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)