19 Stressful Days

Going to Japan has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, and I've always felt that nothing could keep me from following it.

On March 11th the earthquake and the tsunami hit northern Japan. The world seemed to go crazy. I received a lot of frantic texts and phone calls that morning asking if I was okay, if I was in Japan yet, if I had heard the news. At first I felt a surge of appreciation. It was nice to have everyone thinking of me, concerned for my welfare. The texts, facebook calls, and telephone calls continued.

They followed into the next week.

I don't remember exactly when it stopped being comforting and started being annoying. It may have been when I received a phone call from another concerned student who insisted on contemplating every bad outcome and scenario that would result from going to Japan.

What about the radiation? This seems to be the hot question everyone wants to ask me. Does it matter if I stay in the U.S. and get cancer in thirty, forty years, or go to Japan and get it in twenty? No matter how much I attempted to logically explain my situation-- I'm 400 miles away from the reactors, I'm 100 miles inland, my contact at Nara said everything was fine there-- it didn't matter.

People I rarely talked to suddenly felt the need to intrude on my daily life. Co-workers were the worst. I couldn't run from the people I worked with, and it seemed that every person I ran into, even casual strangers, felt the need to give me advice whether I asked for it or not. I've been called crazy to my face almost as much as I've been the recepient of tight lipped, polite smiles. It became so bad that I began to avoid talking about my trip to Japan, if only to avoid another painful one-sided argument concerning my "safety". 

But tomorrow, I will be boarding a plane at 6:00 am to fly to Japan, nay-sayers be damned. Surprisingly, my parents have been the most supportive, understanding people throughout this entire ordeal. They have been keeping my dream alive almost as much as my fiery determination and fearlessness has.

So this is a thank you to all of the people who have stood by me in the last 19 stressful days. Those who have understood me when I've said that I trust God is in control, and that nothing will happen that isn't meant to happen. Those who have supported one woman's dream when they could have easily crushed it.

My next update will be from Japan.
じゃ！

Corri(nne)

We're Good to Go

Below you can find an email exchange with Tom Martinek Jr. concerning my study abroad trip:

Hello Tom!

I was in contact with Brandon who is also going to Japan. I know he emailed you about the status of our trips. I just wanted to know if you had spoken with anyone at Nara yet. I am not overly concerned and I have been keeping an eye on the news, but I will probably be emailing Nara in the next week so I thought I'd ask if you had heard anything from them.

Hope everything is well in Greensboro.

Sincerely,

Corrinne Rogers

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Hi Corrinne,

Thanks for checking in. I have not spoken to the coordinator at Nara. However, I have heard from other schools in that region of Japan and they have all said that they are fine and were not impacted by the earthquake/tsunami. They all plan to continue with this semesters program. I don't anticipate Nara being any different. However, I will write to the coordinator there to confirm this and pass along any updates. Also, I know that someone from Nara had also been communicating with you at different points this semester so feel to write to them directly if you'd like.

Take care and I will keep in touch.

Tom

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Hey Corrinne,

I received a reply back from the coordinator at Nara and they said that everything is fine there and they are not making any changes to their study abroad programs for this semester and encouraged you to move forward with your plans as normal. She also said that things are operating normally at Kansai International airport.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns that you would like to discuss.
Tom

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God is good!
Corri(nne)

Stay in the Loop

For current news on the situation in Japan, go to http://www.cnn.com/ and click on the link: "live blog of latest developments." It may simply be abbreviated as "live blog" or "blog updates." It updates about every 30 minutes with news clips, video, and pictures and it should be at the top of the page.

by *Tsuyoshi13 on Deviant Art

Stay strong, Japan
Corri(nne)

Stay Strong, Japan

An awesome photo by *PureBlackLove on Deviant Art

Pray for Japan

Yesterday I received a phone call from UNCG's International Programs Center. They wanted to make sure I was safe because they weren't sure if I was in Japan yet or not.

That was the first time I heard of the giant earthquake and tsunami that had rocked Japan-- the largest in the nation's history. They told me that Nara hadn't been affected since it was pretty far southwest of where the epicenter had been, but they had wanted to check in with me to let me know my study abroad plans would remain the same.

Throughout the day I received numerous texts and facebook comments asking if I was all right. Luckily, I don't leave until March 30th, but it was nice to know people were thinking of me. And now, I'm thinking of the people in Japan. I wonder if any of the people I have yet to meet had family members or friends hurt or killed by the natural disaster.

With this in mind, I encourage everyone to help in the relief effort. There are plenty of organizations already moving to assist those devastated by the quake and tsunami's aftermath.

And as always, continue to pray.




From =angelskully on Deviant Art

 Recent news:
UPI news

BBC News

Ways to help:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_newsroom/20110311/wl_yblog_newsroom/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-how-to-help

Corri(nne)

Answers

I thought I would update my blog now that I have found some of the answers to the questions posed in my last post. I strongly encourage anyone who is going abroad to ask any questions they have to people who have done it before. In this instance, the IPC at UNCG hooked me up with two students who had studied abroad in Japan recently. Through email, they were able to answer some of my lingering questions. Their response can be found below:

Q: What would you recommend as far as phones are concerned? My dad and I were looking at getting an international plan, but I am not sure what works for Japan and what doesn't. Is it best just to buy a phone there and pay as you go?

A: As far as phones are concered, I bought a phone once I got there that used a pre-paid 60-day plan/card, other exchange students bought phones and did a 1 year contract. The phones were a good way to communicate with Japanese people and other international students there. I don't know if those phones would work to call your family or friends here, but if you need a way to communicate with everyone back home, then you should get skype (http://www.skype.com/). It is free to talk skype to skype, so as long as your family and friends get it, it won't cost anything to talk to them, and skype itself is free to download and use.

A: (from another student) As far as phones go, I would suggest buying a pay as you go phone once you get to Japan rather than getting an international plan (but both are viable options). If you get an international plan make sure the phone is able to work with 3G service, or it won't work. Also, I'm pretty sure you will have to pay an international per-minute/per-text rate when calling Japanese numbers and numbers back in the US. The company Softbank offers fairly cheap prepaid phones and prepaid phone service. I think having a Japanese phone will give you a lot more flexibility during your stay and it is cheaper.

Q: How do I go about opening a bank account in Japan and transferring money? I know that Citi Bank operates in Japan, but again, I am not sure if I can transfer money while I am still in the States or if I have to wait until I get to Japan and open an account locally. Also, my friend who went to Ireland had a problem where she was not allowed to transfer money to her new account because she needed some sort of number from her bank prior to leaving the States. Do you know anything about this?

A: As for bank accounts, I have no clue. I never opened one while I was there. The school I was at required us to pay all fees and rent and such in cash, and you could withdraw money directly from your US bank account with your bank card from an ATM. A lot of the exchange students didn't bother with an account.

A: (from another student) To open a bank account in Japan, you will have to wait until you get there to open an account. Most large cities in Japan should have a bank you can use. As for your friend, the number they needed may have been the routing number. You will have to get in touch with your bank to find this number. I personally did not open a bank account in Japan, I withdrew from international ATM's because that worked out better for me, so I'm not sure of the process of transferring money to/from a Japanese bank account. Again, talk to your bank and they will have more insight about this.

Q: What did you buy as far as power converters/plug adapters go? I was looking online and was at a loss at what to get.

A: You will only need a 3 to 2 prong converter/adapter. If you take a power strip and one converter/adapter, then you can plug any 3 prong cords into the power strip (if your laptop is the only 3 prong cord you have, you could just use the converter on it and not worry with a power strip). 2 prong cords can be directly plugged in.

I hope some of this might be able to help a fellow student in the future. I know it sure helped me!

じゃ！
Corri(nne)