Japanese student from our Spanish school affected by the earthquake during a trip home to her country

Yuki Onoda, a Japanese girl studying Spanish at Instituto Hemingway, has been affected by the earthquake and following tsunami that devastated the north-east coast of her country. Yuki, who had only just arrived in Japan to spend a few weeks there on holiday, had previously lived very close to the principal site of the catastrophe. A native of Minamisouma-shi, a fishing village not far from the epicentre of the tremor, she is currently experiencing first-hand the tragedy that is devastating her country.

Fully integrated into life in Bilbao, and a big fan of Athletic, Yuki had simply decided to have a short and well-deserved break from learning Spanish. Amongst other things, she wanted to renew her student visa so that she could prolong her stay in the Basque Country, an area that she is passionate about and which forms the subject of her thesis.

Her classmates and the staff from the school have tried in vain to locate her by phoning her mobile and have all been on tenterhooks since news of the tragedy broke. On Saturday, barely one day after the earthquake, Yuki herself got in contact via Facebook, giving thanks for the interest shown in her situation:

“My dear friends. Thank you so very much for the messages and concerns about my wellbeing, my family and my country. I´m sorry it´s taken me so long to get in contact with you all. I´m fine, and my family is too, but aftershocks are still shaking the area and we can´t relax, knowing the worst is over. I can´t believe what has happened here, it was the first time I´ve ever felt such fear in my whole life. The huge damage continues to spread across the country. Japan is no longer the Japan I know…I´m alive…thank you very much…I love you all very much. Lots of love.”

Now, all concerns are focused on the nuclear power station Fukushima, fearing a possible radioactive leak. The aforementioned power station is very close to Yuki´s current location. Yuki has a ticket to return to Bilbao at the end of the month and those of us from the Instituto will be awaiting her return with open arms.