Today was fire drill day at one of my schools. The last time we had a fire drill it was summer and my co-worker told me I didn't have to do anything. So we watched all the students and other staff members run out to the play ground area while we sat and sipped coffee. Today I decided I should probably know what to do if a fire really did break out. I asked the principal what I should do (he speaks English, but I have a difficult time figuring out what he's trying to say most of the time because he starts most of his sentences with 'probably'). Anyway, instead of just telling me to go to the gym (it snowed today so we weren't going outside) like I was expecting him to do, he went and talked to the fire marshal, and before I knew it, they were giving me directions on how to press the buttons to put down the fire wall which separates the hall from the gymnasium. I didn't quite understand what he meant for me to do, so I tried to clear it up, but didn't manage to get anywhere. So when the alarm went off, he and the vice principal pointed to the hall and said, 'Let's go!'. So I entered the hall (which was filled with fake smoke) and proceeded to the button, but there was a fireman there already and he had already closed the fire door. The VP went flittering by me through a side door and all the special-ed students and teachers followed. As I was about to go through the door myself more classes started to arrive and they didn't know where to go, so I ended up holding the door for 400 students and teachers as they streamed through a single width door into the gymnasium. We then sat in an unheated gym and listened to speaches by the principal and the fire marshal. Keep in mind that the students are still wearing SHORTS to school. I was in long pants, two undershirts and a cardigan and I didn't have to sit on the floor and I was FROZEN!! After the speeches, the students were allowed to walk through the science room which was set up to simulate a smoke filled room -however, the smoke was vanilla scented and really didn't provide any sense of panic or need to get out -it was kind of cool actually.
Ok, so that was the first alarm of the day. The second alarm occurred in my apartment, when my gas alarm went off! It's the first time it's happened. I didn't know what to do so I went to my first voice of reason -Sista K. She gave me the 'danger danger' sign so I called my supervisor, who called the gas company who gave him directions on how to reset the gas meter. But this didn't work. My alarm still went off after all of the resetting. So my supervisor came to my apartment -but only after I wouldn't accept his suggestion to just unplug my alarm! What the??? So he once again called the gas company and it's now 10:45 p.m. and I am waiting for them to come from Toyama to figure out what's wrong. So basically I've been sitting in my potentially 'danger danger' apartment for around 4 or 5 hours.
In the mean time, some other alarm went off in the neighborhood tonight along with some public announcement over loud speakers which I didn't catch because I was on the phone with my supervisor...
