So, I've already fallen into a school routine, for the most part anyway. I have more homework than I'd expected (hence why I haven't had time to post anything since the day before classes started 0.0). I still have 2 reports to finish writing this morning, so I'll just write a quick summary of some of the major things that have been going on lately.
The first thing that comes to mind is that I ride my bike to school everyday. It's good exercise, but I feel like I'm playing a video game everytime I get on my bike. Let me explain. In Japan, the sidewalks are very narrow, but even so you'll see pedestrians as well as people riding their bikes on the streets. You can ride your bike on the side of the road (which I do sometimes), but the cars are close on the main roads and it makes me even more nervous than riding on the sidewalks. The problem with the sidewalks is that you have to dodge people as well as other cyclists. Some roads have bike lanes with arrows to let you know on which side you're supposed to ride, but everyone seems to ignore the fact that these even exist. Therefore, it's like a video game, a game in which you have to swerve to miss the other cyclists and dodge the pedestrians who usually aren't paying enough attention and tend to wander toward the direction of your oncoming bike. Not gonna lie, it makes me nervous and annoyed at the same time. Why have bike lanes at all if you're not going to properly use them? Anyway, due to the things above combined with my amazing ability to fail at anything sports related, I of course had a bike wreck.
About 3 weeks ago on my way back from church (I found a church and go there with my friend Leah! I'll give more details later.), a little old lady was walking down the middle of the street. I rang the bell on my bike, but she didn't hear it. I tried to swerve around her, but hit a small curb (about 1 1/2 inches tall or so) at a 45 degree angle in the process and got thrown off my bike. I smacked my chin on the ground (there's a bump there) and scraped up my left leg and knee. I also mangled the pinky toe of my right foot...no idea how that happened though since I was wearing closed-toe shoes...Anyway, the little old lady didn't even notice. I got back on my bike (which was miraculously fine) and rode home (about 15-20 minutes). I properly cleaned all my wounds and used as much ice as I could find. Since my left leg and right foot hurt so badly, I didn't ride my bike for a week to say the least. I wasn't happy that I had to use the subway (500 yen roundtrip to school which is about $6 a day), but I didn't really have a choice. My knee wouldn't heal if I rode my bike again that soon. To make things even better, this happened the day before classes started, so needless to say people were staring at my injuries haha. My leg and knee have healed pretty well, but I'm going to have some lovely scars.
I've decided that I'm going to take the subway on rainy days from now on as well. First of all, it's more likely that I'll crash since it's slippery, and second of all, it's no fun to ride 20-30 minutes on a bike in the rain. It's $6 well spent if you ask me.
Another thing I'm battling right now is a cold or sinus infection, most likely the latter. I have been eating enough vegetables (There are cheap vegetables at the 100 yen convenience store.), but not enough fruit. Mix a lack of vitamin C along with more pollution than my body is used to (I am living in a relatively large city after all) and the result is a weakened immune system more susceptible to illness. Thankfully I brought a fair amount of allergy and sinus medicine from the States so I'm getting better. Of course Japan has medicine for allergies, colds, and etc., but it's quite a bit weaker than the American versions. Japanese tylenol is about 1/3 the strength of a tylenol in the States.
Also, I found some normal tasting fruit juice with a fair amount of vitamin C so I've been drinking it twice a day. Japan has a variety of fruit juices, but the majority I tried before this one tasted over-processed and fake. The kind I'm drinking now is similar to the V8 fruit fusion juices. It has a nice taste, and I like it quite a bit. Sadly, like everything in Japan seems to be, it's quite expensive.
Well, I should get back to writing my reports, but I just wanted to write a quick post. Overall, my classes are going well and level 6 is just about right for me. I'm learning a lot, but I hope I can make a few more Japanese friends. Thankfully, all the new friends I've made so far are really nice and willing to correct my Japanese when I make mistakes. Since many of them study English, I told them they can ask me questions if they need help in return.
Well, that's it for now, I'll try to write another catch-up blog soon so that I'll be back to writing shorter entries more frequently. That's the plan at least.
~Bethany
