Archive for 2004
December 16th, 2004
Yesterday, while riding my bike to Ichinoseki elementary school, I almost ran over a dead cat.
While crossing a small bridge and nearing the last block of my journey, I was confidently peddling along the street. Up ahead, in a quick glance, I noticed what I thought was a discarded plastic bag resting about a foot away from the curb. I thought little of it. I would steer between the curb and the bag and if I should happen to navigate poorly, I would err on the side of the bag. So what if I run over an empty plastic bag, right?
Still confidently riding along, I approached the gap and glanced down again to plan my trajectory when an alarm when off. The alarm sounded something like my voice rising in shock at the sight fast approaching my front wheel, ‘Whaaaaaagh!’ Yeah, something like that.
Someone’s poor, little, white cat had suffered some mortal injury and was now sprawled on the pavement. Really, it looked like it was just resting comfortably, but I know for a fact that this was indeed a dearly departed feline - no living cat would allow a cyclist to pass within inches of its ears without darting away let alone not blinking.
So, little Fluffy would have had the shock of a lifetime, had her life not already been over. And I had a good fright too. I was surprised enough by the discovery that while my cry of shock was still escaping my lips, I veered away from the corpse. The sound of my pedal scraping along the curb awoke me to the fact that there really wasn’t any place to veer to. Grating along the concrete, I poured all of my willpower into not hitting the cat and not toppling over the curb.
I narrowly escaped both of those fates and came through with little more than a racing heart. If luck were more cruel to me, however, I could have easily noticed the cat’s presence earlier, veered into the curb, lost my balance and face-planted into the body of the former pet. Not only would that have been a traumatizing memory worth of at least a couple therapy sessions, but it would have given me the allergic reaction of a lifetime. It might have made this story more interesting, but I’m damn happy it didn’t turn out that way.
November 15th, 2004
I’ve been going through a bit of a slump lately. I think a few things are catching up with me. My lack of sleep is running me down and the cold I’ve had keeps lingering. Combine that with the increasingly short daylight hours, the increasingly intense work hours and what I think might be the onset of culture shock and you have a boy struggling to stay smiling.
The good news is that step one to solving these difficulties is now complete. I’ve identified them. So, let’s move on to potential solutions.
Tomorrow, I’m planning on tracking down an alarm clock. A loud one. It has to be loud because I’m going to start wearing earplugs to bed. The loading dock, the ravens, the baby next door - their cries will all fall on my deaf, plugged ears.
That should help with the cold and that should be on its way out anyway. To prevent this from happening again, some serious hand washing has become a part of my school routine. Those kids are going to have to put their boogers directly in my mouth for me to get sick from them. And if they try that, it will be their health that’s in jeopardy.
The daylight hours thing is tricky. This bothers me at home too. November is always a problematic month for me and frequently sees me pining for some equatorial region when the sun’s hours are constant and where I won’t have to worry about these long nights. I think one thing that’s important for me is to make sure I get outside at least a little bit each day. A lunchtime walk or something will keep me a bit more sane. This might be difficult depending on which school seeks my services, but the more I see of the friendly ball of fusion up high in the sky, the happier I will be.
The work hours seem to be slowing down a little and I’m starting to learn how to deal with the long weeks. I’ve had a couple quite challenging ones and I took the second one much more in stride than the first, so hopefully, I can continue that trend.
And lastly, the culture shock. This one’s a bit trickier because I haven’t exactly been in circumstances like this before. Sure, my time in Ghana gave me my share of fits, but this is a whole new situation. (And I still blame the Larium for much of my African instability.) But, I do have a number of coping strategies to try out and some thinking to do. I’ll manage.
But for now, I think the lack of sleep is catching up with me. Keeping my eyes open is getting rather difficult. I best stop typing lest I faceplant into my PowerBook.
November 9th, 2004
Two days ago, I was enjoying a fine evening with Sarah and Hannah. We had enjoyed a delicious meal and were in the middle of watching a recent episode of the Daily Show when that ubiquitous Japanese song starts playing. You know the one, it rings out to herald the arrival of anyone to anywhere. During any given five-minute visit to the convenience store, the bubbly tune will pierce your eardrums at least a dozen times as new customers enter. It’s a wonder the employees don’t go mad.
The same tune plays when a guest arrives at my home. Perplexed at who might be interrupting my half hour of comedy power, I went to the door to find a flustered man speaking loads of fast-paced Japanese to me. He was treated to my usual barrage of wakarimasen and gomen nasai, but undaunted by my ignorance, he pressed on.
Eventually, I heard the word toilet and started to suspect what this evening call might be addressing. Sarah approached behind me and offered her assistance with translation. Apparently, what this blustery fellow was rambling about was that my toilet tank was full.
Yes, the modern industrial nation that is Japan still relies in good part on septic systems. They have some of the finest technology in the world, but they haven’t quite figured out plumbing yet. And this from a culture obsessed with cleanliness. What may be worse, however, is that some areas have sewers, others don’t. So, you know they have the technology to efficiently dispose of human waste, but they simply have chosen not to use it or upgrade to it.
A given apartment’s waste tank needs to be emptied every once in a while. The poo truck must be summoned and employees with what might be the worst job the world jump to the task of transporting feces from your tank to their truck and off to a god forsaken facility where, hopefully, it’s dropped into a bottomless pit.
The pit at the bottom of my toilet, however, is not bottomless. And this distraught neighbour of mine was coming to inform me of this fact. You see, the poo truck has to have some kind of access to the tank - there must be some opening to the outside world where their hoses can reach the effluent. That hole just so happens to be directly outside the door of this neighbour residing below me. And when there is too much shit in the tank, guess where it goes…
Yeah, it bubbles over. It bubbles over even if there is a welcome mat on top of the lid. It bubbles over then flows down the front step into the parking lot. A stream of shit, right outside his door.
How was I to know? I couldn’t really. I didn’t know when it had last been emptied or how often it was required. And I rectified the situation as quickly as I could by calling for ye olde poo truck the following day.
Today, however, while I was at school, the neighbour called city hall and complained of the stains left behind on his front step. Rivulets of feces left their mark on the concrete as they made their downhill journey to the parking lot. He stated his messy case to city hall, and while I was unleashing my unending genki powers on the good children of Nakasato Elementary school, two of my co-workers went to his apartment and cleaned it. I wish they would have waited an hour for me to get back and I would have gone to do it myself, thus being spared the guilt of a totally uninvolved party having to scrub my excrement from my neighbour’s front step.
So that’s my poopy story for the day. It leaves me wondering what demented architect would think to place the lid for the tank directly outside another apartment’s door. Even a seven-year-old, if told to solve such a design problem, would not have made such a completely illogical choice (unless he was playing a malicious joke). There’s no good reason why the hatch couldn’t have been at least a few feet from the door and in the parking lot. Nope. Right under his doormat. Good thinking.
November 8th, 2004
I suppose I could be processing images right now, but I’m entitled to a lazy moment or two aren’t I? Instead, I’ve started up a game of chess and, for some reason, the computer seems to be taking an age to make each of its moves. Really, I’m not that good; it hardly needs that much effort to best me.
So, that affords me the opportunity to write a few lines in between turns (though, I suppose I could be studying the board - but like I said, I’m not that good). Again, I have lapsed in my journal scribbling duties and this will be yet another half-hearted attempt to repent. Though, in truth, I wish the computer would just hurry up.
Here’s a quick rundown of last weekend. On Friday, Kurt, Racheal, Sarah and I headed downtown to partake in some of the yumminess that is the Paper Moon Pizza Company. We chatted the evening away while celebrating Sarah’s birthday. I’ve had a lingering cold and on Friday, it was consistently keeping me coughing, so I decided against continuing the evening after pizza.
On Saturday, I woke up late and had trouble gaining any momentum. I was originally thinking of a more ambitious trip, but my slow pace suggested a relaxed day of shooting photos near the river. I wandered there and found some kids, an old man, some ducks and crows to snap then started ambling South. There was a great stretch near the river where dozens of small gardens nestled together to form a small community farm.
Once I crossed the river, I found a Russian Orthodox Church. I don’t have a clue what this thing is doing in Ichinoseki, but there it was. I then followed the sound of some loudspeakers and reached the previously unexplored (by me) Ichinoseki Sports Park. Yasakae Junior High was playing a baseball game, so I challenged myself to try a bit of sports photography.
A few of my students from Ichinoseki elementary were there and said hi. Then a few students from Hagishou arrived and said more than hi. They were rather chatty and we passed the Japanese phrasebook between us a number of times to facilitate out communication. Their school played in the next baseball game, so we watched that for a while, then they invited me to go play soft tennis with them.
The three girls and lead me to a couple guys from the school who were to be their tennis partners. We gathered under the lights and started smacking that bizarre little ball around. Why they don’t just play normal tennis is a mystery to me, but this was plenty fun once I got used to the ball. After a bit of warming up, I was even able to blast one colossal serve into the opposing court much to the delight of my students who quickly dubbed me “The Rocket.”
On Sunday, I went up to Hiraizumi to catch the temples in their fall colour glory. The day would have been great if it weren’t for the people. I just don’t get it - everyone took an inconsiderate pill and the active ingredient was highly effective. I don’t feel like getting into the methods used by everyone to treat me like crap, but suffice it to say, jerks the whole lot of ‘em.
Sarah and Hannah happened to be on the same train back, so they invited themselves over to my place to watch BBC world. Sarah also cooked dinner for us, so I think I actually came out on top in the deal.
October 21st, 2004
The last two days have been great - happy as could be. I’ve had a wonderful time at school. Classes have gone smoothly and have been fun. Yesterday, I stayed after school and took photos of the kids in wood shop. Today, I was just going to watch the kids play volleyball when they asked me to join. Then, their teacher asked me to join for a later class in the day. I had lunch with one of the third grade classes and we actually communicated. I’ve had good conversations with other teachers and when I wasn’t doing any of that or marking homework, I have been processing photos. Not a bad time at all.
Not to mention last night’s basketball game. Yeah, we lost, but I learned that I’m capable of summoning up a bit of fire when my will so dictates. We were down by a lot after the first half and it was pissing me off a bit. In the third quarter, I lifted my game and managed to get a bunch of baskets, steals and so on. Just to be a full on nerd, let’s take my stat line and double it to get the equivalent of 40 minutes of playing time. So, in 40 minutes, I would have had 24 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks. Pretty good. I’m pretty sure I had 12 points, anyway. It was 10 or 12, so maybe I should say I would have had 22). The rest seems about right (I wasn’t sure about 2 or three assists, so I split the difference there). And I should have had another block, but the ref called a foul on a play that was all ball. Hell, it was all ball twice. I got ball on the way up, then again at the top.
Anyway, I had fun challenging myself to play better. One of my elementary students from Yamanome was there with his dad who was playing on my team. I gave him five for good luck. He didn’t get it until I gave him ten. He was pretty cute and so was his dad who complained of not having played in 15 years - golf was his game now. He played just fine though.
October 18th, 2004
I think I want to live in Tokyo. At least for a while. Until my money runs out.
I have to try to sum up everything I did in five days there. Unfortunately, my sister’s knee problem prevented her from joining me, but since I had the time booked off from work, I decided to make the most of it and venture sSouth on my own.
Wednesday, October 13
- Woke early to catch the shinkansen. Happily I was able to nap a bit. Then I was joined by a man named Kei, a Japanese tour guide whose English was impeccable. We talked about travel and his job and he made a few recommendations for things to do and see in Tokyo.
- It was raining when I arrived, so I decided to get off at Ueno station and go to the museum until the rain relented. The museum was interesting enough. I was a little tired and anticipated a busy schedule, so I hurried and didn’t retain as much as I could have.
- I wandered quickly through the other building that housed the Gallery of Eastern Antiquities then went back into the gardens behind the museum.’
- It turns out, I wasn’t supposed to be there. After about ten minutes, a security guard came and escorted me out.
- I took some photos in Rinno-ji where the groundskeeper had a bunch of small porcelain statues of puppies and such lurking in his garden. The grounds were beautiful and a nice introduction to the temples of Tokyo.
- The next stop was the Tokugawa Shogun cemetery. A gorgeous place with a myriad of hidden visual treasures. I think it may have been at this point where I started thinking I wanted to move to Tokyo. There are just so many places to explore - you’d never get bored. I started thinking that if you’re bored in Tokyo, you’re probably dead.
- I Walked back through Ueno park and fought the temptation to go to the zoo. If I had more time, I would have taken a look. Instead, I walked past the five storey pagoda and headed for Tosho-gu - another lovely temple. I also strolled past the blue tents of the homeless that had taken over the empty spaces between the trees of the park.
- With much of Ueno still unexplored, I headed back for the train station where I soon figured out the difference between the JR stations and the metro stations. I eventually found the station I needed and headed for my hotel. After getting lost in Jimbocho, I got to the Sakura hotel and checked in.
- The hotel was a little dingy in places, but it got the job done. The room was minuscule, but adequate. I couldn’t have slept on the floor if I wanted to. I was bothered by the fact that my booking said en-suite and that was nowhere to be found, but so be it. The actual commode areas were close at hand and their only fault was an inadequately removed vomit stain on the wall near the light switch. In both toilet rooms. Not sure how that happened.
- Once settled, I headed for the bright lights if Ginza. What a place. A neon marvel. I gawked at buildings and the hurried shoppers. I salivated at the electronics. I got lost looking for specific shops. I then found the Apple store and I was in heaven. After that, I went for Indian food and heaven continued.
- I wandered back in the direction of my hotel and past Bic Camera, which I noted for a later visit when it was open. Then I walked through the soaring International forum building.
- Back onto the subway and I was headed home where I began my nightly ritual of transferring photos to my hard drive and cursing the dripping air conditioner behind my head. I don’t know what it was that was dripping inside, but it was mighty irritating - I went so far as to try to disassemble the thing, but I couldn’t get to a crucial screw to do it. Earplugs in, I drifted off to sleep.
Thursday, October 14
- With an early start and some free toast under my belt, I made the early morning trip to Asakusa. The avenue leading to the shrine was not yet hopping with its vendors. I reached the shrine and started snapping away while trying not to inhale all the incense smoke and joking with a nearby information guide about not being able to breathe. Schoolchildren a plenty piled by and some were happy enough to have their photo taken in front of the shrine or pagoda.
- I also explored the nearby garden, but I couldn’t get inside the usually-closed larger gardens. Instead, I wandered the shopping avenue and went to find some food for myself. I ended up in a little place that happened to sell pancakes. That sounded like an appealing second breakfast, so I deciphered the katakana and made my order. They turned out to be only okay, but the kept me going for a while, so they served their purpose.
- With excellent timing, I caught the sea bus to the Hamarikyu teien gardens. The boat ride was fun and let me relax my already aching feet for a while.
- The gardens were lovely. They were overlooked by some rather modern skyscrapers which made for a striking contrast of old and new Japan. A hilarious goose followed me (rather, I followed it) along the paths for a while. It was quite acclimatized to humans and made for a good walking companion. I also attempted to have a conversation with a painter, but that, predictably, fell a bit flat.
- I think it was those pancakes that disagreed with my stomach, but something prompted me to tour that area of Tokyo from toilet to toilet. I actually ended up at Tokyo’s world trade center and then found my way to the subway to go to Roppongi.
- Aya recommended that I go to Roppongi Hills, so that was my destination once I got there. I wasn’t sure I was headed the right way since I couldn’t see any tall buildings, but it eventually popped out from nowhere.
- It’s a wonderful bit of architecture. It’s truly modern, but has an organic feel to it all the same. I headed up to the observation deck to go to the gallery and see the city view.
- The gallery was all about fashion, so it didn’t hold my interest that much, but at least the rooms were extremely well designed.
- The city view was spectacular and I wandered around the circuit a number of times. The only problem with the place was its no-tripod policy. After taking photos of a couple people, I got one to translate why I couldn’t use my tripod - it is a blanket policy because they are afraid people will damage the windows. With an eye roll, I went and propped my camera on my bag to take some shots. A silly no tripod rule isn’t going to keep me from getting the shots I want, damn it.
- Once I had my fill of the view, I went back downstairs and wandered around the building and its many nooks and crannies. The theatre, gardens and mall were all noteworthy.
- I headed home exhausted once again.
Friday, October 15
- Today was my trip to Kamakura, the former capital of Japan that now houses an impressive collection of shrines and temples. I took the JR line in that direction (and without much hassle even) and an hour later, I was ready to hop to it.
- I rented a meager bike from near the station. It was to be my transport for the day. If nothing else, it gave my feet a bit of a rest. Even though it only had one gear and the lock was, well, a piece of crap really, it still got me from A to B a bit faster than my weary feet would have.
- The first shrine I visited was Tsurogaoka Hachinan-gu. Over the bridge and up the path, the hillside shrine revealed itself. It made for a lovely scene in the clear blue sky. Once inside, the monks of the temple began chanting accompanied by a flute, a drum and an instrument I can’t for the life of me name. I’ve never seen it before and I only got to see it from behind so I can’t even describe it. It sounded almost synthetic though. Either way, the whole experience was great. A group of monks filed into the main temple area and did some chanting while school children crammed into the area nearby.
- I returned to my bike and attempted to tackle the hill leading to another group of shrines. I couldn’t quite make it all the way to the top without disembarking and walking up. Oh the shame. I blame the single-gear bike. The downhill ride was nice and quick though.
- Engaku-ji was the first stop. An enormous gate lead up to a good sized temple where zen monks did some incredible chanting. It was completely monotone and the monks chanted as many rhythmic syllables as they could until they ran out of breath. While they recovered, there was always someone else chanting in their place, so it became one unbroken string of the single-toned syllables. I felt so privileged to witness it. I also climbed to the top of the hill where a huge bell hangs and took in the view of the valley.
- Tokei-ji was next. The grounds of this temple were being maintained, so there wasn’t that much to see, but it was a nice, peaceful place nonetheless. There was a museum, but I didn’t enter. I don’t know if there was anything past that. It looked like there may have been more to the grounds, but I didn’t bother to check through the museum.
- Just up the road, I stopped at Jochi-ji, another small temple with peaceful grounds. This time, however, the highlight was the cemetery that hid behind the temples. Bamboo grew next to cliff faces, some of them with tunnels and shaded the tombs that stepped up the hillside. As with most of these temples, I wanted to stay longer, but I wanted to see as many as I could, so I pressed on.
- I went to Kencho-ji next and marveled at the vast, open grounds. The wide space was complemented by oversized buildings that were a spectacular sight.
- I cycled back down the hill and made my way to the giant Bronze casting of the Buddha. It’s a damn big Buddha. What more can you say really?
- The last stop in Kamakura was Hase-dera, a shrine well known for its jizo statues that are meant to protect the souls unborn children. I saw a mother place flowers with one of the statues and weep. A sad place. I actually missed the large kannon statue as time was running out on my bike rental and the gardens were closing. I good excuse to go back I guess.
- After the train ride back to Tokyo, I wandered through Ginza a little more and eventually found myself at the technological showcase that is the Sony building. They had some fun stuff there, but the Aibo dogs were the most entertaining by far. I had dinner at a spaghetti place where everything was cooked right in front of you.
- After a little more wandering and a stop in Bic Camera to play the seriously fun driving game, I stumbled home on those feet of mine that were rapidly turning to bloody stumps.
Saturday, October 16
- I meant to wake up much earlier than I did, but my body rebelled against the punishment I was giving it and slept through my alarm. The fish market’s ridiculously early schedule was too much to ask of my weary bones.
- But, even thought I woke later, the market was still buzzing when I arrived. Actually, it’s probably just as well. Any busier and it might have been too much (or I would have been run over by one of those fish-carrying carts). The sights, sounds, of the place were powerful, but I thought the smells would be more overpowering than they were. The sound of a saw cutting through a frozen fish, however, is a little grating - like a dentist’s drill. It was difficult to get any good shots because the lighting was so bad and I could not set up my tripod - I would have been far too in the way. Not to mention, being a tourist bothering folks who were busy trying to make a living was not that appealing - I tried to let people go about their business.
- There was also another section of the market more devoted to vegetables. It was a little less hectic and jarring. Near the wholesale market, I found where a lot of the sold fish was headed - to the regular market. People were flocking there and lining up for ages to get to their favourite vendor. I elbowed my way through the crowds and checked out more of the hubbub.
- I stopped briefly at the temple in Tuskiji then walked toward the Imperial Palace (with another stop at Bic Camera for more driving action). I got a bagel on the way and also stopped at the Marounochi building. The ritzy restaurants on the top floors held little interest for me, but the view was nice and there was a wedding party there having their photos taken - a good spectacle.
- Back on street level, I crossed the moat of the Imperial Palace and attempted to tend to a developing blister. I wandered outside the palace for a while and chuckled at the passing tour groups.
- I turned back and went to the East gardens where I wandered some more. I stopped to take some shots of mothers and their young kids playing in the park and later to try to capture some of the gardens.
- I went back to the hotel to pick up my coat since the weather was cooler than the previous day then got back on the train system and ventured out to Odaiba.
- The modern and clean train line dropped me off at a great lookout point for the Rainbow Bridge. I went down to the beach, set up the tripod and started snapping.
- When I felt I had the bridge shots under control, I headed back up to the eclectic malls, where I found some delightful Indian food to pack into my gut. I get hungry thinking about it - so good. Then I washed it down with some delicious gelato. Two of my favourite consumables back to back.
- I wandered a little further along the boardwalk and started to realize that, in Odaiba, you might just be able to get anywhere without touching the ground. Snazzy hotels and modern architecture surrounded me and invited me to stay, but the evening was getting on and I had to go home to rest up for one more day.
Sunday, October 17
- My first stop today was the temple in Akasuka named Hie-jinja, famed for its Tori avenue. I made the most of the vacant early morning and took my photos with little interference.
- I continued on to Harajuku where I was expecting to see freaks galore, but I only saw a few upon arrival. I wandered in the direction I thought would yield the most absurdity and eventually found myself in the middle of a market.
- The main sale item was used clothing, but all kinds of nonsense was on offer there. It seemed anyone could set up a tarp and lay out there wares. Bands played in the background including a nauseatingly genki all-girl group who played Avril Lavigne covers. There was also a band playing pop music, but I think they were guided by their three female singers - the members of the band seemed to want to play some ’80s metal instead. I strolled among the vendors and took some photos while chatting with a few folks.
- I then headed for the NHK building where I dropped the 200 Yen to take a tour. I mean, it was guided by signs featuring domo-kun, so I had to go. It was fun enough and they you can never get too much domo-kun.
- After going back through the vendors, I came to a walkway skirting the park where bands had set up, each about 75 metres apart from each other. They came out to promote their upcoming shows or simply have a good time rockin’ in the park. And they were good. There was one named Gorilla who sounded like a cross between the Chilli Peppers (without the suck) and Skunk Anansie. Then I walked further along and found a band that almost reminded me of a more electronic version of the Appleseed Cast.
- I miss seeing live music so this buffet of bands was such a welcome treat. At that moment, I didn’t want to leave Tokyo. Yeah, I didn’t really want to leave at any point, but this was the culmination. I would be at this place every Sunday. I would be here taking in all the different bands and trying to tell them I wanted to buy their CD (even if they hadn’t recorded one) and taking their photos (and telling the other photographer that his shots are great) and just generally enjoying life. It’s more of the Japan that I wanted to be experiencing. I love living in Ichinoseki and all, but Tokyo is a hundred times more exciting.
- I shouldn’t forget to mention the band called Custom Mummy whose giant costume heads and breakbeats made for good entertainment. While these bands played, a painter bounced manically to the music and slapped paint onto the page with his spastic movements.
- I then headed towards Meiji-jingu, but not without first seeing the freestyle bikers spin in the park and then, possibly the coolest thing I have ever witnessed: a group of seven or eight 40-something greasers dancing in a circle to ’50s rock. Some shirtless, most clad in black leather, they all twisted their hearts out with one occasionally strutting his moves in the centre of the circle. The WTF factor went through the roof.
- The Shrine was lovely, but it was the people and their costumes there that made the (now painful) walk worthwhile. People in all sorts of traditional dress came and went from what event I’m not sure, but they were nice enough to stop for photos. I also saw two wedding parades pass by. I was again forced to go tripodless by security, for what reason I can’t determine this time, but I still had a blast.
- I wanted one more decent Tokyo meal before I left so I managed to find a pizza place near the station where I scarfed down a nice vegetarian delight.
- Back to the station, I got to Tokyo station just in time to make the shinkansen home.
October 10th, 2004
Today, bike wipeout number three. I’m starting to get tired of this and I’m considering taking up drinking - at least then, people would expect me to fall down all the time. A new hobby is born.
I don’t know that I ever wrote about wipeout number two, but I’ll save that for another time. Right now, I must tell a story that will be funny to me sometime in the future. So here you go future me, have a laugh.
I started the day feeling good. The typhoon had passed in the night and I was confident I would have the opportunity to get outside and take some pictures. The weather was still a bit gloomy, sure, but it wasn’t raining, that’s all that counted. After a few chores completed, I was ready to set off. I was thinking I would head in the direction of Gembi. I could stop there for some photos of the gorge or I could continue up that road towards Hondera. Alternatively, I could have turned at Gembi and headed toward Hiraizumi, perhaps catching that cave temple along the way.
Things looked promising as I began my journey. A real estate company was holding a showing of their homes in the area and a man dressed as a Japanese cartoon robot crossed paths with me. I had time enough to stop and get my camera out for a few snaps of this awkward, silver automaton whose metallic lobster claws were certainly capable of pinching their way through whole automobiles. The Jaws of Life were no match for him.
After bidding adieu to robo-lobster-man, I headed West along the main road. There’s one section that heads down into a small valley, then back up an incline the other side. No problem, I have a mountain bike. Gearing down, I ascended with relative ease.
Reaching the top of the slope, I attempted to resume my course in a higher gear. One set of gears didn’t agree that this was the proper course of action. I was able to get back into second gear, but third was out of reach. If I knew the names for any of the parts involved with switching gears on a bike, I would elaborate, but the best I can do is to say that the metal guide thingy wouldn’t move far enough for the chain to slip from second to third.
I stopped and manually switched the chain to third. My hope was that if I moved the chain to third, then switched down to second and back again, the problem might be solved. Really, I was being optimistic that a bicycle could develop muscle memory. Not so. Down to second and that was where it stayed. I twiddled around some more with any of the devices that seemed to be related to shifting gears and soon learned that I couldn’t even shift to first anymore.
I decided to ride along a while frantically wrenching the gear shift up and down in a desperate attempt to have the chain move to a new gear, any gear. Hell, a non-existent fourth gear would have been a welcome change. No luck. I pedaled along while staring down at the chain, willing it to switch.
Now, looking down at your chain while riding a bike poses an obvious difficulty when it comes to successful navigation: you can’t really do it. At least I can’t. My balance is not such that if I stare directly below myself while riding, I will continue to go in a perfectly straight line. Maybe this will come with more biking practice, but it certainly was not with me on this day.
In the top of my peripheral vision loomed a fast-approaching object. I hit the brakes while looking up to see a bush waiting with open arms to give me a prickly embrace. My brakes could only do so much to slow my appointment with leafy destiny. I was launched over the handlebars, through the bush and onto the pavement, skidding along on my side.
I rose, covered in the top few layers of dirt that once covered the sidewalk, and inspected myself. My Dad would always jokingly make the sign of the cross while chuckling, ‘Spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch,’ as though making sure all his parts were in place. While I made a similar self-examination, I discovered that much of my body was covered by the barbs formerly attached to the bush. I plucked a few from my clothes and a few more from my skin where I soon learned that I was slightly allergic to them. Small welts started appearing where I had removed the barbs from my skin.
Just then, it started to rain. I conceded defeat to the day, turned around and rode home, wet, dirty and swollen.
October 9th, 2004
Yesterday was another BOE day. I spent most of the morning looking up things to do in Tokyo when my sister arrives. I’m worried about her knee and how mobile she’ll be. We may have to take it pretty slow sometimes. I’m sure we’ll still have a great time though. As long as she doesn’t slip on any chum at the fish market.
I talked to Thanet after work and we determined her plans for the weekend were just too unaccommodating for Sarah and I to join her and Grainne and Erin. I would love to do something more with my extra time this weekend, but the weather is determined in its efforts to keep humans indoors.
I did a little cheering up of a sad Sarah then headed off to basketball. On this night, the Forties were playing’ well, the twenties. We just couldn’t really keep up. My long-range shot was off and my body wouldn’t do what I wanted it to do. I need to do some more running or something. But I think next game, if it plays out in a similar fashion, I’m going to just start driving the lane like Iverson. Throw my body into the fray and create some opportunities by going to the hole. My shot was such crap last night I should have just kept going at their defense. I need to be a bit more confident with my ball handling though too. If only I could actually practice somewhere.
I may have to start going to gym class at my schools.
Today was a day in Sendai with Jo, Brent and Sarah. A fairly uneventful time spent shopping in the rain. I did, however, make a couple large purchases worth noting: new speakers for my computer and a new, enormous hard drive.
October 7th, 2004
I had a whole day at the Board of Education. Processed some photos and wrote a pile of emails in between chatting with Sarah. She wrote me a lovely little note during the afternoon. I scooted home after work than went out to the hill behind city hall to shoot some photos. It was too dark already, but I managed to get one decent shot in there. Hung around at the base of the hill and tried getting some shots of the vending machines, but I don’t think any grand images were meant to be.
Once I was home, I started downloading some evening entertainment. Sarah came over and we watched Jon Stewart. Desmond Tutu may just be the cutest man alive. Jon Stewart let him talk for far longer than anyone I’ve seen on the show. The Archbishop was talking about God’s love with such genuine care that he just could not be interrupted. Stewart’s comment after the speech was simply, ‘I think you’re the nicest person I’ve ever met.’
A little later, Sarah and I watched the new episode of ‘Lost.’ This show rules. It’s so nice to have some good television to look forward to each week. I hope it can continue its run successfully (and I hope ABC doesn’t drag it out as their new cash cow). Sarah actually got scared enough that I had to walk her home.
October 6th, 2004
Finally, a clear day. I can see the mountain to the West whose name I can never remember and patches of blue are tearing through the formerly impenetrable cloud. The sounds of some loudspeaker-carrying car passing by bounce up through the window - they are not drowned out by the white noise of rain. I guess the rain had some advantages.
I find myself anxious. I have not gone outside to take photos in a couple weeks. I feel the same way as when I go through an unproductive period at home. I’m a little surlier and I feel incomplete. When I was at university, one of my courses was a philosophy course studying madness. I tended to focus my studies on depression since that subject was a bit near my heart, but I remember finding a web site linking madness and creativity. If I recall correctly, its focus was on artistic therapy for various mental diseases, but there was one case in particular that intrigued me.
It showed an image of a piece of toilet paper. On it was a portrait of a man. It was dirty and rough as any portrait drawn on toilet paper would be, but had an interesting style. It turns out that the portrait was drawn by a man with a compulsion to be creative. He couldn’t help himself. In this case, he was at a restaurant, found some toilet paper for himself and used cigarette ashes to create the portrait.
I sometimes wonder if I have a weaker version of the same condition. Here I am writing, and I feel better already. For some reason I haven’t written much of anything in the last two weeks and I’m sure that exacerbates my problem. And it’s not like I would have been short on material. Yes, I have started settling into a routine here, but there are details a plenty worthy of a note or two here on my trusty laptop (which still needs a name, by the way).
I know part of it stems from my obsession with time and mortality. I keep finding myself saying there aren’t enough hours in the day and that life is too short. When Sarah and I have to say goodbye to each other late at night lest we while away the hours before dawn without sleeping and I haven’t completed any of my chores for the day, 24 hours is far too confining. When I consider all the places in the world I would like to explore and all the places I will never see because of my limited time here, I would beg for more years so that I could experience more of this incredible planet.
So, when I fail to be productive or creative, I feel like I am not making the most of that limited time. Mind you, I haven’t exactly been wasting away here. There are certain changes I could make to tighten up my schedule, but I don’t know that I have been excessively lazy or anything of the sort. Socializing is an important pursuit and I’d rather not cut that from my life. Maybe I could ease up on the Internet surfing and try to be a bit more efficient around the house. I could try to get more of my emailing done at the Board of Education (when possible) and actually complete the tasks I set out for myself while there.
Okay, that’s good. I’ll start today. Here I am, I’ve done some writing and I could easily do more (though I do have two more days here on Thursday and Friday - perhaps I should save some of my writing for then) and I have some other tasks that deserve my attention here.
I also should re-start my old routine of a paragraph a day to describe the day’s positives. It was helpful before and for those times when the rain is keeping me and my camera inside, it will keep me focused on the good things around me and in me.
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