Japan

I've been thinking about blogging about the situation in Japan right now.  Its obviously a tragic and difficult time for the Japanese people.

One of the things that really makes this hit so close to home are the personal connections.  The "I" in ISB stands for international.  The elementary school alone has students from almost a third of the countries in the world.  As a country with significant business interests in Thailand, Japan is well represented among ISB students.

Not only do the ISB students and parents have friends and acquaintances from Japan, but many have friends who have moved back to Japan.  Jacob and Aleena both had friends that have moved back to Japan in the last year.  In fact, I first learned about the earthquake and tsunami when I read a Facebook post asking the mother of those children asking if everyone was okay.   Fortunately, the answer was yes.

Tim also has close friend from high school who now lives in Japan.  She lives in southern Japan and is less impacted than those to the north.  We were planning on visiting her during our April trip, but that will have to wait.   Right now, we are just glad that everyone is okay.