And I was green, greener than a hill. Where flowers grew and the sun shone still. Now I'm darker than the deepest sea. Just hand me down, give me a place to be.

This is very hard.
But I think I have to write this if I ever want to get this blog back to normal.

It's Sunday. I'm in a hotel room on the 10th floor. My view is Heiwa Doori, Hiroshima.

So many things happened the last couple of weeks. It's overwhelming. I can only sit on the hotel bed, staring into my face in the mirror, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

The days are moving so fast, I can hardly tell what happened when.

Disaster struck.
That's what happened.
Disaster has struck Tohoku, and Japan, and everybody here.

I was working in Tokyo. Then I moved to Osaka to calm down. Now I'm in Hiroshima.
It doesn't make sense. And there are just no words, I can't possibly find the words to describe it.

I'm unbelievably lucky.
I'm not really affected. All of my loved ones are safe.
I've never felt so grateful in my entire life.

My thoughts never leave the less fortunate for long, though. I'm not religious, so I can't pray for them. But I hope and I wish that they'll get through. That they won't have to search too long for a road that will help them through their troubles.

It's deeply frustrating. I wish I could help give back everything that's been lost, somehow.

People are incredible here. The care and solidarity is amazing.
I grieve, but the hope here is very strong. I'll be watching this country closely.