American Politics

Uh oh. We've seen it all now. An American media friendly businessman becomes President of the United States or POTUS. I guess it should be in all capital letters. I mean, we are talking about the president and all. A bunch of years ago, Ross Perot, another Texas billionaire wanted to be pres, but lost. A lot of people think a lot of things about Trump - good and bad. I think we have to wait and see!

Volcano

Just a few weeks ago we had another burst from the Aso volcano. It was pretty big actually, and shot around 11,000 meters into the sky. Ash filled the streets and landed on cars, buildings, trees, signs, and fields. Apparently, it was the biggest burst to date since the last biggest one in 1980. I tell you, the recent few years have been buregeoning with earth activity. I've lived in Kumamoto since 1994 which makes it about twenty years, and in that time we had a skant few shakes and no volcano activity at all (although the volcano was active then). I remember how interesting it was to look into the volcano and see the green magma boiling below. It was really cool then. We did have several active typhoons that ripped apart my bicycle parking cover and took down my outside storage shed. But that was about it. Right before I came Mt Unzen in Nagasaki had erupted and it was quite a big dea, although I saw nothing of it then. I tried to get ready for an earthquakes when I first came to Japan and thought I should put together a hardcover escape kit with flashlight, water, radio, clothing, my passport, money, and other stuff to keep somewhere I could grab or pull out of rubble. And time went on, and I never put it together. Suddenly three years ago Mount Aso spewed suddenly - blowing ash all around. Surprise! Then one random night I was at home fiddling with my computer and boom! The place heaved from side to side hugely. I knew it was an earthquake. My heart raced. A second one came. My house was okay. I was okay. But mentally it was strange. Roads that we knew for years vanished. Things, ideas, locations, and people changed. I learned what it's like to be involved in natural disaster. And the strange part is, I never thought I would.