There are so many people from around the world sending messages to Japan. I found that many victims from Japan are sending messages to us. Most of them say, “Thank you for your help,” “I want to go to school,” and “I want to take a shower.”
I have never felt that I wanted to go to school and I never imagined that we, as Japanese, needed to yearn for a shower. Yet, as they struggle to survive, they are working hard to help each other.
When I went back to college in the U.S., I was upset because many of my classmates were irresponsible. Their words and promises sounded great, but their actions never matched their intentions. However, they were the first to claim someone else’s work. For example, I told them I didn’t want to come after school to do extra work because I had so much to do as a wife. They said that, “Teamwork,” was important and that we should all pitch in. The result was that I had waited for the others to show up, which no one did, and I completed the project myself. They had all kinds of excuses. When it was time for the presentation, they didn’t hesitate to say, “WE did it.” I was upset and complained to George, “Those people kept insisting that TEAMWORK was so important, but they didn’t do any of the work!” He said, “They are the team and you are the work. Just accept that. Think about it...who was smarter?” The same irresponsible behavior existed at all of the various U.S.
Every day, I spend time reading the stories from Japan of the victims’ experiences and find myself with tears. I hope I’m learning something as I read. It would be an honor to be able to learn the culture again before I get too old.
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