And thus ends a long bitter cold winter. Without a doubt, warmer weather is beginning to set in; it is seeping into our drafty cardboard apartments, melting our icy hearts, and making it bearable enough to turn off our kotatsus and electric blankets. But with warmer weather comes rain, and with rain, I get annoyed. Stupid rain.
Last week saw one of the first rain storms of the new season and because I think it's horribly dangerous to ride a bike one handed while trying to carry and umbrella in the other (especially on my route to this particular school, where blind alleys and fast drivers abound), I put on my snowboard jacket and biked to school as fast I possibly could, trying to minimize my exposure to the rain. As I was walking from the front door of the school to the teachers' locker room (maybe about 10 meters. I had every intention to change out of my wet clothes), I ran into the vice principal of our school who said "please, don't drip water on the floor." Actually, he didn't say please. It went more like this:
Kyoto-sensei: [points finger accusingly] No! No water! Dame-yo!
"Dame-yo" roughly translates to "Don't do that! Bad! Shame on you!" Well asshole, how about you give me a ride to school in your nice DRY car so that I won't track rainwater on your precious floor for crying out loud? I have to ride my bike further than the students do so how about cutting me some slack?
It was raining again today so I decided to try the umbrella-bike thing, so as NOT to get the floor all wet. I quickly discovered this to be a difficult task. I can't steer the bike well with my left hand, so I had to use my right to steer and my left to hold my umbrella. I discovered quickly that my right handle brake is kind of janky and broken so it makes stopping/slowing difficult. My trip to school took nearly twice as long as usual because I was forced to go at a slower pace so as not to depend on my unreliable right brake as much. Needless to say, I was about 5 minutes late to school. Not late for my job--it was still nearly 20 minutes before 1st period's start and I don't teach until 3rd period today--just late for the arbitrary 8:30 a.m. start that was set in my contract.
Kyoto-sensei: [points finger accusingly] You, late!
Yeah, thanks.
Currently reading: Watership Down - Richard Adams
Currently playing: Skinhead BBQ - Dance Hall Crashers
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