Disaster Prevention Field Trip

My Japanese class went on a field trip to a surprisingly fun place this week. We went to the Kyoto City Disaster Prevention Center to learn about well... preventing disasters and preparing for/surviving them when they do occur.

They had several hands-on activities where we could realistically experience several types of disasters. For example, they had an apartment (a lot like ours) that you could enter which would then simulate the experience of an earthquake. My group survived a 7.0 magnitude quake while carrying out all the tasks they had given us ahead of time.

As the quake began, we had to protect ourselves by ducking our heads under the kitchen table and hugging the table legs. Next, as the shaking subsided, we had to scurry around to turn off the heater, gas stove and other appliances. Then, we had to open all the doors and crawl back under the table before the aftershocks arrived. It was fairly violent and surprisingly realistic! A few people were a little scared, I think.

There was a typhoon simulation with winds of over 30 meters per second. That's equivalent to roughly 70 miles per hour for all you metric system impaired folks. > Besides thinking of all the roof tiles that the wind would be whipping around had this really been a storm in Kyoto, the typhoon simulation was fun... and made all the girls' hair look fabulously "windswept chic."

We got to use fire extinguishers to try to combat virtual fires. Essentially, we shot water onto videos of fire on a giant screen. The scenarios were hilarious and usually resulted in the fire winning. It was really useful to see what it feels like to use a fire extinguisher. Pulling the pin out and puncturing the pressure seal was easier than you'd think.

The least fun simulation was the Smoke Simulation where we had to escape a hotel fire. They had a maze of hotel hallways filled with (non-toxic) smoke. We had to navigate our way to the exit. It was fairly difficult though as the hallways were dark, many of the Exit signs and all of the lights were realistically burnt out and the smoke was um... bothersome. My group escaped the most quickly which I attribute to our decision to crouch/crawl instead of walk. The smoke filled the hallway from about shin height upwards, so it was less lung-crushing along the floor.

They had an arcade type area with several firefighting video games, a 3-D ride about the "Great Kyoto Earthquake" and a Air Rescue Helicopter Flight Simulator where you could fly around Kyoto extinguishing fires and saving people during disasters. The difficulty of these games resulted in our being seriously impressed by real-life firefighters and helicopter pilots.

It was a fun and very practical field trip. I think every big city should have one of these centers - an informed and educated public has to be a much better thing in time of a disaster than, say, for example, FEMA.

Kyoto City Zoo

Today I went to the Kyoto City Zoo. It was pretty cool, but definitely no Bronx Zoo or San Diego Zoo. I think I've been spoiled by having the chance to see so many cool zoos and aquariums that now any new places find it hard to match up. :)

The habitats were old fashioned and largely in need of repainting/landscaping, but there was a large selection of animals, like this adorably bored jaguar and this hippo who kept flicking her ears non-stop. I especially enjoyed watching the feedings of the Rhesus monkeys and penguins. The monkeys went crazy for their meal of apples, carrots, potatoes, bananas, and ... sardines. The penguin feeding was fun because the zoo keeper let the crowd (me included!) throw the fish to the penguins. It was fun, not to mention really cute when the small kids would try to toss the fish and miss the enclosure entirely.

But, the most notable part of the zoo was finding out that children under age 12 get in free. This resulted in hundreds of school children and their teachers swarming around the zoo all day on field trips. Most of the classes had uniforms where every child was dressed the same and wore the same BRIGHTLY colored hats. The youngest children each had backpacks with adorable characters like Hello Kitty, Winnie the Pooh, Anpanman, and others emblazoned all over! Most of the older elementary school aged kids had backpacks like these, but also carried little zoo clipboards around and took notes or drew sketches.

At the lion/tiger/jaguar enclosure, a family with two little girls and a little boy sang the following song incessantly: "Lion-san, Lion-san, Lion-san, Konnichiwa Lion-san". It was very cute .... and funny when the Lion actually growled back at them. I guess the Lion demands more complicated lyrics in songs dedicated to him.