地震后的日本災區

　　當日本人民疲于應付近期地震和海嘯的時候，我的心好象仿佛也和他們走到了一起，時時關注著新聞并希望核反應堆破壞能夠得到控制。 到目前為止，我所接收到的一些報道顯示沒有慌亂和歇斯底里的事情發生，但限電供應措施和基礎設計的破壞已經使個人和商務活動受到限制。

　　My heart goes out to the people of Japan as they try to cope with the terrifying impact of the recent earthquake and tsunami. I am following the news closely and hope the damage to the nuclear reactors can be contained. Some reports coming into me indicate no signs of panic or hysteria in Tokyo, but personal and business activities are a bit limited by restrictions on power supply and damage to infrastructure. Resolve appears to remain steadfast.

　　當您停下來思考這個事件和與此類似的事件所帶來的破壞性影響的時候，包括最近在新西蘭發生的地震、昆士蘭的洪水、中東和非洲的血腥革命，常常會使人停下來反省和考慮更多人們易于控制的問題。

　　When you stop to consider the devastating implications of this event and others like it, including the recent earthquake in New Zealand, floods in Queensland, and bloody revolutions in the Middle East and Africa, it causes one to pause, reflect and put more manageable problems into perspective.

　　我已經發了多封郵件給在日本的酒店同行以便更好地了解他們的情況和現狀——無論是從個人角度或是專業角度。

　　I have sent multiple emails to hoteliers in Japan to better understand their stories and realities — both personally and professionally.

　　我想在此分享一封頭天晚上從馬塞.梵.艾爾斯特那里收到的郵件，他是阿姆斯特丹大倉飯店的總裁和總經理，以及目前由大倉酒店及度假村集團擁有的日航酒店東京公司的代理董事和總裁。馬塞這些天頻繁來往于阿姆斯特丹和東京之間，剛于上周四下午開完柏林會議返回東京參加周五上午的大倉酒店有限公司的董事會議。 以下記錄了他震后所親身經歷和公司的應急反應情況。當然，情況仍然在變化當中，以下只是他周二上午在日本向我訴說的情況：

　　I want to share one email received overnight from Marcel van Aelst, who is president and general manager of the Hotel Okura Amsterdam, as well as representative director and president of JAL Hotels Co., Tokyo, which is now owned by Okura Hotels & Resorts. Marcel is traveling between Amsterdam and Tokyo quite often these days and just arrived back in Tokyo from the Berlin conferences last Thursday afternoon for a Friday morning board of directors meeting of Hotel Okura Co. Ltd. Here is his account of what he experienced next and how his company has reacted since. Of course, this is a fluid situation, and this is what he told me as of Tuesday morning in Japan:

　　“下午(周五)我前往日航酒店管理公司辦公室，迎接我的卻是一生中所遭受的最嚴重的地震，之前我還在舊金山(曾于1989年發生6.9級地震)生活了五年，我的辦公室在13樓，那感覺確實不太好。”

　　"In the afternoon (Friday) I left for the JAL Hotels Corp. office. I was 'welcomed' by the worst earthquake I ever experienced. You know I lived in San Francisco for five years, as well. My office is on the 13th floor, and it was not a pretty feeling.

　　“我們的大倉、日航國際和日航城市酒店并未受到嚴重的破壞，只是一些酒店由于電力和水供應短缺而被迫歇業，另外一些則只是關閉了受損區域的營業場所，但總的本說全部幸免于難。即使是在仙臺的日航城市酒店也從地震中得以幸免并會很快重新開業。 我們目前遇到電力供應短缺的問題但同時也正逐步得到解決。 值得關注的是，在距海邊僅20公里的城市仙臺，你可以從電視清楚看到海嘯侵襲的畫面。”

　　"Our Okura, Nikko and JALCity hotels came out of it without major damage. Some hotels had to close down because of electrical and/or water-supply failure, others closed damaged areas, but all in all we survived. Even our JALCity hotel in Sendai managed to survive the earthquake and will soon be reopened. We had some power supply problems but that has, in the meantime, been solved. Please note the city of Sendai is 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the coast. The images you see on TV are of suburbs of Sendai city that were hit by the tsunami.

　　“在東京情況相對沒有那么糟糕，只是有個劇院天花掉了下來，但未收到任何來自于客人和員工的傷亡報告。”

　　"In Tokyo there is relative little serious damage other than a collapsed ceiling in a theater. We have no reports of guests or staff that were injured.

　　“今天和昨天一些列車停運(可能是節能原因)，大約有25到30個公司職員無法正常上班。有一位員工騎單車從橫濱趕到東京上班，這就是典型的日本人的奉獻精神。同樣，在酒店里也有一些員工未能夠抵達工作地點上班。”

　　"Today and yesterday several of the trains stopped operating (energy savings). Some 25 to 30 staff members could not make it to the office. We had one employee who came by bike from Yokohama to Tokyo. That is typically Japanese dedication. Also, in the hotels several staff members could not reach their workplace.

　　“昨天大多數東京酒店全部客滿，由于辦公室職員無法如期搭車回家，所以很多大型公司在酒店預留了房間以供屬下人員使用。另外一方面，許多宴會和婚宴被迫延期。”

　　"Yesterday most of our hotels in Tokyo were full since many office workers could not take the train home, and large corporations blocked rooms in the hotels for their staff. On the other hand, many events and even some weddings have been postponed.

　　“我也收到了一個國際貿易會任務延期和一些航班取消的消息，希望空運能夠在幾天內恢復正常。”

　　"I learned of an international trade mission that was postponed, and several flights were canceled. We expect air traffic to be back to normal within a few days.

　　“中期的影響會如何呢?自然來講，一些商務出差將會取消，但最終，由于生意原因人們還是會重新回來。出于出租率角度考慮，一些酒店會接納更多的國內客人以彌補國際客源的減少，而在受影響區域酒店將仍然運營且繼續忙碌，許多重建和修復工程會隨之而來。”

　　"What will be the mid-term effect of this? Naturally, some business trips were canceled, but in the end, people still have to do business and will come again. Occupancy-wise, some hotels will have more local guests than international guests, and hotels in the affected areas that are still operating will without a doubt be busy. Many engineers and others need to come over to rebuild and repair.

　　“存放典型食品供應和瓶裝水的架子會被搶購一空且很難恢復供應。”

　　"Shelves with the typical food supplies and bottled water are getting empty as it is difficult to bring is supplies."

　　另一報道來自于FUMI YANAGIHARA，東京王子飯店發展部負責人，目前該飯店正處于停業裝修期，以下是他的敘述：

　　Another report came to me from Fumi Yanagihara, head of hotel development for the Palace Hotel Tokyo, which is currently closed for a full-scale reconstruction. Here is what he told me:

　　“我知道很多酒店向那些擔心睡在客房里的客人以及束手無束的旅客和員工提供大的宴會廳休息，甚至一些酒店允許客人睡在大堂里。據說有個客人住在一幢摩天大樓里，因為地震導致電梯全部停運，他整整花了一個小時才從40多層的樓宇里走下來，那天晚上他出于擔心沒有返回酒店，而是去了朋友的家里暫避。”

　　"I do know that many hotels offered their banquet rooms for their guests who were too afraid to sleep in their rooms, or to stranded travelers or employees who could not go home. Some hotels allowed guests to sleep in their lobbies. I know a guest who was staying in a hotel in one of those high-rise buildings. It took him an hour to walk down 40-somewhat floors after the earthquake because elevators had stopped. He was too afraid to go back to the hotel that night, and went to a friend's place.

　　“東京并未象日本其它一些其它地方一樣受到損壞，但卻是我之前從未遇到過的地震。我們在想它終于來了，就如同我們都知道的它總有一天會來，許多人以為我們可能會就這樣死去。當時，我躲在桌子下面(那是我們在接受地震知識培訓時被告知的在大震來臨時所應該做的)想著新西蘭的地震，想著有可能會被活活埋在寫字樓的廢墟里。”

　　"Tokyo did not suffer as much damage as some other parts of Japan, but it was one that we have never experienced before. We all thought it had finally come, the 'one' that we all know is coming one day, and a lot of us thought we were going to die. I hid under my desk (that's what we are all taught to do when a big earthquake hits), thought of the recent earthquake in New Zealand and thought I might be buried in my office building alive.

　　“列車停運因為他們無法保障安全，我的一些同事走路回家。他們當中一些人下午五點半離開辦公室，晚上十一點鐘才到家。一些人調侃這是一個很好的實習以防更大的地震來襲。”

　　"Trains stopped service because they could not ensure safety. Some of my co-workers walked back home. A couple of them left the office at 5:30 p.m., only reaching home after 11 p.m. Some said it would be a good practice to walk back home in case a bigger earthquake hits us.

　　“據新聞報道說許多單車和運動鞋很暢銷，但到了子夜時分，很多地鐵開始恢復運營。盡管地鐵和列車已于夜間投入運營，但是工作人員需要徒步檢查軌道以保障安全，因此用這樣快的速度在大地震后恢復地鐵運營確實效率令人驚嘆。”

　　"News reports say that so many bikes and sneakers obtained immediate sales. But by about midnight, most of the metros had started operation, and whatever metros and trains that had started operation continued their service throughout the night. Metro and train staffs actually have to check the tracks 'on foot' to ensure safety, so it is amazing how quickly the metros and some trains had started service after a big earthquake.

　　“由于我們目前沒有一家酒店在運營，所以我們沒有任何客人需要關照，但如果我們的酒店已經投入運營，我知道我們也一定會做同樣的事情，就是提供給避難者大宴會廳休息，并提供相應的飲食。一些列車在周一早上仍未運營，因此我的一些工友未能抵達辦公室上班，但在東京的生活已基本回復到正常的狀態。當我昨天早上抵達離我最近的車站時，在車站外面排著長龍，只有寥寥無幾的列車在運營， 人們排成一隊等候進站，但我很欣慰地看到排隊的人之間沒有發生任何投訴和爭執。”

　　"Since we do not have a hotel in operation at the moment, we did not have any guests to tend to, but if our hotel had been in operation, I know we would have done the same, offering our banquet rooms for shelter, and offered some food and drinks.

　　"Some trains were not operating yesterday (Monday morning), so some of my co-workers could not make it to the office, but life in Tokyo is pretty much back to normal this morning. When I reached my nearest train station yesterday morning, there was such a long queue outside the station. Only a limited number of trains were operating yesterday, so it was a line of people who was waiting just to get inside the station. But I was so happy to see that people were so neatly lined up in two, without complaining.

　　“我們從世界各地正在接到很多信息，我個人也接到不少，通過電郵和FACEBOOK收到來自于全球各地朋友和生意伙伴的良好祝福，有這么多人關注我們國家這場巨大災害所導致的損失著實令人鼓舞。我知道恢復并非易事，尤其是對于旅游業來講。我已聽說不少關于住宿和宴會方面取消的消息，我也知道一些酒店已不接受預訂或關閉了他們的餐廳以應對有限的食品貯存和供應，同時還要共同面對電力短缺的困難。我也不知道人們如何衡量這次地震對于旅游業的損失影響， 但希望大家都能看到在面對危機時日本人好的一面(人們如何有序和堅強)”

　　"We are receiving so many messages from all over the world, and I personally have been getting many messages, well wishes through emails and Facebook from friends and business partners from around the world. It is so encouraging that so many people are concerned about the huge loss and damages in our country. I know recovery will not be easy, especially for the travel industry. I hear that there have been so many cancellations with accommodation and events (banquets). I also know that some hotels are not taking room reservations, or have closed their restaurants do to the limited food stock and also to cooperate with the power shortage that we are facing. I am not sure what the damages to the travel industry in Japan will measure up to, but I do hope that many people will see the better side of the Japanese (how orderly and tough we are!) through this crisis."

　　這個故事還在延續，我只能希望馬塞關于生意恢復的預測能夠成真。全世界都在觀注和期望好的消息，請加入我的行列來傳遞對于美好明天的良好祝福，并象這樣停歇片刻來感謝生命的仁慈。

　　This story has a long way to go, and I only hope Marcel's predictions about business coming back come true. The world is watching and hoping for better news. Please join me in sending wishes for better days ahead, and please use moments like this to stop and be thankful for the goodness in your life.（杰夫. 溫斯汀/文 肖強/譯）