When Viki Eagle woke up on the morning of March 16, she discovered her spring semester in Tokyo was going to be cut short due to the tragic natural disaster.

Fortunately, Eagle was able to escape a city currently devastated by an earthquake and tsunami unprecedented in Japan’s history. But she didn’t want to leave.

“It was an incredible experience to be in Japan during the earthquake and Tsunami. It was an honor to be with these people in the hardest time in history for Japan,” said Eagle, a junior international studies major with a minor in Japanese and art photography.

“I was no longer studying abroad for my experience only, but I was being there for these people representing my country, I wasn’t in Japan for myself anymore,” she said. “I had people I really cared about. It was the first time I really felt that I could finally connect with Japanese people as my family.”

Eagle, who is half Japanese, remembers getting what she calls a “life-changing e-mail from DU” only a few days after the disaster occurred, and her immediate reaction was to want to stay and remain with her host family, whom she had grown close to.

“People think I am crazy for wanting to stay in Tokyo,” said Eagle, who had completed a trip to Seoul, Korea, in the days that followed the earthquake and was not in Japan upon receiving the e-mail. “I wanted to go back to Tokyo to pack my 7 months of stuff but the main reason was to say bye to my host family.”

“These people changed my life and were my family, so I emailed DU saying I am going back. They advised strongly against returning to Tokyo, suggesting I leave immediately from Seoul to Denver. However, I refused to do that, so I went back to Tokyo the next day after figuring out what to do.”

She returned to Tokyo the following morning, and spent most of her final day in the country, Friday March 18, crying about having to depart.

“I felt like I was being stripped away from my life in Tokyo and like a child I was forced to leave without option or choice,” said Eagle, who says she doesn’t resent the university’s decision, but only wished to stay with her host family that she had developed such a close relationship with.

“Leaving my host family was the hardest thing. I became so close to them that it was like leaving my family forever. My host mother had 11 host children before from all over most from the United States,” Eagle said. “I was her 11th host child and the family favorite. My host mom admitted to me that she has never cried or felt sad when a host child left until I had to leave, which made leaving Tokyo even harder.”

The journey home was a long and difficult one for Eagle, who didn’t get back to her native home city until March 19, and had to start the spring quarter here only two days later.

Eagle said that although she remains sad about her experience being cut tragically short, she realizes that her pain is only “a small percentage” compared to what the people of Japan feel.

“I may have lost my study abroad life in Tokyo and not being able to be with my host family like before, but I didn’t have the true loss,” said Eagle.