Their Struggle

It’s no coincidence that the word describing a seismic event causing a tidal wave hurdling through the ocean was coined by the Japanese. Indeed it was this tsunami that changed the course of Japanese history and sent Japan into catastrophe. Few days after the event, the casualty tally came in: close to 8500 dead and over 13,000 missing. “That’s a lot,” I thought to myself but got back to studying without giving it much thought. It didn’t sink in until I saw before and after images of Matsushima. The coastal resort, which is the US equivalent of Cape Cod, is known for its scenic beaches, ports, buildings, and beautiful pine trees. Now all that’s left are pine trees, stripped of its pines and anything but beautiful standing alone in the rubble. But destroyed buildings take a back seat in dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake. The main problem right now is cooling the damaged reactors at Fukushima Daiichi. Its reactors 1-4 were all damaged and leaked its cooling water, causing them to overheat and create a radioactive “tsunami” throughout Japan. Now what touched me the most was not the desolation, but the response of the brave Japanese people affected.

Have you ever seen such order amongst chaos? In the cities affected, there is no looting (remember New Orleans?). People aren’t taking advantage of the situation and even when desperate they aren’t breaking the law. In Sendai, there are only images of people standing in lines for food shelters, grocery stores, and gas stations. Interviews of people who were evacuated from their homes near the power plant showed such optimism. These people will lose everything they own because of radiation, but there’s hardly a complaint. The most heroic act yet comes from the 70 or so workers who volunteered to stay behind at Fukushima to control the failing reactors. Without them, there probably would have been a meltdown by now.

Now compare this to Chinese people’s reaction to Japan’s earthquake. Once Chinese people found out that radiation was emitting from the failing reactors, some fools started advocating that iodinated salt can prevent radiation effects. Really? '-_- Why would you need lead suits to block radiation then, just pop some iodine? But Chinese people believed it and rushed to the stores to stock up on salt. Soon salt prices soared from 1rmb to 10rmb. Then all the sudden, these same people somehow decided that iodine probably wouldn’t work, so they tried to return the salt. That’s like trying to return the banana you just bought.

Japan as a whole has shown the world how to respond to catastrophe. But China not so much (come on man, iodine?).

My Wisdom

Another year older is another year wiser. That has to be an idiom somewhere, just not sure where. Although my birthday passed, life is still the same. I still laugh at the word “duty”, use a Madagascar hamper, and read Sunday Comics. I think they call this regression in psychiatry, but you can’t regress if you’ve never grown up. But the fun part of getting older is experiencing more in life. And from these experiences you start to wonder… seriously wonder at some of the idiosyncrasies all around you.

1.) Sarcasm doesn’t work too well online
2.) Homework really tests how good you are at reading your planner.
3.) Stupid decisions make great stories.
4.) Urinals should be height adjustable
5.) There should be a chemical that dissolves fat from cadavers to make dissecting easier.
6.) After doing laundry, there’s always one sock that’s still moist.
7.) I can’t decide what’s more embarrassing: being overly dressed or underly dressed.
8.) I hate that awkward moment when you see an acquaintance from afar and he sees u too, but neither of you wants to say hi too early so you just pretend to look around until you get closer.
9.) Why do engagement rings need to cost more than $500?
10.) Why must they come from Tiffany’s?
11.) GPS’ should have a “ghetto” area warning. It’ll be kind of embarrassing if you live in that area though.
12.) I think I concentrate more on the road when I drive and text
13.) 75% of the time if you talk to me at a party with loud music blasting, I have no idea what you’re saying, but I just nod and smile anyway.
14.) Sometimes I realize I’m wrong midargument, but still argue away because I don’t like to admit I’m wrong.
15.) Why is it so hard to keep your mouth closed when you sleep.
16.) If people cover their nose around you, it means you smell.
17.) Why does it seem that all the youtube channels are from the West coast? Oh yeah because we have real jobs here.
18.) I wonder if airplanes like 747s have keys
19.) I was weirded out when my old doctor made me take my clothes off EVERYTIME.
20.) I’m more weirded out that my new doctor never asks me to take my clothes off.
21.) It must suck to get sorted into Hufflepuff.

Mi Madre

This is a tribute to my mom: it’s her birthday today, and oddly enough it’s also international woman’s day.

From the moment I was born, my mom and I developed a great bond. When the nurse handed me over to her after delivery, she told me that she was completely grossed out by me. I was covered with mucus and my mouth was dripping with saliva/amniotic fluid. My hands were tucked into my body for warmth but my legs kept flailing all over the place. I could only open one eye because the other one was covered with glop. She just couldn’t believe she gave birth to a creature like me. And I’m not making this up, but she told me, “I asked the nurse if they had given me the wrong baby, this thing is so ugly, it couldn’t be my son.” Maybe she changed her mind after the nurses cleaned me up; or perhaps she just couldn’t find anyone else to take me home (just kidding).

They did take me home and soon I morphed into an eating+pooping machine. One time my mom was feeding me and all of the sudden I turned beat red. She thought I was choking and started to freak out and tried to give me a baby heimlich maneuver. However, it just turned out I was pooping my pants.

Then I went into my crying phase. Every night as my mom was about to sit down and enjoy her favorite detective show, I would wake up and start bawling. And nothing seemed to shut me up (benadryl wasn’t created yet) until one night she gave up and just plopped me on the couch and let me watch tv with her. Only then did I stop crying, and even though I was only two months old, I seemed to understand it (it’s because of my giant brain). So I ended up watching late night detective shows with her for months. Come to think of it, I think I watched more tv with her when I was a few months old than I do now. But this weekend I am definitely looking forward to watching some shows with her and having meals together –except this time I won’t poop my pants… or maybe I will (depends on her cooking, jk again).

Feliz cumpleanos mom!