hey brendan, what u doing?
nuttin, working on getting this Oct 7th kry kids show set up, and sending invites
how's it going?
i just got one!
GREAT!
i want to chat u up, but want to wait till you have time
about ur japan trip
oh right
how were you thinking of doing it, like facebook chat, or..?
yeah, i just want to ask u a few questions
what month did all this happen?
MARCH
3.11.11
what airport did u fly into?
Tokyo Narita airport
did the earthquake strike while you were in the air?
apparently the BIG one did, i think.. but we felt one right AFTER landing; aftershock i guess
so it was literally happening during our approach, and taxiing on runway
i'm still uncertain when the REAL big one was, but we thought we were getting off the plane until literally RIGHT as we were taking off our seatbelts; that's when the captain came on the speaker and ordered us to stay in our seats!
was ur brother supposed to meet you at the airport?
No, i was supposed to travel to downtown Tokyo by train after getting off the plane
where u stranded at the airport?
yes, for over 24 hours
once you left the airport, where did you go?
BANGKOK!!!!!!!! 
how did u get there?
tell me when you're tired
a Delta flight out of Narita
okay
we can do this in installments
when u got to bangkok, did you have to go through customs again
um.. i think so
god, it's hard to remember!
once in bangkok, where did u stay?
someday u'll be glad i wrote this, for your grandkids!
ahh! yes i suppose
um, we stayed at my brother's girlfriend's house, which is in north Bangkok
it just so happened that my bro was/is dating a thai girl!
wow
how did u finally find ur brother?
well, since i couldn't leave Narita by train, i had to wait for him to come to ME
were you able to call him on your cell phone?
being a native of Tokyo for the past 10 years, he was able to navigate his way there, tho it took some time; i think he took like three local trains
Tokyo-Narita Express train was inoperable, which is the standard way to make that trip
no, no cell service
wow, so some trains were running
i actually spoke w/ my parents back home in Cinci via a long-distance landline call BEFORE i talked to my bro; i didn't hear his voice until the next morning
yeah, i guess SOME trains were...
did u just have to have faith that he would find you?
well, we relayed msg's via my parents; he told THEM to tell ME to stay at Narita, and by God he would get there!!! And he did
there was a cyber-terminal at Narita too, so we did a little facebookin' once i got on there
Facebook was a VERY VALUABLE tool in all of this, by the way, although the good old-fashioned pay phone is still indispensible
all the more reason to be annoyed that they're becoming more scarce; people figure cell phones will always be there for them but they sometimes won't
so really, that 24 hours, plus the time landing, which must have been intense, was the real crisis?
yes, exactly... once we got to Bangkok we were home-free, and had an awesome thai paradise vacation with two lovely ladies! but the shadow of the japan disaster hung over us, and was kind of eerie
i mean, i was able to forget and still have fun, but we kept checking the news and my bro would occasionally get calls on his iphone like from his boss or friends back in japan
did you bond with a stranger in the 24 hours
we got to see it thru the thai eyes; they were already planning benefits for japan and such!
well, thai's know about tsunami
um, i did, yes... a few passing strangers. like the japanese/american boarding school student in the plane seat next to me who was on spring break, or this japanese family camped out on the airport floor next to me that night
Whew! my carpal tunnel is flairing up; shall we break until next time?
9:14pm
yes, i know exactly where we left off
good job
THANKS!
talking to u soon
xxxooo
ok cool
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