Tag: 2011

Earthquake strikes Turkey

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

An earthquake of magnitude 7.3 hit Turkey on the 23rd of October. The death toll is going up, although the initial report is that at least 217 people died.

According to CNN, rescue teams are looking for people who are missing right now. The city of Van, located on the South East near the Iranian border, is suffering the most. According to U.S Geological Survey, the earthquake struck at 1:41PM and at least 350 people were injured. People are still trapped under debris.

Turkey is one of the countries subject to frequent earthquakes. In 1999, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 struck the North Western area and more than 17,000 people died.

I’m hoping the number of victim will be as few as possible.

2:46PM March 11th, 2011

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

In Japan, earthquakes happen at least once a week. There’s a system that predicts earthquakes five seconds beforehand to help you prepare.

On March 11, I was working out in a gym. Suddenly, the power went out and the ground started to shake. I thought to myself, “Well okay, again. No big deal.” But the shake didn’t end, and I soon realized that this earthquake was huge. Personal trainers told me to evacuate. I couldn’t walk. I felt as if my legs lost control. Fortunately, the buildings in Japan were built strong for earthquakes so we were safe, but phones had no service and I couldn’t communicate with my family. It was chaos.

When I got back home after walking for an hour, I turned on the TV. I was shocked out of my wits. Tohoku was destroyed by a tsunami. I saw people on the top of a hospital waving and asking for help. It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars, houses were all gulped by the tsunami.

Why? Why did this happen? Why Japan?

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A week later, the death toll went up to 6,900 people. I was just shocked. What if I lived there? What if my families and friends were there…?

But in the midst of this heartbreak, there was a one thing that made my happy. I discovered the beauty of Japanese culture.

There was a very little looting. People waited patiently for food despite the length of the line. This summer was all about saving electricity for Tohoku. It was over 90 degrees everyday, but the air conditioners on trains and some parts of shopping malls were off. But nobody ever complained. We had only one thing on our minds: to help rebuild Tohoku, and still today, we are striving for that.

Before the earthquake, nobody was truly patriotic. I was a little bit disappointed how people didn’t appreciate the country. After the quake,  I was very moved and proud of being Japanese. I’ve never seen people working as one for people who are suffering from this disaster.

Please, pray for us.

For more information/photos, click here.

Prom

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Tomorrow night I will be somewhere in Ventura living out the last hurrah of my senior year.

I honestly cannot wait. We’ve waited four years to finally have a dance dedicated to us and not have to ride on the bus to the site and back.

The juniors have spent weeks planning this event for us and have really tried to make us happy. I can’t see a reason why it wouldn’t be enjoyable.

It has all built up till the final moment. As seniors, it is out opportunity to enjoy what has been planned for us and to share the experience with others. We should honestly just have a good time and forget that some of us don’t get along.

I propose that tomorrow, we leave all of our preconceived assumption about prom and all our negativity behind. Let’s enjoy our last prom with class, please. It’d be lovely to thoroughly enjoy this moment.

I went on an adventure which took me from Ojai to Topanga and everywhere between. One of my best friends prom dress never came in the mail, so with my aunts help, we spent seven and a half hours in search of the perfect dress. It’s people like us that actually care about prom, where as most don’t. It’s supposed to be a memorable experience that is shared between classmates, and our adventure today really reminded me of that.

We are one class, sharing one experience that will forever be remembered. Let’s make it the best we can.

Say Hello to Ophiuchus, the New Zodiac Sign

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I personally have always been confused with my zodiac sign. Not that I believe horoscopes to begin with, but the fact that my birthday, January 20 (don’t forget!) has been borderline with the Aquarius and Capricorn signs. Some horoscopes tell me I’m the Water Bearer, others tell me I am the Goat. Obviously, when people would ask, I would tell them I am an Aquarius, just because it sounds a tad bit prettier than does a goat.

However, a new addition to the zodiac family of constellations has shifted the dates of many other signs. The 2010 zodiac dates were shifted to fit in the new 13th zodiac sign in the 2011 zodiac calendar.

Ophiuchus is also known as Serpentarius and was an uncommon, rarely used zodiac sign. However, many claim that the Earth has changed its tilt throughout the years, it faces a new constellations. For this reason, Ophiuchus was added to as the 13th sign.

For me, this change is just confusing. I’ve always called myself an Aquarius (or at least I had the choice to call myself an Aquarius) but under the new calendar, I am a Capricorn. This annoys me thoroughly and I have my fingers crossed that Ophiuchus gets taken out of the original zodiac family so that I can call myself an Aquarius once again.