Bloody Hell!!

Today was a most interesting day.  I was going to write about my day with a certain English School in Sapporo that today put on the most extravagant Kids Theatre Production I have ever seen (or been somewhat involved in).... this was basically 9 hours of my Saturday. 

However it was the 10 minutes after I got home around 6pm that had a much larger and more significant impact on me .

Into the framework

I should preface this all with ever since I moved to Sapporo I have had this uneasy feeling about my home being burnt down.  Sometimes I have come home just expecting the worst... of course this has not (and to my relief is still not) the case...

Normally when running the clothes dryer, I would turn it on and leave the home... but since I came to Sapporo I will stay at home and make sure the dryer has finished before leaving home.  I make sure that all power points are clear of hazardous material... and I have had this feeling of dread that a fire will occur.

I have put this feeling down to nothing more than aging paranoia... ie as you get older you begin to take notice of such things.

Anyway today I finished work and headed home... as I got here there were workers and police milling around outside my home... but I wasn't too concerned.. there have been street works outside my place and in the street for the past month so it wasn't unusual.  Then I got to my home and on the corner was a fire truck... but there didn't seem to be much activity with the firemen so I just went inside... nobody said anything... I just waltzed in.

I got to my floor (the 6th) and the automatic light didn't come on... which surprised me a little but oh well no big deal.. unlocked the door to my apartment and entered.  Stepping into the genkan (entrance hallway) I was overwhelmed by the stink of burn and the door from the genkan to the living room was open... (I was sure I had closed it... "didn't I close it when I left this morning?")

I stepped in and and looked around expecting now the worst... overpowering stink of burn and the door was open.  Initially I hadn't put 1 and 1 together (burn + fire truck) I then noticed the balcony doors were open.  Ok it is winter here in Sapporo and outside snow was dumping down.  I haven't opened the doors to the balcony in weeks... now I knew something was wrong.  I quickly inspected my apartment and apart from the stink everything seemed ok. 

Now I began wondering what had happened... am I allowed to be here? what should I do?

So I go back down out into the dumping snow and I see firemen everywhere, running a hose and coordinating something.. (my Japanese isn't strong enough to work out what) I approach one guy (and let me tell you Japanese fireman have some high tech gear) and ask him if it's ok to be in my apartment.  My simple question gets a 5 minute spiel in cool and calm but oh so fast Japanese.... and I can't keep up.  He points down the road and mentions something about everybody.  He points here and there and talks about fire.  He points to my building and talks about entering and exiting. That's about all I could understand. 

He goes and talks to a colleague and then says to me lets go.. so back we come to my apartment and he begins checking around.  And continuing to talk to me about something or other and fire.  I don't understand... damn I wish I studied harder!!!

I call my friend Sumiyo (my translation assistant)  dear god answer the phone woman... I need help!!
No answer
I ring her again
No answer
I go to my secondary source of knowledge Brad
No freaking answer!!
I begin scouring for a third source... damn it who can I call.....
Brad rings me back
Hooray!!
I quickly explain to him what has happened and thrust the phone at the very patient fireman.

A conversation ensues... Brad gets back to me and tells me in 2 sentences what seemed like a hundred.

The place next door was on fire.

Burnt

Ok thanks Brad.
Not him the fireman...

Ahh

Arigato gozaimasu.

The fireman says no problem... but please keep the door open... and maybe you should come back later. I listen but for the moment decide to not heed his advice... I sit down at the computer ready to check my mail and write this... but it is so freaking cold, and the stink is overwhelming... I have to get out. 

But what am I going to do?  It's 6.20... my favourite bar is not open... I email my fellow students and Sapporo friends to see if any want to go for a drink elsewhere.  (I get the standard zero replies - see my coffee run post about getting friends out for a last minute anything here).  It is dumping snow...

But I decide that I may as well go for coffee... and contemplate what just occurred.

As I get ready to leave I notice that my southern windows (the windows above the building) are pretty dirty and so I take the opportunity to open them and check the building (people who know Japan that when the fireman says the building next door he means almost within touching distance)

I open the window and notice something strange... my flyscreen has gone... no it hasn't gone, it has either melted or been incinerated.. (owing to the lack of damage to the area around the window I go with melted but when you see the photo you might think it ignited).

Well that gets me thinking... the fire has stunk up my room and destroyed the fly screen.  That was as bloody close as you will ever want to get to it.

The Remains

I put on my boots and head off.  As I'm walking through the park (getting dumped on by snow) I begin thinking about a couple of things.

and I now have 3 rules to improve my life
Rule 1.
Always leave your room in a state where you will not be embarrassed if people have to enter.
Yes I admit it my room is a mess with papers everywhere and laundry heaped on the floor (it was sorted to be done when I got home).
Rule 2.
Backup Backup Backup.
Well I pretty closely follow a backup regime..
My computer is daily backed up to an ext. hard drive
I semi regularly copy music, documents and photos to DVD.
But if there had been a fire all that would have been for nought!
So now it time to develop some off site strategy... (mum can you store a couple of DVDs?)
Rule 3.
Never buy anything that can't be replace or will devastate you upon losing it. (the only stuff really important to me is my data... as long as I have that safe the computers can burn!!)

For those reading this and thinking it can never happen to you... it most certainly can.  I got a nice warning shot across the bow.  I'm going to try and get some photos up later... and I might be re jigging this entry a bit as I find errors and decide to tell the story differently.  But for now this is all I have time for.