I happened to turn on the TV this morning to see if there was anything interesting on the tube (although I shouldn’t use “the tube” anymore because there are no tubes in modern TVs). I guess I’m just kind of stalling / denying that I have to work tomorrow. I’m in total chill mode. I rarely watch TV in Japan because, well, I don’t understand it. I know that watching TV is a good way to learn a language but I feel like a Peanuts character listening to an adult.

When I turned on the TV I noticed a map of Japan with yellow highlights on the south facing coast line. I knew there was an earthquake in Indonesia, so I wondered if it was a tsunami warning. My prefecture is on the coast, but I am nowhere near the coast. However, I was curious. I went to the Japan Meteorological Agency website and sure enough, there was a tsunami advisory.

I’m not trying to make a tsunami sound exciting. It isn’t like a snow storm or something. As a matter of fact, I got a very stressing text message in 2004 from a good friend who was on Phi Phi island in Thailand when the tsunami hit (by the way, my friend started a charity as a response to the disaster). However, part of this blog is to report what is going on here.

Since the time I’ve discovered this tsunami advisory and started this entry, the tsunami has already arrived. It appears to have been between 10 to 20 centimeters.