As most of you know by now, last Tuesday there was a 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch. I didn't physically feel the quake, but I can certainly feel it's impact now. There is an unmistakable and universal feeling of soberness, which clashes with the usual trends of Orientation week around the University of Otago. It is something that is not readily talked about out of respect for those that we have lost and for those who are still missing, but you can bet it's on everyone's minds. The first time it really hit was was two days after the quake. I was in a sporting goods store and while I was browsing through some of my favorite things, I overheard a few staff members discussing their coworker's mother, who was still missing somewhere in the rubble.
At this point, there are 147 people that have been killed and still over 200 still missing.
But similarly to the state of the US after September 11th, it is clear that the earthquake is already bringing together the people of New Zealand. I'd be hard pressed to walk more than 5 minutes in any direction from my apartment and not find someone collecting donations. Not just dollar coins, but 10's, 20's and even 50 dollar bills I have seen stuffed inside the small plastic containers.
Sorry if this was a downer of a blog post, but I thought it was something that should be addressed.
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