9/11/01

I was in Japan at the time of the attack and didn't know about it until we came back to the international dormitory and saw the students gathering around the television at the lounge. There was a mixture of shocked silence and people on their cell phones speaking in their native languages to what appeared like family or close friends, reporting or relating what they were witnessing live on TV. 

 

At first, we had some difficulty taking in what was on TV but when the image of a plane crashing unto one of the twin towers appeared on TV it suddenly hit us that this was no fluke, no joke, and definitely not a disaster movie trailer. The first thing that came to my mind was to call my family back in the Philippines. I was lucky that the lines were not that busy, considering that most of Japan and Asia probably have not learned of the attack on New York due to the difference in time zones. In fact, when I succeeded in contacting my family it was the sleepy voice of my father who greeted me and was quite surprised I called late in the night. I had to ask them to turn on the TV just so they can be updated of what was unfolding on the other side of the globe. 

 

After watching the collapse of the twin towers, I decided to return to my room and continue watching the news from there. I was not totally in shock but started to think about the repercussions of the attack, including what could be, for me, the start of a global war that no one could imagine how it will end. After all, similar lesser events did start wars including the Great War (WW2 was an entirely different affair that probably was just a continuation of WW1). This was much more serious than a previous experience when Japan went on full alert after North Korea launched a missile past Japan and infiltrated Japanese seas in the late 90's. 

 

It was a relief later that the war that was eventually waged was of limited scale and focused on Iraq and Afghanistan. The rest, as they say, is history. I just hope that we will not experience another event of such evil, such horror in our lifetimes. Let us instead live according to principles and morals based on love and care for our fellowmen rather than on hate and greed, fighting for things that upon deeper examination are actually selfish and contrary to what we claim is taught by our religions.

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