2 years later.

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the 2011 Touhoku (Great East) Earthquake and Tsunami of Japan.

The use of the word "anniversary" doesn't seem quite right - I'm more accustomed to the word relating to happy things such as a wedding anniversary, or even the anniversary of someone's death but of someone who made it to their older years, as a celebration of their long life.

3.11 is an anniversary for the deaths of 15,881people, likely another 2,668 as their bodies are still not found, and it certainly isn't something to celebrate about.

I was in Japan when the earthquake happened.
I don't have a blog entry of the day though my entries date back to 2010 as I went on a slight Blog hiatus, but I have an entry at my Japanese blog. I was still an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) then, and it was the day of one of my favourite school's graduation ceremonies (the school year ending in March here). I'd tweeted about how moved I was by the ceremony and how much I'd miss the graduating students when the ceremony had finished at 13:44...2 hours later, the tiny island of Japan shook heavily, and within minutes waves of horror swept away towns and vast numbers of its populations.
All this time, I was wondering quite pathetically, why my keitai phone wouldn't work.

Until I switched on TV. Before my eyes, all channels had been taken over by warnings and updates on what was happening in Japan, in this country, in my second home. There were images of the island of Japan with areas glowing in yellow and red, and unbelievable footage of what I'd only seen in films. Apparently the magnitude in my little town in Hokkaido of which I lived in at the time came up to about a 3,  but perhaps because I'd been rushing around at the time as I had plans to meet up with a friend, I hadn't felt a thing.

Therefore, things remained as normal where I was. There was no shortage of food, no aftershocks, no deaths, no nuclear warnings, no public transport troubles with usual commuting to school and work.. The only difference was that of the TV, which didn't revert back to regular channels for a fair while. Even then, it was hard to believe all that I saw.

Dumplings over Drawl-ings.

The contract signed and it all being confirmed that I will no longer stay with my current job and will leave at the end of the Western fiscal year in early August (the fiscal year beginning in April in Japan), I went to a conference held for those who will be leaving the programme this year, which was held in Yokohama. A wonderful excuse to escape from snow and party in Kanto opportunity to develop ideas for my upcoming career and aspects for the future.

The conference itself was overflowing with information on the second day with the varieties of workshops it offered, of which I was torn between deciding which ones to go to  (I shan't comment too much on the first or third days, eheh). I hadn't done a thing in terms of researching into my next job, so although I am now carrying buckets of resources which reassures me, I am also beginning to panic. I seriously need to knuckle down into looking into what offers are available, and when I can start applying.

There was a job fair there as well, with a few stalls. I casually sauntered through and took a glance, quite naturally, at the sign 'British Hills', which I'd heard of, and was immediately stopped by a grinning, but rather charming Manchester lad who told me, in wonderful British fashion, "Go on, take another look." (And though I write "lad" I meant it more from my dad's perspective. He was probably a little older than I am). What can I say, being away from the UK for almost 4 years, not once going home, and now accustomed to the mostly expressionless, shy Japanese boys it was refreshing to have such an approach again. Not that I'm accusing the guy of flirting with me, but I couldn't help but notice a twinkle in his eye as he chatted away. I was flattered, nonetheless.
    'British Hills' is a "Little Britain" (not to be confused with the wretched TV series) in Japan, which includes a Manor House, a Craft House, and a guesthouse, which have been reconstructed based on the British architectural styles between the Twelfth and Eighteenth Centuries...as told in the exact words of the website. Being proud of my British roots and culture, as well as a fan of history, it did sound rather appealing. Alas, I worried that I wouldn't be "British enough", mostly because of my strong Asian looks but also the fact that I probably haven't been exposed to enough Britishisims due to my double-cultured background. The location is also in Fukushima, which I have nothing against, but I would like to stay in Hokkaido if I can. I am still going to keep all my options open regardless, and will keep it filed along with the other dozens of options that have been laid out for me...though mostly out of Hokkaido. Hmm. Will begin to worry about that slight problem as I continue research.

I made to sure to enjoy myself in Yokohama too, as you can also see from my photo blog. Yokohama, for those of you who don't know, is famous for its Chinatown, which I visited when I was probably still in Junior school, hence my visit on Tuesday evening felt more like my first.

I happily joined my American friend, who's family background is mostly Taiwanese, so she was able to show me the ropes in authentic Chinese food and being able to speak the language somewhat. She also happened to share my love for food; I pigged out in front of her quite shamelessly and vacuumed up most of the leftover food...

We went to an all-you-can-eat place, and I'm pretty sure we got a close deal for our money's worth. This was just the first few dishes. I was too busy stuffing my face to take pictures of anything else!