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"The Big One" and Take Five


My random pic for the day is of a corner in my apartment. The last three apartments I have lived in my city have come equippped with a fire extinguisher. I am not sure why this seems to be a standard. The apartment I live in now doesn't have a smoke alarm but it has a fire extinguisher! Perhaps it is because everyone is waiting for "The Big One" to happen. Most of Honshu Island experiences earthquakes and the experts try to predict when the next big one is to occur. Everyone in my city believes the next Oki (big) earthquake will happen soon. How soon ranges from 3 to 10 years depending on who I talk to or what I read.

The last earthquake in this city was in 2005, registering 7.2. The epicenter was off-shore, triggering Tsunami warnings and still causing power outages and buildings to collapse on land.

On that day, I had just sat down to order at a restaurant when the noise and shaking began. This restaurant was on the top floor of the hotel - 15th floor- surrounded by floor to ceiling windows. Our building shook violently and swung from side to side. Looking out the windows, I could see other tall buildings doing the same. The earthquake seemed to go on and on, and I started to wonder if it was "The Big One" and whether this building would hold up. Most of us had moved away from the windows and were standing against an inner wall. I kept looking up to see if the ceiling was going to fall. I probably should have been under a table! We were all quiet except for one waitress. She kept walking back and forth in front of us with dishes in her hands, saying "Iyada, Iyada," which is literally "Terrible, Terrible." In memory, it is a very surreal moment.

....Let's Take Five ...

Stoney Charms tagged me to do this MEME (each answer and each category is five words in length) Alright, so my answers are more or less than five, but I do have five categories*)- Thanks Stoney!


Five years ago I was...

1. living in Japan
2. younger and thinner!
3. wondering if I should bring my cat to Japan from Mexico (which I eventually did)
4. studying Japanese with students from Korea, China, Mexico, Russia and Singapore
5. not blogging or selling on Etsy

Five snacks I enjoy!

1. cheese
2. my homemade corn tortilla chips and salsa
3. raw almonds
4. Japanese rice crackers
5. chocolate


If I was a billionaire I would....

1. buy a lovely house in Southern France
2. buy a lovely house in Italy
3. buy a lovely house for my my Sister and Mom
4. buy my dream car: Volvo c30
5. donate a bit to a charity


Some Jobs I have had....

1. Esl Teacher
2. Vocational Counselor
3. Yogurt shop clerk (part-time as a university student)
4. Gardener (part-time as a university student)
5. Supervisor for a non-profit organization

Different Places I have lived....

1. Central part of Honshu Island in Japan
2. Hokkaido, Japan
3. Northern part of Honshu Island in Japan
4. Northern part of Mexico
5. Central California

My next post will include the five I have tagged!

Comments

The Nature Nut said…
Living through an earthquake must be so scary - I can't imagine how I would react to such a big one. Occasionally we get little tremors here in Quebec, but fortunately we've never had anything big.
The largest earthquake I've experienced was a 5 I think...scary enough thank you...

I love all your new ACEOs...nice mix of work
Anonymous said…
Hopefully you don't have to go through that again. I live in Vancouver, BC, so I know what living with the threat of "the big one" is like.

I try not to think about it...being prepared is a good idea though.
Gina
Art Kitten said…
Wow, 15th floor that is crazy. We had an earthquake near where I live the other day, a small one, but big enough that we felt it in Madison. A first for me.
Chris Stone said…
That earthquake sounds terrifying! How funny though to have a fire extinguisher and no smoke alarm.

Thanks for being a sport! I'm glad you brought your cat to Japan. Homemade chips and salsa win. Totally.
GalleryJuana said…
Chris, thanks for the Tag!

Geenah, I should probably get an earthquake kit put together in case I am here for that big one.

Artkitten, high desert and naturenut, I didn't realise that Canada and other U.S. states have earthquakes. I know California has earthquakes.

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