Growing up in Manitoba, Canada, I am not well versed in natural disasters, especially earthquakes. Being an anxious traveler, I frequently research the countries I travel to thinking this will somehow prepare me on what to do should Mother Nature get a little moody.
Thinking I had yet again escaped the wrath of this Earth, while waiting to purchase some goodies for the plane ride home at an airport in Japan, I fell victim to an earthquake that in hindsight, really wasn't that bad. Here is my over dramatic account of the earthquake that made the news... only because Trump was due to arrive in Japan a few hours later. However, this experience turned out to be a valuable lesson I won't soon forget.
When traveling, there are always things that can happen that may leave you kind of screwed, or excited if your trip insurance covers the cost of your vacation. Some things you may see coming, such as riots in a country with civil unrest. However, some things are random, providing short notice, if any, such as a natural disaster.
Either way, an unexpected event, such as this, would leave me in a fit of panic, until my husband calmed me down, gently explaining the airplane in the sky was not a meteor that was going to take me away to meet my maker.
I was completely aware Japan has it's fair share of earthquakes, my main concern being the possibility of a tsunami shortly after. I was comforted in the fact we were only going to be there for about ten days and surely, the odds of a natural disaster choosing those specific days to say hi would be like winning a really crappy lottery, when I couldn't even win the good one.
It only took a few days of touring the country to forget about these possibilities, probably due to my terrible case of jet lag and school girls asking me if I was pregnant on the train... I wasn't. It was a fantastic trip and I felt I had lucked out as I waited in line to buy some Japanese candy for the plane, completely prepared for it not to be candy at all as I had no idea what the box said, but it was really colorful so I assumed it was. It ended up being a coin purse...
As I waited, the ground beneath me began to vibrate and jump, like it does if someone walks by you with a large, heavy cart. I looked around, seeing no such thing, blaming it on my non existent vertigo.
This feeling continued, getting stronger, causing me to look at my husband with confusion, only to be met with an equally confused look back. He felt it too and I was getting worried.
Just then, the entire floor began to sway from side to side, signs overhead swung in the air and products on shelves fell to the ground as fellow tourists around me screamed, terrified for what was to come. I was fully on board with these screamers, although I'm more of a drop to the ground in a fetal position type of person.
Just as I was on my way down to the floor, I notice employees and other locals calmly preventing product from falling to the floor or simply walking along, going about their day like the world wasn't just about to end.
Then, everything was still, after about thirty seconds, mind you, I swear it was way longer. Nonchalantly, I straightened out, pretending I wasn't just about to be the only person unnecessarily lying on a public floor.
My husband, excited at any experience thrown at him while simultaneously being prepared in case said experience turns bad, laughed hysterically as I recounted my near death experience to him, reminding me he was there too and it wasn't that bad.
As I paid for my non edible coin purse, I peered at the cashier and everyone around me, looking for any sign of worry about what just happened to us, only to find I was apparently the only earthquake virgin around.
Having a seat at our gate, I see the earthquake we just experienced was being broadcast on the news as a magnitude 5, with no threat of a tsunami and no apparent damage to the buildings it visibly shook. Excited I didn't overreact, I pointed this out to my husband. HAH! It was such a big earthquake, it was on the news!
As I continued to watch, I hastily tried to distract my husband from watching as I realized why the news anchor was really talking about it. It had nothing to do with the earthquake being bad - it really wasn't - and everything to do with the fact President Trump was due to land in Japan shortly after. Oh, and the epicenter was in the town next to where President Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were supposed to play golf, that was the kicker.
I kindly asked my husband to "shut it" as he giggled at my attempt to add more drama than necessary into this earthquake experience in Japan.
Having never experienced something like this in my life, it was an eye opening experience to see how differently people react to events in their life. For me, it was a big deal, but for someone who is used to it, they are almost desensitized.
Much of what divides how people view something is due to their individual experiences and I think this is something more of us should remember when debating what we think to be right or wrong.
Traveling teaches you many lessons and the underlying theme always seems to allude to being more tolerant of others and understanding your differences, as you now see the reasons why. Unless you have lived the life of the person you think is offensive and rude, or have experienced the situations deemed to be unethical for yourself, one must first try to understand the other side of things.
After all, dumping out a glass of clean water in Canada doesn't warrant a second glance, but to do that in a country without the luxury of an abundance of drinkable water must be offensive. Your reality is not the same as everyone else's and because of this, your view on the world is very different than the next person, based on experiences, the key is understanding this before you jump to conclusions.
