Today I met my second conversation partner, Fumie, at Atomic Coffee. I was pretty nervous, but Fumie was very polite and responsive. She's a graduate student from Hiroshima, Japan who studies social psychology, focusing on inter-group relationships and the creation of social groups. Fumie also works with social recovery efforts towards those affected by the Hiroshima bombing. We discussed how nuclear warfare disturbs us both, and the climate of fear it leaves in its wake. I asked Fumie what she would say is a significant social effect of the bombing, and she explained to me that the growth near the area of the bombing is stagnant. Older families keep their homes where they are, but younger families do not enter the area to settle. It has, in theory, stopped developing.
After we finished our coffee drinks, we went next door to Pitaria for food. As we ate I listened to Fumie talk about her plans to go to Disney World over spring break. Fumie has visited the U.S. before to go cave diving in Arizona. I expressed my jealousy passionately. Fumie has also been to New York and Washington D.C. When in D.C., Fumie visited the White House on the day that Osama Bin Laden was pronounced dead. She said it was a totally different environment than the previous day, and we agreed that the Press are an aggressive sort. The quest for information will drive people to act in strange ways.
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