When I see disasters on TV, I always feel kinda sad, but more detached, you know? It's like, you know it's real, and you feel sorry, but it doesn't really click that these are real people, with real friends, and family. Maybe it's just me, but my mind can't really wrap around it.

In my whole life, I think there's only been two times that it really hit me that someone was really, actually dead. The first time was the week after a hurricane, when I found out that one of the teachers around campus had been on holiday when it hit, and was killed.

The second time was a few days back, after the Philippine hostage situation. Twenty two Hong Kong tourist were held hostage by a former policeman wanting his job back. It took them eleven hours to resolve the situation, and by the end of it, eight of the Hong Kong tourists were dead. The youngest, Jessie Ng, was fourteen years old, and a friend of a friend.

Putting a face and a name made it real, in a way. Knowing we had a mutual acquaintance made it worse.