I nearly died on my way to work today. I was riding my bike to school and this car comes pealing out of a blind alley at like 50 mph on a red light. The car screeched to a halt like 8 feet over the limit line and about 6 inches from my bike's front tire. I would have surely been hit had I not put on my own brakes as hard as I could. I think I strained the muscle in my left forearm because it hurts a little now. That and my handlebars are now loose so I'm going to have to get my bike to a bike repair place because I don't have the right screwdriver or wrench to tighten the weird Japanese bolt.
But on a more positive note, this weekend promises to be very cool. After spending two weekends in the Kuwana and Yokkaichi area, I'm ready for some fun!! Tonight, Ruth and I are heading into Nagoya to see a punk/ska show with one of Ruth's coworkers. He's a really cool guy named Richard from New Zealand who's NOT a JET, but a privately hired English teacher. He essentially has the same job as the rest of us JETs, but it's still strange to find an assistant language teacher who's not actually a JET. But I digress...
This weekend is also the Formula 1 Grand Prix, which is kind of like the Indianapolis 500, I think. It will be held at the Suzuka Circuit for those of you who are interested. It should just be stupid fun (or it might be just plain stupid for me, since I don't know anything about cars) watching small rally cars driving in circles around a track at dangerously fast speeds. But in any case, it will be something I have never seen before and that's part of the fun. And the weather promises to be good. So hopefully, we won't all freeze as we sit and watch race car drivers risk their lives for fame a glory. A small price to pay, if you ask me!
And for those of you who were eagerly awaiting my onsen adventures, here is my account. Needless to say, it was very awkward and strange at first. We (Me, Ruth, and Fiona, a JET from Scotland) had to strip down in the locker room because--duh--shoes and clothes are not allowed in the bath area. So we were standing there, making valient efforts to cover ouselves with these miniature towel-washcloth things while all of the other Japanese women were walking around as if nothing were different. I guess it's nothing really out of the ordinary for them, but for us, we were all standing there without a stitch on, so yeah. It was DIFFERENT to say the least. But we got over it, scurried over the the bath area, and spent as much time as we could hiding in the bubbly water. And in addition to the bath, there were showers, different pools of water heated to different temperatures, and a sauna. All in all, the awkwardness faded, we acted all nonchalantly Japanese, and we had a good time. We plan on going back, especially when the weather gets cold. I hear here are also co-ed onsens. I don't know if I could ever participate in that, though....
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home