GRACE AMIDSTS DEATH AND DISASTER

An inevitable sadness consumes me these past few days. Seeing how Japanese people endure this huge disaster is really heartbreaking. I have been to Japan and had the luxury of staying in the home of nice Japanese family in Komoro, Nagano who became my foster parents. They really took good care of me. It was this moment in my life that I had a glimpse of how Japanese lives. They are honest, hardworking people, sensitive and so attached to their culture. In the face of recent disaster, the world is amazed on how the Japanese showed a reasonable amount of discipline and grace even in the midst of crisis. How they would quietly fall in line just to buy basic items that they needed badly. There was no pushing, shoving and fighting over who should go first. There was not even a report on looting. Surely, as a whole, we have something to learn from these people. As one who lives in Philippines, it is common to see disaster victims wailing and crying their hearts out. On the other hand, when Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, you see people, cursing and shouting at their government for being too slow in action. This crisis had made the world see how Japanese can be, seemingly subdued in public and has a sense of solidarity. After watching CNN, people are puzzled to see disaster victims still so polite and demure when being interviewed by the reporters. Their resilient nature is their exceptional virtue and has helped them survived throughout their history.