June 23rd, 2006

Nothing interesting has really been going on lately. I have been busy bopping around with work in various places. Chris is busy with his schools as well.

Ive started cooking. It's a little bit of a pain because finding fresh vegetables is really difficult, but otherwise I am enjoying it. Fish is so cheap here, and my salmon shames David's! Sorry David...we just get relaly good salmon here, and it's very cheap too. After all the visitors, we just got tired of eating out all the time. It's kinda nice to eat in...I just wish we had a disposal to throw the waste down...it makes the apartment smell. Stupid, weird Japanese trash rules. Hmph.

Oh! More importantly, I go a new job! I know...ANOTHER JOB. I'm a busy little beaver, aren't I? This time its for an English cram school. It's where kids go to study english outside of elementary, middle, or highschool. James, my boss, has an English School in a little town called Okuizumo and he's decided to expand into a bigger town called Unnan. Of course, this means he needs someone to be able to teach and keep things running. So I said I would do it. It probably won't start until about August or September, but I'm really excited to be trying something new. Unnan is about 30 minutes from Izumo by car, but about an hour and a half by train. Sooooo....we are going to get a second car. In fact, Titia is going to give us her car and we just have to pay insurance for us. So it's a good deal. Plus, I get a car and less bike riding will be a good thing (I will explain why in a minute). The job is from 4:00 to about 9:00 in the evening, but I talked to James about only doing late classes 3 times a week so I could be home and stuff. Im really really excited about this job. I am dropping Takamatsu, but I will still be able to do all my other classes...I will just have to plan for them in advance (like a month at a time, instead of the day before like I do now). It should be fun though.

So biking riding lately has been a pain. On wednesday, I had to ride extra far. I had to go to Takamatsu, Board of Education, and then Kandogawa on Wednesday. That was almost 20 kilometers in total. It was also really really hot. I was so gross and sweaty. No fun at all. Plus, Im starting to get odd sunburns on my hands and feet because of riding the bike so much in the sun. Weird.

On Thursday...well...the inevitable happened. The rainy season has been going on in Japan for about 2 weeks now. However, I have managed to escape being rained on by much more than a drizzle. Yesterday, it poured. POURED. I had to bike in the pouring rain for a good 20 minutes. It sucked hard. I was so wet. Thankfully they gave me a towel to mop up. I still dripped all over the floors. I did amuse my kids by ringing my hair on the floor to prove how soaked I was. Saying I looked like a drowned rat would be an understatement. Boo! We did buy rain gear for me so this doesn't happen again. No more soakings for me.

Today was the worst though. On Wednesdays and Fridays I have to go to Takamatsu elementary school. Its about a 15 minute bike ride and usually a pleasant one. It's very flat. Anyways, usually its enjoyable. One of the crappy things is that there are tons of schoolchildren going to school. They tend to clutter the sidewalk. And remember, in Japan, you bike on the sidewalks so you have to be careful. Anyways, usually I find myself having to cross in front of them at an intersection while they are waiting to cross the other way. Usually I just cut into the road and ride next to the side walk until I can get back on. Today was no different. I got into the road to go around all the kids, but this time there was a car that was riding the white line and going really fast. I didn't want to get hit, so I had to swing back onto the side between some kids. Unfortunately, I got my front tire through the small gap but my backtire got caught on a raised curb*. I went flying! Well...ok...not flying. But I did fall. I scraped up my leg and my bag went into the street. I also landed with my head poking into the busy street. The worst part though? The kids where just staring at me. They didn't even move or ask if I was ok. They were just gaping at me. Hmph. I was really embarassed but it also hurt kinda bad. Road rash is no fun, afterall. Anyways, I quickly got up and got my bike up and gathered my bag. Then I just hobbled away. It was poopy. I also bent the pedal of my bicycle a little bit. Not badly at all, but it pedals wonky now. No fun at all. I limped over to Takamatsu (which was still about 10 minutes away) and had the school nurse patch me up. Then I had to teach. Stupid biking...

And that's why Im glad we are going to get Titia's car. It would be nice to be able to drive on days I dont feel great or days that rain really hard. Plus it gives me a lot of flexibility when going back and forth to Unnan.

So that's what been going on...

*japanese sidewalks are often not raised like in america. Usually they are the same level as the road, but separated by a raised concrete curb. Thats how my tire got caught.