13 Sept 2011

My life so far in Fukushima!

First of all let me apologies for the huge gap better my last posting. A lot has been going on since arriving in my new prefecture. Getting the internet was a major problem for me which literally took months to get but there was nothing I could do about that. So now I'm back and ready to resume blogging.



Ok, let's get down to it. To say I was nervous and somewhat terrified when I left Tokyo into the unknown would be a huge understatement. I didn't know where I would be living exactly (given my apartment changed), if I would cope with being so far from home, would the people at work like me, if I would be get around with only very basic japanese and especially if I would be ok being the only black person in a sea of foreign faces.

When I arrived in Fukushima I was both excited and insanely nervous. I was collected by my new supervisor and off we went into my new life. Coming to Fukushima I have to admit a part of me wondered about the level of damage sustained by the prefecture after the tsunami. Based on what I was seeing in the news, while in Barbados I started picturing teaching English in a refugee camp, living on the bare minimum and I tried to prepare myself for that. On the drive to Fukushima City where I was placed, I waited to see if it looked anything like what was described in the news and how people behaved. Let's face it, Fukushima is now notorious for it's nuclear power plant disaster after the massive earthquake and tsunami. Coming here I wondered how people carried out their daily lives dealing with their current problem. Living here has truly opened my eyes and re-enforced my belief that you shouldn't believe everything you hear, go out and see for yourself and make you own judgement and don't just go by what people tell you.

Since arriving I have met such amazing people and seen so many beautiful places and tried so many things. The people of Fukushima have been so warm and invited and beyond appreciative of people like me coming to the prefecture after the March 11th disaster. I have met people here I know I will be friends with for life. They have made my life here so comfortable have helped me in so many ways to adjust to my new life and I truly feel blessed by all I have been able to experience is such an amazing place.

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