As my head hit the pillows, my eyes closed and I already felt myself drifting away. The combination of tiredness, (I am not used to working regular 9 hour days and walking over 12000 steps a day,) and Japanese hops were working wonders on my insomnia. I would soon be safely rocking rolling riding, towards the land of nod.
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
The woman’s voice was sharp and harsh, the alarm that accompanied her was piercing, lights flashing all around my room. It was coming from three different angles.
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
The woman’s voice was sharp and harsh, the alarm that accompanied her was piercing, lights flashing all around my room. It was coming from three different angles.
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
I sat bolt upright, my heart beating, my eyes searching the darkness for the source of the cacophony. I grabbed at my phone, the screen flashing in time with the beat of the siren.
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
The woman continued to scream from all corners of my room. my Screen displayed the ominous words emergency alert, in English but exactly what the emergency was was shrouded in the mystery of one of the Japanese alphabets. I managed to shut my phone up but the voice still screamed and the alarm wailed. Why do I have three phones.
Then, silence, a silence pregnant with expectation. An emergency alert is followed by an emergency as sure as night follows day. What should I do? Assume the foetal position and climb under the desk, waiting for the shaking to start? Run into the street in my boxer shorts looking for salvation? Prey to a god I’ve rarely believed in begging for forgiveness? Or just put the kettle on and have a nice cup of tea and keep a stiff, British upper lip? In the end, I did nothing. I just lay in bed and let my heartbeat return to normal while my brain ran wild with doomsday scenarios. When was the quake coming? Would it be soon? Would it be fierce? How earthquake friendly was this building? How far inland to tsunamis roar?
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
JISHIN
The woman continued to scream from all corners of my room. my Screen displayed the ominous words emergency alert, in English but exactly what the emergency was was shrouded in the mystery of one of the Japanese alphabets. I managed to shut my phone up but the voice still screamed and the alarm wailed. Why do I have three phones.
Then, silence, a silence pregnant with expectation. An emergency alert is followed by an emergency as sure as night follows day. What should I do? Assume the foetal position and climb under the desk, waiting for the shaking to start? Run into the street in my boxer shorts looking for salvation? Prey to a god I’ve rarely believed in begging for forgiveness? Or just put the kettle on and have a nice cup of tea and keep a stiff, British upper lip? In the end, I did nothing. I just lay in bed and let my heartbeat return to normal while my brain ran wild with doomsday scenarios. When was the quake coming? Would it be soon? Would it be fierce? How earthquake friendly was this building? How far inland to tsunamis roar?
Apparently, the earthquake usually follows the alert within 3 or 4 seconds, so if there were any tremors, I was far too busy thinking what the fuck? to notice them. Maybe this is the whole point of the emergency alert, it takes one’s mind off the actual emergency.
P.S. I discovered today that Japanese word for earthquake is Jishin, interestingly ,it also means, confidence.
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