"I remember it from kindergarten," said Tsukasa Ogihara, senior in mechanical engineering from Kumagaya, Japan. "They ring the bell, then you have to duck under a table and open a door, so after the earthquake you can escape."
Since the March 11 earthquake in northern Japan, Ogihara has been working with other Japanese students to raise money to send back to his first home.
Ogihara said many parts of the country are experiencing electricity and gasoline shortages.
Although this has created new problems, Ogihara said he believes his parents--who still live in Kumagaya--and the rest of Japan are focusing on maintaining as much normalcy as possible.
"Part of the day my parents have their power cut off so they can save it," Ogihara said. "They told me even baseball games have moved to the daytime to cut down on power."
After speaking with Nejla Orgen, director of international admissions and program adviser to the International Student Organization, Ogihara and other Japanese students decided they wanted to organize fundraisers for Japan.
Ogihara and a few Japanese exchange students from Nihon University collected money in the Student Center two days last week.
"I thought that helping them with some sort of fundraising would make them feel like they're doing something," Orgen said. "You know, when you're that far away you may feel helpless."
The group also raised money Saturday in front of the Walmart on South College Street.
Ogihara said he plans to continue to raise money when his schedule allows.
"We are all busy and don't have a lot of time," Ogihara said. "But we want to give anything back we can."
Auburn's Department of Animal Sciences has also joined the relief efforts.
A relief fund for the family of Lee Chiba, professor of swine nutrition, has been established at Wells Fargo.
Chiba's family in north Japan has suffered devastating property loss as a result of the quake.
Satoshi Otake, exchange student studying English and economics, said his grandparents' home in the Fukushima prefecture was almost destroyed.
"I remember when I was young having to run and open the door if the house started shaking," Otake said. "I'm so glad that all of my family is safe."
This isn't the first time international natural disasters have reached the Auburn family.
"We did help our students when the last tsunami happened in Indonesia," Orgen said. "And when there was an earthquake in Turkey about 10 years ago, we had a student whose family was affected, so we offered counseling."
Orgen said most of the exchange students had just arrived in Auburn when the quake hit.
The students agreed Skype helped them confirm their friends and families were all safe.
Yuma Suzuki, exchange student from Tokyo, said while his family and friends now face struggles in Japan, the disaster hasn't affected his life here in Auburn.
"I'm safe," Suzuki said. "I have a happy life here."
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