Pray for Japan!

Apocalyptic images coming from Japan every day. We watch news channels every hour to see if the hell that broke loose is coming to an end. This is so horrific that it seems unreal, images of cars swept, like matchboxes, off the coast and on top of nearby buildings, hundreds of villages and towns flooded with black water and mud, corpses lying face down in corners where the rescue workers haven't been able to reach them. This is a nightmare and I wish I could wake up and forget it.

Ibaraki prefecture and the beautiful town of Tsukuba, where me and my wife stayed for two years, is not too far from the epicentre of the earthquake and, more importantly, the Fukushima nuclear power plants. We have tens of friends at Tsukuba University, many of them ryuugakusei, like I was during my time in Japan. Their Facebook statuses sound scary sometimes, but the first day I was happy to read them. I was happy to hear any voices coming out of the disaster. Things seem to be returning to normalcy lately, but the fear of new quakes and nuclear plant explosions hangs in the air.

I hope this hell will be over very soon and the Japanese people will resume their lives, a little scared, maybe, but also a little more experienced, with bruises, but stronger than they were before the catastrophe. I really hope Japan will soon forget all the pain and suffering caused by this disaster, but remember the most important lessons - that the Japanese people acted as one and kept together. Many nations would crumble and never find their footing after such an apocalypsis, but not Japan - I am sure they will be back on their feet pretty soon.

I am not someone who prays regularly, but I will do so for Japan and those who are in pain. Pray for Japan!