After another day of grim news coming out of Japan, my gut was telling me to not go. But, I still wanted to cling on to some hope so even when my mother called to try and knock some sense into me, I resisted. Mom was not enough to dissuade me from going. I decided to ping my Facebook friends to get their thoughts.
Though I am terribly disappointed at the moment, I know it is the right decision to have made.
There is no need to endanger either my life or that of my brother to visit Japan. The country will be there next year and that's when we will go.
I called my brother and although he had not been paying as close attention to the news as I was, he agreed to postpone.
Now, comes the task of figuring out how to rescheduling our tour til next year and re-booking our flights. I will lose some money but it's a small price to pay under the circumstances. And, believe it or not, as a result of all the research that I did for this trip, I already have things I want to change about our itinerary. Lucky, I now have the chance to do that and hopefully, our trip to Japan will be an even better on!
Today, Kiat and I helped our Japanese colleagues to man the Relief for Japan table at the IMF. We were there to help get donations from anyone who walked by and I can say that neither Kiat nor I were shy about asking people to donate! I also gave a donation which the IMF will match at 100 percent so it was definitely worth giving. My contributions are microscopic compared to what is needed for Japan to get back on its feet but I truly believe every little bit helps as so I am encouraging everyone I know to give whatever amount they feel they want to give.
This is a very difficult time for Japan but it is a nation of very resilient people and it will recover! I very much look forward to the day when I will stand on its soil and soak in its culture.
So, I am closing this blog until I resume planning for next year. Sayonara for now!
