Q&A: Winters Mill Grad in Japan During Earthquake

Teddy Zaleski, a Winters Mill graduate who studies Japanese at Towson State University, has been a student in Japan for about a month and a half.

"It was my way of taking a big step towards independence and growth," he said of his study abroad choice.

He was in class at Kansai Gaidai in Hirakata, Osaka, nearly 400 miles southwest of Miyagi Prefecture, where the earthquake occurred just off shore Friday. Tokyo is in the middle of the two locations, about 175 miles or so away from each.

He shared the following in a Facebook exchange with Patch:

"When the earthquake occurred I was waiting for class to start, sitting at a desk reading. I was the only one in the room, so when I did feel the earthquake I didn’t realize what it was. It was so light that I thought I might be a little dehydrated or sick because all I felt was a sensation that I was swaying back and forth. As soon as other students shuffled in I started to hear about an earthquake.

"I headed up to the kitchen for dinner and found several other students watching the news. We just got image after image of cars and street lights being carried away by incredibly fast water. One clip showed a car that was being dragged toward the ocean and it got stuck and was just pummeled by all kinds of debris. Then we realized that the car lights were on and we had to wonder whether someone was still in the car.

"That’s really when I got the details, the fact that it was an M8.9 earthquake and the severity of the damage. In Hirakata, I was told we got something around an M3 earthquake. It was pretty quiet for most of the time. We all just watched the TV with an occasional exclamation of how terrible it was. It’s hard to really understand how bad something is when you’re hundreds of miles away and there is nothing to suggest that things aren’t normal.

"If I’m not mistaken, Japan is about the length of the eastern coast of the U.S., so while it’s thin, there is still a lot of distance between different areas of the country. Right now northern Japan is dealing with the failing nuclear power plants. Tokyo is doing systematic blackouts to conserve energy, and obviously, Miyagi Prefecture is trying to organize and clean up after the tsunami.

"In Hirakata and down south you could easily go about your day without knowing the earthquake had occurred. The dorms and the university have a few lights turned off to conserve energy, but otherwise life is very much the same.

"Personally I have not been very affected. I got a lot of worried Facebook messages and emails from friends and family. My parents told me that several of my aunts called, crying, concerned for my safety. It’s all a bit comical (and a bit shaming) for me, knowing how safe I am at this distance, but understandable since I’m sure most people have no idea where Miyagi Prefecture is or where Osaka is.

"The biggest issue right now is the power plant failures, which, while appearing uncontrolled, shouldn’t be getting any worse. I suppose things can always happen though." 

Editors' Note: Zaleski's Facebook post has been shortened but his words are unchanged.