(Sub-Title: Worst Day of Work Ever)
The atmosphere in the school felt heavy and uncertain. The topic of the radiation came up, and when I reiterated what I had read in the news, Yoda said, "Naw, we are going to die a slow and painful death." Though Yoda is known for having a flair for the pessimistic dramatic, I head Mimi echo from next to him, "Slow and painful death." Not as reassuring. Gaijin Guy had come in, but had left to stockpile supplies, and I began to wonder if I should have done the same instead of traipsing around Tokyo having photo picnics. Soon, it was announced that lessons would be cancelled for the rest of the week, so we spent the first part of the morning calling students to cancel class. The rest of the time was spent on the internet tracking the power plant situation. Things like, "There's been another explosion at the plant" and "Radiation levels in Saitama are 40 times the normal amount" were tossed around every few minutes (though I would often reply, "40 times compared to what?" All the scientific jargon just seemed like arbitrary measurements).
By lunch time, I felt anxious and jittery; I had looked up foods high in iodide to counteract the abnormal doses of radiation and went on a shopping spree (or as much of one as I could when faced with increasing emptying shelves)(and in case you are wondering, here are some examples of what I bought: seaweed, wakame, cheesecake, and cheese--definitely not bananas). The longer I stayed there reading the news and talking to my coworkers, the more anxious I felt. We received word from Head Office that foreign teachers didn't have to come in for the rest of the week, but Japanese staff would have to work until Thursday. I remember seeing Mimi's face at the announcement; she looked so anxious that she would have to stick around in a radiation laden environment. Finally, we gathered around for the last time of the day, and our manager told us to try and stay indoors as much as possible, and if we left the city, to let her know first. With that, I threw on my rain jacket, mask, and gloves to keep out as much radiation as possible. As soon as I got home, I took a quick shower, because I heard removing radiation from your skin is as simple as washing with water and soap.
However, Hera called and invited me over, so I packed up and headed over. As soon as I reached her place, I could regain a lot of my composure and laugh about the day with her. Being in an environment that feeds fear really does have a strong impact on your thought process; how you take in the current situation and make decisions. I once again went to sleep rocked by aftershocks, with the knowledge that the power plant was still far away.
