My friend Kimberly – Beaufort born and bred – has been living in Japan for about two years now. Her husband, a Marine, is stationed there. Though they live some 500 miles from the earthquake/ tsunami damaged areas, Kimberly has a very personal take on the tragedy that's rocked this country she’s come to love. She’s given me permission to link to her blog,  “Only Gaijin on the Train.”

Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

"Choked With Sorrow"

On September 11, 2001,  I was driving to my job at a local newspaper in South Carolina. On the radio, I heard that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. I thought, "What a horrible accident!", and when I arrived at work, walked into the Editor's office and told him the news.

Within thirty minutes, my life, and those of all Americans, was changed forever.

On March 11, 2011, I was at home in Japan watching TV.  About five minutes before 3:00pm, I heard the wail of an emergency siren and an announcement in Japanese. Jim was at work, so I called him to be sure of what the siren was for--I thought it was a drill or test. He confirmed that it was a tsunami warning and that there had been an earthquake. I turned on NHK (Japanese news station), and was horrified at what I saw.

Within thirty minutes, my life, and those of all Japanese, was changed forever.

Read the rest here.