Posted by Jess
27 Mar 2011
Sadly, our Hawaiian vacation ended this weekend. The trip was great and I'm sure we'll have a few posts to show what we were up to during our 2 weeks on O'ahu.
As the time away went on, questions kept coming up on what we'd do at the end of vacation - return to Tokyo? Home to Minnesota? Somewhere else altogether for a while? We put off the decision as long as possible but I can say that it was on Jason and my mind every day last week. The news wasn't any help. One day things at the power plant were looking better, aftershocks subsiding, train service and food delivery back up and running in the city. The next day more radiation concerns (no tap water for Abby?), grocery store shortages and a few 6.0+ aftershocks.
While we were gone my company had allowed people to move to Osaka - a city about 3 hours south of here that was not having any issues as a result of the quake. The company would pay living expenses and employees could work from our offices there. People who stayed in Tokyo worked flex hours, taking care of their children and families as needed since many schools were still closed and power outages were uncertain. As of Wednesday, it was back to business as usual for the company - everyone back in our Tokyo offices and normal hours (note this was after one of those good days I mentioned above). When that email came, I knew that I would have to be back at work on Monday. So the only decision left was what Jason and the girls would do.
School emailed Friday to let us know that they would be open again on Monday (last week was Spring Break) but that instead of being in the 4th floor classroom, they would move to a smaller classroom on the 1st floor that was not being used. This would make it easier if they had to evacuate due to aftershocks and it was next to the parish office so there would be help for the teachers easily if needed to. Knowing school was reopening was a good sign, moving to the first floor, not such a good sign - more mixed signals.
Most of our network in Japan went back to the US or left Japan during the last 2 weeks so getting an idea of what things were like there was tough. Trying to make decisions off of information on CNN is not easy. I spoke to my manager on Friday and he let me know that his wife and 9 month old daughter would be staying in the US indefinitely and that he would be in the office on Monday. Another coworker was working at our offices in Singapore these past few weeks and let me know their family going to stay there one more week and re-evaluating after that, but that he didn't know if the family would come back at all (he is set to transfer to Singapore this summer).
So based off of all of that information and what you've all read in the news, what would you do? As of Friday night Jason and I went to bed thinking we'd head back to Japan, try to get an idea of what was happening here and then if we needed to leave again, we would. But knowing that the situation hasn't changed much in two weeks didn't give us a lot of faith that much was going to change in the coming weeks or months. I think that's why we kept pushing aside the thoughts that the girls shouldn't come back here. In our hearts we knew it was what we should do, but when it could be up to 4 months apart its pretty hard to pull the trigger.
Our flight on Saturday morning from Honolulu was scheduled for 9:30am. After getting up at 6 and getting ready to go, I think we just knew that what we had to do. No new news prompted the decision, but when it came to putting the girls on an airplane and taking them someplace where we didn't know if they'd be safe, we couldn't do it. And so the chaos began: calling the airline to change flights, rental car to let them know we'd return it at a different time and repacking suitcases to make sure Jason had some clothes go home with him (which I'm still not sure that worked). My parents and sister were on a 8pm flight from Honolulu to LAX to MSP to Green Bay, so we booked Jason, Abby and Ella on the same flights to Minneapolis and let his mom know that they'd be arriving on Sunday. Oh and that they all only had beach gear - no winter coats, no long sleeves, Ella didn't even have full length pants - only capris.
Jason and I drove to the airport in tears. You all know that I travel a lot for work, so time apart isn't a big deal for us. I think the part that bothers us this time is that we have no idea when we'll be back together. I guess in my mind I'm thinking a month, maybe? I'm hoping they can be back before a trip we have planned at the end of April. And then my heart breaks because if that's true I won't see them for a month and that's unbearable to me. But ultimately 1 month apart for never having to wonder if they'll get cancer some day because of my job in Japan? What can we do? All we can do is send them where we think things will be safer for them, even though I'm devastated.
It's weird to come home from a trip for me and walk into an empty apartment. I'm used to big running hugs and yells of "momma's home!" Even after work, I get greetings at the door that make any bad day better. I'll sure miss those for a while. I couldn't get the computer booted up fast enough when I came home to turn on music and get some noise in here.
I hope that the coming days bring good news and this separation is short. And I hope Ella and Abby are good for their dad (who has help that we're very grateful for!).
More to come about how things are going here. I'm headed to the grocery store in a few minutes which should be an adventure.
Kanpai,
Jess
27 Mar 2011
Sadly, our Hawaiian vacation ended this weekend. The trip was great and I'm sure we'll have a few posts to show what we were up to during our
As the time away went on, questions kept coming up on what we'd do at the end of vacation - return to Tokyo? Home to Minnesota? Somewhere else altogether for a while? We put off the decision as long as possible but I can say that it was on Jason and my mind every day last week. The news wasn't any help. One day things at the power plant were looking better, aftershocks subsiding, train service and food delivery back up and running in the city. The next day more radiation concerns (no tap water for Abby?), grocery store shortages and a few 6.0+ aftershocks.
While we were gone my company had allowed people to move to Osaka - a city about 3 hours south of here that was not having any issues as a result of the quake. The company would pay living expenses and employees could work from our offices there. People who stayed in Tokyo worked flex hours, taking care of their children and families as needed since many schools were still closed and power outages were uncertain. As of Wednesday, it was back to business as usual for the company - everyone back in our Tokyo offices and normal hours (note this was after one of those good days I mentioned above). When that email came, I knew that I would have to be back at work on Monday. So the only decision left was what Jason and the girls would do.
School emailed Friday to let us know that they would be open again on Monday (last week was Spring Break) but that instead of being in the 4th floor classroom, they would move to a smaller classroom on the 1st floor that was not being used. This would make it easier if they had to evacuate due to aftershocks and it was next to the parish office so there would be help for the teachers easily if needed to. Knowing school was reopening was a good sign, moving to the first floor, not such a good sign - more mixed signals.
Most of our network in Japan went back to the US or left Japan during the last 2 weeks so getting an idea of what things were like there was tough. Trying to make decisions off of information on CNN is not easy. I spoke to my manager on Friday and he let me know that his wife and 9 month old daughter would be staying in the US indefinitely and that he would be in the office on Monday. Another coworker was working at our offices in Singapore these past few weeks and let me know their family going to stay there one more week and re-evaluating after that, but that he didn't know if the family would come back at all (he is set to transfer to Singapore this summer).
So based off of all of that information and what you've all read in the news, what would you do? As of Friday night Jason and I went to bed thinking we'd head back to Japan, try to get an idea of what was happening here and then if we needed to leave again, we would. But knowing that the situation hasn't changed much in two weeks didn't give us a lot of faith that much was going to change in the coming weeks or months. I think that's why we kept pushing aside the thoughts that the girls shouldn't come back here. In our hearts we knew it was what we should do, but when it could be up to 4 months apart its pretty hard to pull the trigger.
Our flight on Saturday morning from Honolulu was scheduled for 9:30am. After getting up at 6 and getting ready to go, I think we just knew that what we had to do. No new news prompted the decision, but when it came to putting the girls on an airplane and taking them someplace where we didn't know if they'd be safe, we couldn't do it. And so the chaos began: calling the airline to change flights, rental car to let them know we'd return it at a different time and repacking suitcases to make sure Jason had some clothes go home with him (which I'm still not sure that worked). My parents and sister were on a 8pm flight from Honolulu to LAX to MSP to Green Bay, so we booked Jason, Abby and Ella on the same flights to Minneapolis and let his mom know that they'd be arriving on Sunday. Oh and that they all only had beach gear - no winter coats, no long sleeves, Ella didn't even have full length pants - only capris.
Jason and I drove to the airport in tears. You all know that I travel a lot for work, so time apart isn't a big deal for us. I think the part that bothers us this time is that we have no idea when we'll be back together. I guess in my mind I'm thinking a month, maybe? I'm hoping they can be back before a trip we have planned at the end of April. And then my heart breaks because if that's true I won't see them for a month and that's unbearable to me. But ultimately 1 month apart for never having to wonder if they'll get cancer some day because of my job in Japan? What can we do? All we can do is send them where we think things will be safer for them, even though I'm devastated.
It's weird to come home from a trip for me and walk into an empty apartment. I'm used to big running hugs and yells of "momma's home!" Even after work, I get greetings at the door that make any bad day better. I'll sure miss those for a while. I couldn't get the computer booted up fast enough when I came home to turn on music and get some noise in here.
I hope that the coming days bring good news and this separation is short. And I hope Ella and Abby are good for their dad (who has help that we're very grateful for!).
More to come about how things are going here. I'm headed to the grocery store in a few minutes which should be an adventure.
Kanpai,
Jess
3:41 AM |
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Comments (2)
Our heart breaks for you all. We just wish there was something that we could do to help! We love you!
Thinking about you all a lot. Such tough decisions! Miss you!