Aye, we do move on but it always saddens me to think of all the great people I've lost contact with. I was also absent from MSN for over a year and just recently got back. I think it wasn't as long as 3 years ago when we last talked, though.. But time kind of seems to go faster the older you get
![Tongue](images/smilies/d_tongue.gif)
Apparently it's normal for after shocks to occur 2-3 months after a big earth quake and our teachers keep assuring us we're safe and another big one will not come, since the plates have already settled. There have been a few rather big ones, though.. Just last night and two days ago, both over 7. Not here tough, but roughly around the same area, where the original big one occurred. There were tsunami warnings, too, but no new waves. Here they were about 3s. Luckily, I'm pretty far away from the epicentre. Last night there were multiple minor earth quakes and in the morning and during my second class a bit bigger ones.th I even get a warning on my cellphone like a minute or two before they begin, so I'm just sitting there waiting for it to happen. After my arrival a bit over a week ago there wasn't any activity, but now it's constant and getting kind of annoying. I just hope there will be no more nightly quakes to wake us up.
And if it continues like this I might get worried, but the Japanese people aren't and they're going about their daily lives as usual by now. Most of the train lines are running already, even if there are fewer trains, but at least moving around isn't a real pain anymore and people can get to work, etc. They are trying to save electricity everywhere they can, so in addition to the fewer trains, there are no lights inside the running ones at daytime and most billboards are turned off, which makes the streets look kind of spooky and different in big cities like Tokyo and Yokohama. But at least there are people around unlike right after the quake. The stores are now looking normal, too. At first they were completely out of bottled water, all canned foods, bread and milk. Now there are just a few empty shelves, but you can basically find everything you need.
Like I said, our spring semester stated normally, so I had to return if I wanted to do the whole year here as planned. If I were to return home, I think I wouldn't get a chance to come back via my Uni again, because there are so many applicants every year. And I really want to get back to my boyfriend, dogs, family and friends soon and for good without having to come back here a second time in the future. 4 more months left! I really love it here, though, and am gonna miss my new friends terribly when we all go back to our countries (or some stay here), but at the same time I can't wait to get back to my loved ones in Finland. My mum and my boyfriend's family (and he too, but for different reasons) wanted me home for good, because they're scared for my safety, but I'm not really. Not as things are now. There were many exchange students who returned home and are not coming back, though.
But yeah, the Japanese people seem optimistic and so am I so far ^^ Let's see with all these earth quakes.. Sorry for the novel.
(Oh and I play on EU - Ravencrest (Horde) and Darkspear (Alliance). Detest the Alliance, though.. My boyfriend made me play the quests while they were still there before Cata, so now I have an 80 human pala tank and, now that I spent the two weeks in Finland, a worgen because, well, worgen <3)