Gas Leak at Todai!

I was vaguely aware of Yamada-san (our assisant prof.) walking up and down lab shouting something...so I slid one of the ear peices of my headphones off my ear to be able to hear what he was on about - my Sennheisers [PXC250] are very good at cutting out background noise, so I can keep my music low and still not hear people talking next to me...brilliant.

Apparently, there had been a (methane) gas leak in Engineering Building 14, which is just next door to ours, and the emergency services which had probably been hanging outside the building with lights a blazing added with the traditional safety guy on a loud speaker trying to warn people of the impending doom. Yamada-san was very kindly relaying what the loudspeaker dude was annoucing in a language I could understand and we were being advised that it would be wise to evacuate any basement areas. As Yamada-san reasoned that we were now on what he calls 'free time' we could leave if we wanted or stay, but he definitely recommended the 'leaving' option. 'Go home early', 'Relax', he said. So I did.

When I wandered outside there were a lot of fire trucks with their flashing lights on and a group of guys in safety gear loitering outside Engineering building 14, with a trolley in standby. On the grassy area near our ancient Ginko tree, there was a growing crowd of people who's curiosity had gotten the better of them and were flocking to the outskirts of the scene like moths to a light.

Sugo-san - our technicial/lab practical lecturer - saw me loitering very close the the building, and tried to coax me away...telling me where I was was 'more dangerous'. Which was probably true. If it were going to blow, I'd rather be far away.

Anyway, the emergency service guys were trying to cordon off the area using 'keep out' tape. The fire engines were blocking my usual route to Seimon gate [正門], but the gate itself was still open.

I had gotten half way home when I realised I had forgotten my wallet - which is not good when you need to actually buy stuff at the supermarket...so I headed back.

In the 10mins that I had been gone, the police had been busy closing off the main road, Hongo Dori [本郷道り] which runs just beside the University (and which building 14 happens to back on to) . They had also managed to whip up about 8 people with stumpy lightsabers to redirect cars. In front of my building, Engineering Building 1, a larger crowd had amassed - consisting of evacuated people from building 14, people who had decided that it was far more interesting to watch the free entertainment from the emergency services than work in their lab from the neighbouring buildings, and people who were on their way home but got distracted by the flashing lights.

The 'keep out' tape had also moved to claim much more ground and had swallowed the ancient Ginko tree.

I'm half hoping it will explode, so that I can have an excuse for a holiday...