“Brother,
How are you and your family? These last few days, everything was in chaos. When I close my eyes, I see dead bodies. When I open my eyes, I also see dead bodies. Each one of us must work 20 hours a day, yet I wish there were 48 hours in the day, so that we could continue helping and rescuing folks.”
These are the opening lines of a letter written by a Vietnamese immigrant to Japan working as a police man. Copies of this letter have been circulating through the Vietnamese Diaspora, and New America Media has posted a translation. It’s a fascinating and sometimes moving story of life after the disaster, including how the US treats its expatriates, how other Vietnamese are faring in Japan, and how soon the situation might not be so calm and organized as the media is making it out to be.
The translation was provided by author and New American Media Editor, Andrew Lam.
