::::::: y a n o s h ... in ... winterwonderland :::::::

before eventually going to bed, a short summary on today.
i am fine, yasuko is fine, the student is better again (though probably not fine) and taken care of - she really panicked this morning, maybe traumatized and is in hospital now. furthermore, basically all people i know more closely here are well, even the ones from sendai. interestingly, the internet seems to work in most regions of the country. it's currently the best way to contact people.
in kyoto is basically business as usual. if you don't watch news, you wouldn't recognize here a catastrophy happened (and maybe still under way) in another part of the country.
several foreign attenders of the workshops arrived (mostly those from sweden. remarkable.), though another colleague was said to immediately have turned around taking next the flight back right after arriving to kansai (osaka) airport. information on the nuke plants is still contradictory - i have the feeling western media and governments are somewhat overexaggerating, while japanese authorities probably play the issues down. i have to admit, i currently like the latter best - doesn't help anybody when people start to panic. and it's anyway difficult, i believe, to get the people out of the areas around the nuke plants - they belong to the most devastated with roads and train tracks blocked or destroyed.
i will stay here for the moment. doesn't make sense to stress others for getting a flight out of here, i think. i will not die or get seriously injured here - even if nuke plant situation escalates. also, people living here can not just escape, so leaving would feel like betrayal to my friends, acquaintances, and colleagues here. as long as they recommend i stay, i will (i think. though subject to reconsideration when situation worsens).