Early Preparations

Okay, so I haven't officially left yet but I've been answering questions non-stop about my trip so I wanted to go ahead and post something. My program in Tokyo is from March 28th - August 3rd. It's technically a "spring" semester program, but since the academic calendar in Japan is different, the semester dates don't line up exactly with those at Wellesley. So, I finished up my fall classes at Wellesley in December, returned home for the holidays, and then went back up to Boston in early January to begin my internship at Dollars & Sense. I spent about 10 weeks as an editorial intern doing everything from working on the website to copy-editing new issues to processing book orders. It was a great experience and I'm really glad they were able to accommodate my weird schedule. Check out their website!

The day I left Wellesley, I was supposed to make the drive from Boston to Raleigh, North Carolina, spend a week at the beach, and then spend a week at home making my final preparations before departure. However, that all changed when I woke up to the devastating news of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami that hit off the coast of Sendai, Japan on March 11th. The world watched as entire towns were wiped out and the tsunami then knocked out power to the nuclear plant in Fukushima, leading to a massive scramble as Japanese workers have heroically worked around the clock to attempt to prevent a major nuclear crisis. Despite their best efforts, however, some radiation has leaked into the atmosphere, adding to the growing concerns surrounding the safety and efficacy of a study abroad program in Tokyo at the current time.

I spent the past week learning as much as I could through my phone's painfully slow internet and TV's basic cable, as I was at the beach without internet or a cable box. I watched as the toll of dead or missing has climbed above 20,000, with estimates that as many as 15,000 bodies may eventually be found in the Miyagi prefecture alone. I read updates on my phone about how several U.S. universities (Duke included) have canceled their study abroad programs in Japan and pulled their undergraduates from the country. However, my study abroad partner, CIEE, sent me my first program update on the day the news of the earthquake broke in the U.S., and they have continued to communicate with us as we all work to make the best decision about our participation in the program.

I have fielded many concerns from my family and friends about whether it is safe to go to Japan at this moment. Tokyo suffered almost no structural damage, and it appears that the situation at the nuclear plant is stabilizing (even so, Tokyo is about 150 miles away from the nuclear facility). As my dad pointed out, if it were "any foreign country other than Japan" he would be really worried, but amid the continued reports of death and destruction have come stories and videos of the Japanese waiting calmly in lines for food and fuel, and working together to assist any survivors they can find. Despite the tragedy the country has endured, it is by no means in a state of "chaos."

As of today, CIEE and Sophia University have decided that my program will proceed as planned. Thus, unless something drastically changes this week I will be departing for Tokyo on next Sunday, March 27th. I've been looking forward to this trip since I decided in the fall of my sophomore year to go to Japan, instead of a Spanish-speaking country, but the earthquake and tsunami have really put things into perspective. I'm hoping we can be involved in some relief work once we get to Tokyo. Please check out the Red Cross website for more information or to donate to the relief efforts.

I'll update again if my plans change. Otherwise, I'll be writing to you all from Tokyo in about a week!

アンナ
(Anna)