I missed Saturday's earthquake and Tuesday's typhoon fizzled. But tonight, I can honestly say, the earth moved. I was having dinner in Ginza with a friend I met through one of my clients. He paused in the middle of our conversation, put down his fork (we were having Italian), and said, "Oh, it's an earthquake." Weirdly, my first reaction was, "Really!?!?" as if he'd said, "Oh, you just won the lottery."
It was a very minor quake, but monumental in that it was my first. It was a little like being on a subway train, except I was on the third floor of a 12-storey building. It only lasted a few seconds. The other people in the restaurant sort of glanced around and then kept eating. It was surreal. No reported injuries.
The Aussie was in today for a series of meetings. I was in one of them and it was hilarious. It was basically like a two hour version of PASSWORD. On the one hand, some really great ideas were hatched. On the other hand, I just hope we were all actually discussing the same project. Tough to tell. We really need a translator.
Bad news for those of you who submitted other pirate-themed nicknames for the Aussie, the eye patch is gone and he looks completely normal. Too bad. I think it would have added a little color to the place.
Website of the day: A fellow blogger wrote a song to help people learn Japanese. Here's a site that features a cowboy singin’ the hiragana song. Enjoy!
7 comments:
When I was a kid me had a rare earthquake right in New York state!
Plus this one time I ate some bad Mexican take out. Woof.
MISINFORMATION!
You entry says that there were no injuries but the very link you send us to says "injuring at least 18."
Why must you turn this blog into a house of lies?!
DOUG: Saturday's earthquake injured 18. You may be functionally illiterate, but I still love you.
From the linked article:
"A moderately strong earthquake jolted eastern Japan and Tokyo on Thursday, the Meteorological Agency said, less than a week after a strong quake hit the capital, injuring at least 18.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the 7:15 p.m (1015 GMT) quake, which was measured at a preliminary magnitude of 5.1, and the agency said there was no danger of a tsunami."
Earthquakes are weird. I experienced one in Seattle, and everyone but me was completely nonplussed.
By the way, you've been tagged. Check my blog for details.
Well here's something I randomly and coincidentally learned earlier today...you are lucky to have enjoyed the beauty of Kyoto! When the US government was deciding what city(ies) on which to drop the first atomic bombs, Kyoto was #1 on the list. But a Professor and expert on Japan who was acting as a consultant for the US Government at the time saw the list and literally called the Secretary of War in tears and begged him not to destry such a beautiful city. He was able to convince him to strike Kyoto off th list, bumping Hiroshima up to the first slot. Similarly, the second bomb was to be dropped on the city of Kokura. It was only dropped on Nagasaki (3#) because it was too cloudy over Kokura that day and the bomber couldn't see his target.
Am I the only one sad that the Aussie no longer has an eye patch on?
No, Kristin. That makes me sad, too. I might start to wear one myself.
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