Normalcy

I decided not to leave Japan. I think people all around the world have mixed opinions about this. Many people are being whipped into a frenzy fueled by information they're gathering from various media sources. I made my decision based on prayer, gut instinct, advice from people I respect, and gathering information from sources I actually trust. Based on all of this, I decided leaving wasn't my best option. I understand where all the fear is coming from and I have been reading the news, but where I live is safe and the radiation levels are not something I need to worry about. One thing that does suck is that I should stay away from milk. But, really, if switching to soy milk is my main concern...it's not worth uprooting my life for. I haven't addressed everything I had to consider when making my decision, but I would like to touch on one thing.
When I was trying to figure out what to do a lot of people thought it would be a good idea to get away for awhile until things settle down. My question is this: where would I go and what would I do and what would count as "settling down"? As far as I'm concerned, things HAVE settled down where I live. Beyond that, are people not realizing that I LIVE here? I'm not vacationing, I'm not just chilling out and sitting around my apartment, this is where I live. My job is here. Just leaving on short notice isn't a decision I take very lightly. I was surprised by the number of people that thought it was an option for me to just go away for three weeks and come back. If I did that, I would come back to lots of bills and zero income. Not my idea of a great getaway idea.
With all that being said, the whole situation has made me realize how ready I really am to transition out of Japan and on to the next thing. Now is not the time for this transition, but I'm excited for when it will happen. Throughout this entire ordeal I've been impressed with the Japanese people and how they've handled it all. I met a man the other day and when I asked him how he felt about leaving he said, "This is my life. Whatever happens, happens. I can't just run away." Even though I'm not Japanese, that's how I felt too. I realize it is an option for me to run away, but where would I run to and what would I do when I got there? It didn't seem like a great option to me.
From now on my posts might not be as exciting as they were this week. I definitely should have written more to take advantage. There were so many things that happened in this short week that I never documented and I should have. One thing that I remembered today as I was riding the train back to my apartment is seeing Shinjuku station two days after the quake. If you've ever been to Shinjuku station you know it is always really busy. However, when my train rolled into that station on Sunday afternoon it was basically empty. It was a really strange thing to see.
Now it is back to normalcy. Back to Narita, back to real life, but before a true return to normalcy....BACK TO KOREA!!!