3/16

Today I started off at 7am with a phone call from Yuuka.

Yuuka: "I have rice balls for you."

Me: "Oh, its OK... I have plenty of food."

Yuuka: "I made them for you. I sent them to Nichu."

Me: "Well... wow. Thank you so much!"

Yuuka: "No problem. Please talk to Miyu at work today. She will have them."

Soon enough I ran into Miyu... with a BAG full of onigiris!



I just delivered these to the Koriyama refugees upstairs. They told me that there was water, gas and power at their apartment...I was kind of confused.
Anyways - Kim and Mark are angels to host them.

Rich has come over here and we set his apartment up for a family of 3:


The day was a bit rough being that its snowing and I had to walk to and from school. Cold for sure, but nothing I couldnt handle!



At school we had the lights on in the teacher's room but dimmed in the hallways. The TV played updates on the reactors all day. I checked the news, talked to people back home and read up on the current situation.

The best info I found was current [7:50PM] radiation levels in AizuWakamatsu [even still, 30 minutes from me] and those were listed as: .43 micro grays.

That means if you are standing outside bathing in the air for an hour, you will be get a maximum of .44

Comparatively:
Health problems caused at 100
Employees of the plant are exposed to 20
Normal exposure is 2 a year.
An average banana has .098
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose]

So if I went on a banana binge, I would be equally exposed ;)

You can keep track of radiation levels at the KK website:
http://www.city.kitakata.fukushima.jp/ [Click English at top right then Emergency Info]

The news is hyping up likeness to Chernobyl... but people werent informed then and it was the first disaster of its kind.

A great FAQ at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12722435

So now that we have the radiation scares out of the way...

Remember how I said we were donating our lunches to evacuees?

I went to the store and got some cup of noodles for lunch this week:



And then I found THIS today waiting for me at lunchtime:



The outpouring support has been so much that the evacuees didnt even need the lunches!

Also, I went by the store today, just to grab some supplies...and found:





The store was so full and I was so surprised that I started taking pictures and messaging people.... yep, so surprised that I accidentally stole a loaf of bread:



OOPS!

Tonight we are having mac and cheese, salad and watching more of The Wire.
Keep emailing me with questions. Its no problem!