Harvard Workshop at ASIJ

This is a testimony from 3.11 experienced in Omotesando, Japan. Was my tennis teacher really bad at driving? It felt like the car was coming to a rough stop in the middle of Omotesando. It took a while to realize that in fact, it wasn't my tennis teacher's driving, but an earthquake that was shaking the car. My tennis teacher, brother, and I were right at the Omotesando crossing making a turn and people were flooding out of the big metropolitan buildings. Everyone on the streets was very much confused. The first shock didn't feel too strong and the lesson was going to happen at the Jingu courts so we figured, if anywhere, the open courts would be safe. The second shock came and was much stronger than the first and the tennis balls were unable to properly bounce up and down. We were staring at the baseball field located next to the tennis courts and feared that another strong earthquake would hit and split the ground in half. The second shock was a sign that it was not time to continue with the tennis lesson, but to go home. My tennis teacher's daughter was going to school at a high school near the Jingu tennis courts so we left to pick her up and after that drop my brother and I at home. There were many Japanese salarymen and salarywomen walking home and all convenient stores were filled with people who wanted to desperately stock up on food. A car ride that usually takes 15-20 minutes ended up being 2.5 hours long. My brother and I were one of the first to arrive home and the rest of the night was chaos as my brother was at Shyounanfujisawa and my parents were trying to locate his whereabouts. He was safe at the school but was clearly too far for him to come home. The rest of the week was filled with anxiety and fear and many hours of closely watching the TV. I clearly remember standing in my parent's room and watching the nuclear power plant explode. Being an eleven-year-old child, I could only imagine Japan turning into a zombie apocalyptic environment: everyone scared of the air outside. I could feel the panic and fear that my parents were experiencing as they had so many young children at the time. My family was able to take a two-week break to Seattle, Washington to escape the chaos and keep my three other siblings and me safe.