Disaster prevention project

 Disaster prevention is taken much more seriously in Japan than it is here. There are some similarities, like the earthquake procedures we have in school are similar with covering your head and getting under your desk. However, past that Japan is much more conscious than we are here. They talk about everyone having their own kits for both at home and at work, both kits stocked with everything you need and protective equipment. Also, the fact that people organize their own practice drills in case of emergency makes it evident that the Japanese people truly care about their personal and community safety. Here, our drills are viewed as annoyances and people do not care to do more investment in their emergency readiness. In one of the videos we watched, the workers explained that all of their furniture is bolted down, I recognized this because I know that furniture here also comes with brackets to bolt it down to the wall. I just recently got a shelf that included bolting it down to the wall but me and my roomate discussed how we never used them, showing negligence to protect our environment because of the lack of emergency diligence here. Also, the disaster simulation place that they went to in one of the videos was really interesting. I think knowing what those emergencies feel like is important should they ever present themselves so that it is easier to keep a clear mind. I also think that it would be fun and interesting to learn what it feels like in a safe environment. However, when they showed some of the simulations they looked very serious, like the one where everyone was experiencing simulated heavy rain and we’re in ponchos. That looks less fun and more educational, I know something like that over here might work because people would see it as fun, but the more serious one I don’t think people would want to do. The process of this project was fun, I enjoyed learning about the disaster readiness exercises that take place in Japan. I also enjoyed interpreting the document from Yokohama. It was cool to be able to partly understand an authentic document, I look forward to being able to understand even more with continued study. I also really appreciated typing with my phone in Japanese, I wasn’t able to use the Japanese keyboard I had very much because it was the hiragana only one with the need to press multiple times to get the character you need. The romaji keyboard is much more useful and I’m excited to start using it more. I think I could get to the point where I am able to type to other Japanese speakers online and to use the internet in Japanese to learn more. It’s been a long time goal for me to start a diary in Japanese because I think it would be a great way to practice and to upkeep my language skills, but I never felt that I knew enough to start one. But, I feel like this project has begun to give me the skills to do so with the keyboard addition.