9/12/2001

6am YNYC

Yesterday started out ordinarily enough. We had class during the typhoon and the afternoon was reserved for sleeping. I've never seen rain and wind like I saw yesterday. It looked like tons of hoses all just dumping water on Tokyo. Walking felt like swimming. The wind bent the trees over and it was very difficult to hold on to umbrellas. G ran outside in him swimsuit to play in the storm. I took a nap.

Later in the afternoon the rain stopped and the clouds broke apart, so G and I hopped a subway train back to the American Embassy to get his passport. They had just closed, unfortunately, and told us to come back the next day.

We took the subway to Shinjuku to try again to tour that area. We went out a different exit and found Oh Lord shopping center. We saw a live radio broadcast in a courtyard, and lots of hippie-looking shops. Through that mall we found a little technology district. We decided to look for an internet cafe (which we never found). We walked all over that few block area, and then crossed a big street into more of a game district. There were tons of little restaurants with people in the street advertising for them. At one point we stopped to ask one of the men where an internet cafe is. But- as we asked in Japanese- he answered in Japanese, and we didn't understand him at all.

We just kept walking and soon realized that we had stopped seeing foreigners, and started seeing strip clubs and 10-minute massage parlors. We just kept walking. Soon it was dark and most of the people we passed were sleeping on the street and they were the only people we saw. We turned right around and found our way back into the subway. We were actually one stop farther North than we started. But it was nice to be in a bright station after being so lost in an obviously bad part of town. We rode our way back and walked to everyone's favorite noodle shop for dinner. The meal was so-so. We were so relieved to not be lost that we just decided to go home and go to bed. As far as I can remember, that's all I did aside from shower and bathe (with newcomers to the communal bath system who were about 12 years old and very funny). At about midnight G came into our room and woke me up. I don't remember much about it except that he talked loud enough to wake up my roommates and say we all had to go to the television. He said two airplanes hit the World Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon and another was "unaccounted for" and perhaps was going to be shot down. He also told us they were passenger jets.

I won't go into detail about the incident- by the time I reread this it will probably be well-rehearsed news. G and I ran to the 4th floor lounge where a loud group of Japanese had gathered around the TV. They made room for us right in front so we could watch the pictures close up. After a few minutes, I composed myself enough to go downstairs where the rest of the group was listening to CNN on US military radio. Many people were crying, some just sat shocked. We were all packed into the lounge hearing everything we could and listening totally silently. People began trying to call home but the phone lines filled very quickly. Everyone, it seemed, knew of someone who could have been in the airplanes or in New York or worked in Washington or Chicago, or for United or American Airlines. Our first concern was for our friends and family who could or could not have been there.

Maybe it happened when Prof. Winship came in or maybe we just needed to find something else to think about, but soon we began worrying about our position in Japan. Would we be safe here? Are we going to go home? What parts of the program will be affected. When he came downstairs from contacting school he assured us that we are totally safe. Safer here, in fact, than probably at home. At the Youth Center we are unexpected guests. It's a Japanese Government run house so we're not in any danger of being targeted. The breakfast scheduled for this morning a the Tokyo-America Club with members of the American Chamber of Commerce was canceled. We heard that the American Embassy was closed, so G's passport would have to wait another day. Prof. Winship offered to help call home if we needed it and said he'd stay up to date on everything. He suggested we watch the news and listen to the radio as long as we wanted, but that class would resume as normal in the morning. Dr. Prescott came down and translated some of the Japanese for us, but we just listened to the radio so she left after a while.

Some Japanese walked by or joined our group once in a while, but they stayed silent and watched us and the news. Eventually we all dispersed, and, around 2-2:30am most people decided to try to sleep. I tried too, but nightmares kept me awake for most of it.

Now we're told we have class this morning and will probably not go to the Geriatric Center this afternoon. G and I plan on going to the embassy Thursday before our Friday flight to Kyoto.