E-mail from Japan: 'im ok...no electricity or heat'
The Goldens received the first direct communication from their son, Alex, who is teaching English in a devastated area of Japan, on Sunday night.
The Goldens received the first direct communication from their son, Alex, who is teaching English in a devastated area of Japan, on Sunday night.
He sent it from an unknown e-mail address via cell phone. It read:
im ok. have apartment food running water car half tank of gas. no electricity or heat. limited communication. tell others. trying to reach embassy.
love
alex
"I'm absolutely thrilled to hear that," his mother, Deb Golden, said moments later. "Can't tell you how thrilled I am."
The U.S. State Department doesn't know how many Americans are in Japan, let alone how many are in harm's way. But slowly, Americans such as Alex Golden of Merion Station, who lives in the rural town of Osaki, 20 miles from hard-hit Sendai, are sending word home.
The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan Friday have left untold thousands dead and far more displaced and homeless. There is limited electricity, and communication is difficult and sporadic.
Late Friday morning, Golden, 24 - a 2005 Haverford School graduate - updated his Facebook status to say that he was okay. In the evening, someone Alex was with sent the Goldens an e-mail. But that was all they had heard until Sunday night.
The Goldens are disappointed in the lack of assistance from the State Department, and believe the U.S. military, which has bases in Japan, should be rescuing stranded Americans.
"I want him out of there," Deb said.
A spokesman for the State Department, Andy Laine, said Sunday that "consular support teams" have been sent into the Sendai area to locate and assist American citizens, and additional personnel from around Japan have been moved to Tokyo to assist with rescue efforts.
Laine said those who know where Americans are staying in Japan should contact the State Department at japanemergencyusc@state.gov
"We want to find survivors," Laine said.
Golden worked for a school in Osaki. He got the job through an employment agency in Tokyo.
When the earthquake hit, Golden only had two weeks left after having worked in Osaki for a year and a half. In June, he was supposed to meet his father, Jim, to climb the highest mountain in Japan, Mount Fuji.
After that he was to begin studies toward a graduate degree in Asian Studies at George Washington University in Washington, DC.