|
I have been neglecting my audience. So let me inform you of the not-so-many things I have been doing. The most exciting thing I can think of is the car wash. Japanese people keep their cars so clean, but I never really saw car washes. Sure, I found a few do-it-yourself ones where you had to get of your car and scrub, but that just wouldn't facilitate all the great-looking cars, especially in the winter. Last weekend I discovered the secret. I had noticed car washes at many gas stations. But they looked like the do-it-yourself kind because they are wide enough to fit maybe half your car. So I didn't think that this could be a full-service car wash because it would only clean half your car. But the mystery is solved. These mini-car washes are mobile! Yes, they move. Can you believe it? You drive your car into it, then get out. Then the car wash moves on tracks. It is so cool! And only 300¥. It cleans, waxes, and dries your car, plus the gas station man scrubs the hard to clean area (there were many on the car I was in). Speaking of gas stations, I still haven't been able to find a self-service one in Ota. I read in the papers, and saw on the news that since I've moved to Japan new legislation was passed making it legal for untrained folks like you and I can pump gas. I even saw that special "training centers" had been set up for people to practice before the law was put into action. So where are all there cheap self-serve stations? Not around my town. Maybe I have to go to Tokyo or Takasaki. Recently I got an email from someone who wanted to know if I was enjoying the summer weather. CERTAINLY NOT! Humidity like I never knew possible. A serious lack of AC units. It's too expensive to run my one-room AC, so I sleep with the windows open. I don't know if I mentioned before that I live next to a major thoughroughfair. I do. I have always has trouble sleeping because of all the traffic noise and the newspaper distributors downstairs who start work at 2:30 am, but not it is unreal! It is so hot. All my windows are open, so I can really hear the noise. Last night I woke up 5 times, and finally gave up at 6:00. I had to turn on my fan for a while so I wouldn't die. Plus, they call Japan an "ohaiyo gozaimas society" for nothing (good morning society)! It gets light by 4:00 am! The sun is risen and going strong by 5:30. Another thing that prevents a good night's sleep is the fear of bugs. My bed is a futon, so I sleep on the floor, no elevation but the pad underneath me. Sometimes in the morning I catch little bugs crawling back into the tatami (grass mat) floors. I know there are creatures are crawling on me at night. But my biggest fear is that there are roaches lurking. If there is one, there are probably 1000 waiting in the corners to torment me. [Japan is a roach-haven, given the weather. Everybody has them.] At any rate, summer is unpleasant. Though, if I had a pool attached to my house, I think I would be all right. Last weekend when I was out seeing Japan, I went to a resort town. Well, it must have been the off season because the place was a ghost town. We saw maybe 10 people during our half day there. We followed signs to a "lake." Now I understand that Japan is smaller than the US, thus maybe the definition of lake is a bit off scale from ours, but this was ridiculous. This "lake" could barely even hold the title of pond. One could have swum across it in 1 minute, easily. It smelled like dead fish, though the pond wasn't big enough to hold many. And of course, you could rent cheesy pink paddle boats for ¥1,000! What a rip off. But, hey, at least it didn't have the even cheesier swan boats you see at Nikko and many other tourist lakes. Next we drove around. We followed signs to the "royal park." That too was a misleading sign. The most interesting thing we found was a camp ground. It was right in front of a hotel. So why would one choose to camp instead of stay in the hotel? Because The camping area supplied you with cool tee-pees with bison painted on the sides. Yes, that it correct. Experience the great northwest US... in Japan. [Although I do admit that this is odd, I wasn't surprised because I saw adds for a similar thing when I was in Nikko.] And my last bit of Japanese oddities (when compared with US life) is the firefly festivals. Fireflies are pretty cool here. I guess I always took them for granted, I being from Illinois, land of a million + fireflies. If you want to see them in Japan, most likely you have to go out of your way. They only live near clean water. Japan has many rivers, but they are not all pristine. Since the summer began, I have only seen 3 fireflies, and this was in the mountains of Gunma. So places like Ota are not graced with clean water or fireflies. I am hoping to go to a firefly festival so I relate more news to y'all. Until next time... Valerie Straayer |