Bicycles

Since my last post I have met many new people from all over the globe. One of the most surprising is a young lady from Australia who is working on her PHD in Texas and grew up in the same suburb of Sydney that I lived in as a child! She’s a hot ticket and already pretty fluent in Japanese. I’ve also met a woman from Taiwan who seems to have taken me under her wing. Finding me walking toward the school this afternoon, she asked me to come with her so she could show me the best place to shop for vegetables and gifts. As it turns out it was the same shopping plaza I was so proud of being able to find my way home from a couple of days ago. There was definitely a shorter way to go! Tomorrow she's going to show me where I can buy second hand items, a fan perhaps, to save money on the air conditioning. I also met a young lady from Saint Paul with whom I played chess at the café on campus. At nineteen, she seemed to be enjoying the freedom to sit in the pub/café and have a beer with her homework.

I’ve been checking out bicycles. They are everywhere, especially the school children ride them. (The picture above was taken at the railway station where a sea of bikes was parked waiting for the commuters to return and ride them away.) These bicycles are simple affairs, with a basket in the front, lights and locks on every one. They are ridden down the sidewalks whenever possible, but backstreets don’t have sidewalks and are very narrow. Caution is required. I learned today the Okazaki City is a comparatively wealthy city in Japan, this being the auto industry center of the country. This accounts for high percent of families with cars and more risk of being run over. We were admonished to be careful crossing the street. A new bike can be had for as little as $145 and a used one for about $50. I am debating and waiting to see if maybe I can pick up a used one directly from a student rather than the store where they looked pretty beat up.

At today’s orientation I learned the average homework load is 2 and a half hours a night, so don’t expect to hear as much from me in the future. I will do my best to post at least once a week. There’s just so much to tell you about!