A week after the earthquake and we are still living with the aftershocks, and in more ways than one. While the earth still shakes under us now and again, shakes of a different kind also keep coming: nuclear power plant failures, radioactive contamination fears, rolling power cuts, panic buying and sudden departures from Tokyo and the rest of country.
The term "new normal" (which I dislike rather intensely) seems to have acquired a new meaning in the aftermath of the quake and tsunami.
Yet the newer and stranger the situation becomes, the more reassuring the old and the ordinary seem to be. My mother and I have been out and about inspecting shops in our neighborhood. After one round tour, my mother pronounced: "After all, it's the locals that count."