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The kids had been kind of crazy with their practice for the speech competition lately. One girl came up to me and told me she wanted two hours of practice after school! Well, of course I had nothing better to do, so we practiced for two hours! That’s how serious these kids are! This girl’s grammar isn’t good, but she’s very creative and very cute, so in a lot of ways I prefer talking to her even if it’s difficult. I’ve also been meeting regularly with the smartest girl in school – she’s the one who’s just a freshman yet she’s already going to University informational meetings so she can get into a good one and become a diplomat. Her English is so good that I never have to explain anything more than once, so it’s really refreshing. I’m glad to have all this work between starting classes and coaching students.
After work, I thought I’d be smart and save some money by biking to the really far old downtown for my volunteer meeting instead of taking the train. I needed the exercise anyway, right? Well, I *thought* I knew where I was going, I could see the mountain I was aiming for and I was going in the right direction, but when I wanted to turn there were no roads. I ended up biking 40 minutes in one direction, only to find myself walled off from where I wanted to be by a giant factory the entire time. When I finally thought I could get around it, I encountered a highway, so I took a walking path that required me to carry my bike...but at the bottom there was a man who told me it was a factory zone and I couldn’t go there. He wasn’t mean, it was like “oh no! where are you going!” “I’m sorry, I’m lost!” “oh no! this is a factory zone, I’m sorry!” And so I picked up my bike, carried it back up the stairs, and gave up. I went home. I felt bad for skipping the meeting and was a little upset with the inaccessibility of my city, especially because it’s inaccessibility as a result of industry. For as nice as Hokkaido is, the industrial nature of my city disgusts me sometimes. I wish it was a little cleaner and little less “dystopian future.”
I didn’t mind all the biking, it’s good exercise. I should really pull up a map, considering I haven't looked at one since before I left the States, and it's a very different ballgame when you're looking at google earth trying to figure out how far your apartment will be and what things will look like than when you're actually here getting things in perspective. It'd be kind of cute to compare my expectations with the reality, actually.
I just wish I could say I knew more of the city because of my bike tour, but I can’t. I only learned that the factory goes on and on and on and on...
I got home and pretty much died after that. Fortunately, I could, because it was now silver week.
After work, I thought I’d be smart and save some money by biking to the really far old downtown for my volunteer meeting instead of taking the train. I needed the exercise anyway, right? Well, I *thought* I knew where I was going, I could see the mountain I was aiming for and I was going in the right direction, but when I wanted to turn there were no roads. I ended up biking 40 minutes in one direction, only to find myself walled off from where I wanted to be by a giant factory the entire time. When I finally thought I could get around it, I encountered a highway, so I took a walking path that required me to carry my bike...but at the bottom there was a man who told me it was a factory zone and I couldn’t go there. He wasn’t mean, it was like “oh no! where are you going!” “I’m sorry, I’m lost!” “oh no! this is a factory zone, I’m sorry!” And so I picked up my bike, carried it back up the stairs, and gave up. I went home. I felt bad for skipping the meeting and was a little upset with the inaccessibility of my city, especially because it’s inaccessibility as a result of industry. For as nice as Hokkaido is, the industrial nature of my city disgusts me sometimes. I wish it was a little cleaner and little less “dystopian future.”
I didn’t mind all the biking, it’s good exercise. I should really pull up a map, considering I haven't looked at one since before I left the States, and it's a very different ballgame when you're looking at google earth trying to figure out how far your apartment will be and what things will look like than when you're actually here getting things in perspective. It'd be kind of cute to compare my expectations with the reality, actually.
I just wish I could say I knew more of the city because of my bike tour, but I can’t. I only learned that the factory goes on and on and on and on...
I got home and pretty much died after that. Fortunately, I could, because it was now silver week.
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