地震后的日本灾区
当日本人民疲于应付近期地震和海啸的时候，我的心好象仿佛也和他们走到了一起，时时关注着新闻并希望核反应堆破坏能够得到控制。 到目前为止，我所接收到的一些报道显示没有慌乱和歇斯底里的事情发生，但限电供应措施和基础设计的破坏已经使个人和商务活动受到限制。
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.
当您停下来思考这个事件和与此类似的事件所带来的破坏性影响的时候，包括最近在新西兰发生的地震、昆士兰的洪水、中东和非洲的血腥革命，常常会使人停下来反省和考虑更多人们易于控制的问题。
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.
我已经发了多封邮件给在日本的酒店同行以便更好地了解他们的情况和现状——无论是从个人角度或是专业角度。
I have sent multiple emails to hoteliers in Japan to better understand their stories and realities — both personally and professionally.
我想在此分享一封头天晚上从马塞.梵.艾尔斯特那里收到的邮件，他是阿姆斯特丹大仓饭店的总裁和总经理，以及目前由大仓酒店及度假村集团拥有的日航酒店东京公司的代理董事和总裁。马塞这些天频繁来往于阿姆斯特丹和东京之间，刚于上周四下午开完柏林会议返回东京参加周五上午的大仓酒店有限公司的董事会议。 以下记录了他震后所亲身经历和公司的应急反应情况。当然，情况仍然在变化当中，以下只是他周二上午在日本向我诉说的情况：
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办公室，迎接我的却是一生中所遭受的最严重的地震，之前我还在旧金山(曾于1989年发生6.9级地震)生活了五年，我的办公室在13楼，那感觉确实不太好。”
"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.
“我们的大仓、日航国际和日航城市酒店并未受到严重的破坏，只是一些酒店由于电力和水供应短缺而被迫歇业，另外一些则只是关闭了受损区域的营业场所，但总的本说全部幸免于难。即使是在仙台的日航城市酒店也从地震中得以幸免并会很快重新开业。 我们目前遇到电力供应短缺的问题但同时也正逐步得到解决。 值得关注的是，在距海边仅20公里的城市仙台，你可以从电视清楚看到海啸侵袭的画面。”
"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.
“在东京情况相对没有那么糟糕，只是有个剧院天花掉了下来，但未收到任何来自于客人和员工的伤亡报告。”
"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.
“今天和昨天一些列车停运(可能是节能原因)，大约有25到30个公司职员无法正常上班。有一位员工骑单车从横滨赶到东京上班，这就是典型的日本人的奉献精神。同样，在酒店里也有一些员工未能够抵达工作地点上班。”
"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.
“昨天大多数东京酒店全部客满，由于办公室职员无法如期搭车回家，所以很多大型公司在酒店预留了房间以供属下人员使用。另外一方面，许多宴会和婚宴被迫延期。”
"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.
“我也收到了一个国际贸易会任务延期和一些航班取消的消息，希望空运能够在几天内恢复正常。”
"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.
“中期的影响会如何呢?自然来讲，一些商务出差将会取消，但最终，由于生意原因人们还是会重新回来。出于出租率角度考虑，一些酒店会接纳更多的国内客人以弥补国际客源的减少，而在受影响区域酒店将仍然运营且继续忙碌，许多重建和修复工程会随之而来。”
"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.
“存放典型食品供应和瓶装水的架子会被抢购一空且很难恢复供应。”
"Shelves with the typical food supplies and bottled water are getting empty as it is difficult to bring is supplies."
另一报道来自于FUMI YANAGIHARA，东京王子饭店发展部负责人，目前该饭店正处于停业装修期，以下是他的叙述：
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担心睡在客房里的客人以及束手无束的旅客和员工提供大的宴会厅休息，甚至一些酒店允许客人睡在大堂里。据说有个客人住在一幢摩天大楼里，因为地震导致电梯全部停运，他整整花了一个小时才从40多层的楼宇里走下来，那天晚上他出于担心没有返回酒店，而是去了朋友的家里暂避。”
"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.
“东京并未象日本其它一些其它地方一样受到损坏，但却是我之前从未遇到过的地震。我们在想它终于来了，就如同我们都知道的它总有一天会来，许多人以为我们可能会就这样死去。当时，我躲在桌子下面(那是我们在接受地震知识培训时被告知的在大震来临时所应该做的)想着新西兰的地震，想着有可能会被活活埋在写字楼的废墟里。”
"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.
“列车停运因为他们无法保障安全，我的一些同事走路回家。他们当中一些人下午五点半离开办公室，晚上十一点钟才到家。一些人调侃这是一个很好的实习以防更大的地震来袭。”
"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.
“据新闻报道说许多单车和运动鞋很畅销，但到了子夜时分，很多地铁开始恢复运营。尽管地铁和列车已于夜间投入运营，但是工作人员需要徒步检查轨道以保障安全，因此用这样快的速度在大地震后恢复地铁运营确实效率令人惊叹。”
"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.
“由于我们目前没有一家酒店在运营，所以我们没有任何客人需要关照，但如果我们的酒店已经投入运营，我知道我们也一定会做同样的事情，就是提供给避难者大宴会厅休息，并提供相应的饮食。一些列车在周一早上仍未运营，因此我的一些工友未能抵达办公室上班，但在东京的生活已基本回复到正常的状态。当我昨天早上抵达离我最近的车站时，在车站外面排着长龙，只有寥寥无几的列车在运营， 人们排成一队等候进站，但我很欣慰地看到排队的人之间没有发生任何投诉和争执。”
"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.
“我们从世界各地正在接到很多信息，我个人也接到不少，通过电邮和FACEBOOK收到来自于全球各地朋友和生意伙伴的良好祝福，有这么多人关注我们国家这场巨大灾害所导致的损失着实令人鼓舞。我知道恢复并非易事，尤其是对于旅游业来讲。我已听说不少关于住宿和宴会方面取消的消息，我也知道一些酒店已不接受预订或关闭了他们的餐厅以应对有限的食品贮存和供应，同时还要共同面对电力短缺的困难。我也不知道人们如何衡量这次地震对于旅游业的损失影响， 但希望大家都能看到在面对危机时日本人好的一面(人们如何有序和坚强)”
"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."
这个故事还在延续，我只能希望马塞关于生意恢复的预测能够成真。全世界都在观注和期望好的消息，请加入我的行列来传递对于美好明天的良好祝福，并象这样停歇片刻来感谢生命的仁慈。
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. 温斯汀/文 肖强/译）