Today marks 65 years since the atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The aftermath of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were horrific, and the lives lost can only be estimated but it numbers in the hundred thousands. The attacks over sixty years were the first and only instances thusfar in which nuclear weapons have been used offensively in warfare.
As the granddaughter of a Hiroshima survivor (hibakusha), I’ve heard firsthand stories from my grandmother about the atrocity that befell the city that day. Her father was killed, along with many of her family members and friends. The atomic bomb not only took away countless lives, but it continues to have long-lasting effects… some genetic, that are passed on through the generations. Even I myself am not completely free from risk of unforeseen radiation effects, as the blood of a survivor runs through my veins.
Still, the constant message that is central at the Hiroshima Peace Park and at its yearly memorial services on August 6 is not that of bitterness, but of the city’s unending hope for world peace. Hiroshima is an important reminder that the world should never have to experience such a nuclear nightmare ever again.
This past month has been intense with all the excitement of the World Cup — I know it’s been keeping me glued to ESPN and on the edge of my seat for many a game — but it all came to an end today with the World Cup Final, as Spain emerged as the victors over the Netherlands to become the World Cup 2010 Champions!
Congratulations to Spain! Holland did really well this World Cup too, but this time it just wasn’t in the cards…. (Although they did win for getting the most yellow cards in any game I’ve ever seen.) Congratulations to Paul the Octopus as well, the cephalopod who has gotten 8 out of 8 of his predictions this tournament right! He has become an international sensation of sorts.
Seeing this little octopus making “Breaking News” on CNN and causing such a stir this World Cup got me wondering if either of our very own pet chinchillas had any psychic abilities of his own. Here we are putting Diesel to the test this morning, shortly before the game:
Unfortunately, the only thing Diesel ended up proving was that he is not cut out to be a psychic chinchilla. His quest for fame will have to be rewarded by some other means….
It was a sad day for the Samurai Blue and the motherland today, as they lost to Paraguay after the score remained a sterile stalemate at 0-0 throughout the match and through the extra time, leading to a penalty kick shootout to determine who would advance to the Final 8.
The world stood still as they watched this World Cup’s first shootout. Japan lost in the PKs, as they missed a goal while Paraguay nailed all five of theirs.
It was definitely a difficult loss to swallow, both for the Japanese national teams and all of their fans, since it is such a frustrating way to get taken out of the World Cup.
Ultimately, though, I think that Japan performed much better than what the world had expected of them, and they were able to show other countries that they are a force to be reckoned with. They seem to have won a lot of non-Japanese fans over in the course of the past couple weeks as well!
Four years is a long wait, but I can’t wait to see the Samurai Blue take on the field on the world stage once again in 2014 in Brazil.
In the meantime, it’ll be fun to sit back and watch which team will rise up to become the champions this year.
So proud of Team Japan today! They won in their match against Denmark earlier today, 3-1, and won their ticket to advance to the next round of the Final 16 in the World Cup!!!
These are the moments I wait (im)patiently every four years for…
Everyone knows that expectations for Japan were pretty low going into this year’s World Cup — mine were, too, and I was just going to sit back and enjoy the games. But it’s upsets like this that make the world of soccer exciting! This is Japan’s first time scoring three goals in a World Cup game, and this year is the first time they have won a match on foreign soil. (They did well in 2002, but it was on home soil.) So proud of the Samurai Blue!
It’s been an exciting couple weeks in World Cup, and I have high hopes that the best is yet to come. It’s great to see some of the underdogs making it into the Final 16, like the U.S. and Japan.
Virginia Tech offensive tackle Ed Wang made history this past weekend when he became the first full-blooded Chinese American player to be drafted into the NFL this past weekend when he was picked up in the fifth round by the Buffalo Bills.
Wang was born and raised in Fairfax, Virginia, my old stomping grounds in Northern Virginia, and of course, we share the same alma mater. I always remember his signature long hair and ginormous build — he was a formidable presence that you could not miss on the football field at Lane Stadium.
His Beijing-raised parents were both members of China’s Olympic track and field team in the 1970s, and it’s inspiring to hear about their journey together as a family to get to this point:
A huge congratulations to Ed Wang — he will surely become a role model for young Asian American kids around the country! How exciting that one of our very own Hokies has been able to come this far and establish a milestone in the history of both football and the APA community.
His 
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