Before taking this journey through Japan and beyond with me, here's a bit about me. Hi my name's Carlene, I'm 24 and I'm from the beautiful island of Barbados. Many people not familiar with my country always ask what part of Jamaica or Africa is that. No, no, no, my country is located in the beautiful tropical Caribbean and it's the easternmost island in the island chain.
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| Location of Fukushima |
In just 13 short days I will begin a new chapter in my life as I'm moving to Fukushima Prefecture, the 3rd largest prefecture in Japan. FUKUSHIMA?!! FUKUSHIMA?!! ARE YOU CRAZY?!!!! I hear either that or I get a long pause and raised eyebrow when I tell people where I'm going lol. To be honest I've always prided myself in being a bit on the crazy side, it's adds a bit more flavour to life. I'll tell you exactly what I said in my interview "I'll go wherever I'm needed" so said so done! Now I'm off to this somewhat unknown prefecture on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET Programme) to teach english and to be honest I'M EXCITED! Anyone who doesn't live under a rock knows what happened on March 11, 2011. Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and was then subsequently hit with a devastating tsunami. Fukusima was affected by this disaster but suffered an additional nuclear disaster.
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| Symbol of Fukushima Prefecture |
I'll admit that when the disasters happened over there, it nearly made me rethinking going to Japan at all and then hearing my placement terrified me given the nuclear situation. But deep down I wanted this prefecture before the incident so I decided to make the best of it. I'm gonna go and contribute and represent my country as any proud Bajan would. Time to kiss my family, boyfriend and tortoise goodbye for now, bid a fond farewell to my country and all the comforts of home. I'm ready to throw caution to the wind to do something I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember. "NO SACRIFICE NO VICTORY!" my fav transformers quote ^_^. NIHON NI IKIMASHO!!!
Keep us informed I expect regular updates so I can share with the Bajan Public and the world.
ReplyDeleteJapan tells citizens they have no right to live a radiation free healthy life while refusing to test children's urine and answer why Fukushima radiation standard differs from the rest of Japan.
ReplyDeleteThis video attached to this page was released directly following news that Japan passed a new law to cleanse the internet of "bad" Fukushima news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2rSJoALFIE
i would like to tip my hat to you for making the choice of leaving the comforts of Barbados and living in a country with such geological uncertainty. it is your unselfishness that contributes to making this world a better place.
ReplyDeletethanks a lot .. I'm definitely gonna try and do my best
DeleteThanks for your comment ac,
ReplyDeletethis is my daughter.
hi, sorry it's taken me a while to respond to these comments I've been traveling and getting organised over the las few days.
ReplyDeletein response to the fukushima government comment, I believe that things can be taken out of context at time. I'm not gonna sit and defend any comments made in the video but like mentioned earlier fukushima is dealing with a difficult time and from what I can see the government would prefer not to quote inaccurate information so they'd rather say very little. I can see how that can be extremely frustrating but give the matter some time. Japan works as a collective and I'm sure they will work to do what they thing is best to help their people.
Sorry to be the one raining on your parade, but frankly I think anyone voluntarily moving to Japan, far less Fukushima prefecture, at this point in time is either nuts or just extremely naive. But it's your life; you can gamble with it as you see fit.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sET4fqowKIg
To be honest everything in life is a gamble. I don't not honest believe my decision was a hard one to make. There are far more dangerous things than this going on worldwide. From the time I arrived I have not regretted my decision, as a matter of fact I wish I had gotten here sooner.
ReplyDeleteUnlike what the outside world thinks, life goes on and it amazes me everyday at the dedication and resilience of the Japanese people and the Fukushima people especially. Despite what the outside world depicts of this area and these people give 250% to rebuilding not only there prefecture but their imagine to the world. Every time I go out and see kids playing outside, school kids going to school everyday doing their activities outside, pregnant women and the elderly carrying out this daily routines as normal.
You say coming here is a gamble, you better believe it. Flying 9000 miles around the world definitely is but so is stepping out of your house everyday. I think the biggest gamble is being afraid of seeing what the world as to offer. I don't do anything with my eyes closed and being here has really opened them for me, I'm happy to be here and to a part of this culture and being one of the small few brave enough to come here despite of the world thinks and I guarantee you our lives are made better everyday by what we are able to do because we had the courage to try and make change. You are definitely right this is my life and I'm living it to the fullest IN FUKUSHIMA & LOVING IT :)
Feel free to visit anytime :)