E-mail from Japan: "im ok . . . no electricity or heat"
The Goldens received the first direct communication from their son, Alex, who was teaching English in a devastated area of Japan, on Sunday night.
The Goldens received the first direct communication from their son, Alex, who was 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 thousands dead and far more displaced and homeless. Electricity is limited, and communication is difficult and sporadic.
Late Friday morning, Golden, 24, a 2005 Haverford School graduate, updated his Facebook status to say he was OK. In the evening, someone he was with sent the Goldens an e-mail. But that was all they had heard until Sunday night.
The Goldens said they were disappointed in the lack of assistance from the State Department, and believed the U.S. military, which has bases in Japan, should be rescuing stranded Americans.
"I want him out of there," Deb Golden said.
State Department spokesman Andy Laine said Sunday that consular support teams had been sent to the Sendai area to find and help American citizens, and that additional personnel from around Japan had 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," he said.
Alex Golden got his job at a school in Osaki through an employment agency in Tokyo. He had worked there for a year and a half and had only two weeks left on the job when the earthquake hit.
His plan was to meet his father, Jim, in June to climb Mount Fuji, Japan's highest summit.
After that, he was to begin working toward a graduate degree in Asian studies at George Washington University in Washington.
For now, his parents would be happy to have him safely on American soil.