as I crossed the finish line 2 min after the allotted time. I was not to be defeated this time.

5 min to race time. I lace up my shoes. I take time for one last stretch. I tighten my ponytail. I am set. Cue Eminem on the iPod. I soak up his words like a sponge. If you had, one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted, one moment...would you capture it? Or just let it slip?

Bass pounding, the gun sounds, and we're off. This year I had a new strategy to ensure my success, 10-1-10, which is where you run 10 min, walk 1 min, and continue to do so throughout the race. It made sense. During the 10 min run, you would be using different muscles than the 1 min walk. I could give certain muscles a rest, thereby allowing me to run more efficiently with less fatigued muscles. Gold.

Gosh there sure are a lot of old people running this. One by one, participants donning orange 'Hiroshima Senior Citizen Club' jerseys pass by. I push myself and continue to run according to the 10-1-10 strategy. At first it takes me a while to adjust to the time-keeping with my stopwatch but finally get the hang of it at around the 6 km mark. Time passes and the 10 km mark is in sight. Oh the 10 km mark. I look down at my stopwatch. A little under 60 min had already passed. Perfect. Or so I thought. In order for me to finish within 2 hours 10 min, I would have to run 10 min miles. I naively assumed that I had ran 10 MILES (in accordance with 10 km), and would finish the race with time to spare. I had calculated wrong. At that point, I had ran a little under 6 miles. The clock was ticking.

I pass by a group of grandmas and grandpas that had lined the sidewalks to cheer. Gambare! Makenaide! they shout, waving their little Japanese flags and clapping. I flash them a winner's smile and continue on. Oh thank God! The turn around point! A big, orange cone welcomes me to my reality. Wha...!? I realize my amateur mistake. 50 min to run the remaining 10 km. It was do-able...for Olympians...but for me...hmm...I begin to panic.

Oh gosh, I'm going to let everyone down. All the people at the BOE! And my friends who came to cheer me on. Focus. Focus, Tiff. It's not over till it's over. Given that I had been running for a little over an hour, I felt pretty good. My legs weren't yet burning and I felt like there was enough "gas in the tank" to make it back to the 2nd water station. Run like the wind, Tiff! 10-1-10. Stick to the plan. I make it to the water station and grab a cup from an elementary school kid. I hear him say (w/English translation), "Hey! I know her! She's my English teacher! Hang in there!" That がんばれ was all I needed to pick up the pace. Here we go.

I begin blogging in my head as I look off into the beautiful Seto Inland Sea. I wonder if at the end of this blog entry, I'll have a picture of me jumping for joy as I cross the finish line or passed out on the ground defeated? Focus Tiff! Left leg...right leg...left...right...just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I make many analogies between running and my JET experience; getting through hard days, enduring and overcoming challenges to become a stronger person, all the while keeping up with my 10-1-10 strategy.

I glance at my watch and take time to do correct math. 30 min left with 6 km to go. Things began to look grim. Doubt started to set in. Fatigue. Disappointment. Pretty much everything and anything that you would find in a goodie bag from the devil himself began to trickle in. I see a runner pass me by, #508. We had been playing tag the entire race. As much as I wanted to leave her in my dust, I did hold her in the highest respect. She appeared to be in her 60s afterall. Yes, my pacing buddy was a 60+ year old lady, no shame in that. We run together, up the last remaining mountain, through the last remaining fishing town. Every second that passed by brought me closer and closer to defeat. I was exhausted at this point. 10 min was all that remained for me to finish 2 km. It was not going to happen. The 10-1-10 system began to break down. I found myself starting a new method, the 5-1-run-whenever-you-can-feel-your-legs-again method. I can assure you you won't find that one in many running magazines :P

I'll have you know that I finished. I managed to escape the First Aid bus that picks up people who seem like they've had enough. I ran my little heart out till the end, passing #508, and ending on a high note "sprint" (I'd call it more of a "flying wobble.") A part of me was disappointed that I hadn't finished in time and another part of me was content that I hadn't given up. I pondered the meaning of the day as I waited for my friends at the finish line. Suddenly I hear, "Tiffany-sensei!" I turn and see a group of elementary school kids that I often teach. They had come to cheer on their classmates in the 5 km race. And then, the meaning of the day, the resolution, became clear. When I leave Japan, no one is going to remember my race time or that I didn't finish in time. The important thing is the friendships: the friendships that led my BOE to make me such an amazing T-shirt, the friendships with the teachers and kids who passed out water and cheered me on, the friendships that were waiting for me at the finish line. My impression on the people that I will soon say goodbye to is what's truly important. As much as I'd love to post pictures of me victoriously crossing the finish line here at the end of this blog, I'm just as happy to end it with these :)

Kyle and me :)

Yamaguchi JETs represent! (L to R: Brandon, Kyle, Steff, me, Christina, and Michelle) Photo courtesy of Steff Y :)

 

My awesome T-shirt signed by my BOE coworkers.

Thanks Nakamura, you were right! :D