For Your Viewing Pleasure

Alright, so I am putting up pictures. Hooray! There are a few from my walk to the train station from school, a group shot from Osaka, and then mostly of Satoshi and Shun's judo class last week. Shun was the youngest there, and he was (obviously) difficult to keep track of since he got distracted easily. However, because it is Japan, everything is group-oriented, so the teachers tried to have him participate in each activity, down to the bowing at the end to thank the teachers for a good class. The class lasted an hour long, with 5 minute breaks scattered throughout. Here is a picture of Satoshi and his friends drinking tea. I was pretty impressed with all that the kids can do!

One thing I have yet to mention is the amount of traffic that people have to deal with each day---more importantly, what the pedestrians have to deal with! Ahem, that would include me! Yes, I fear for my life daily. And I am not kidding when I say that! The streets are most often so very narrow, one would assume two way streets are only meant for cars to go one way on them. I have almost been run over by numerous bike riders, NONE of whom wear helmets (no one does here, since it is not a law), or have the courtesy to say excuse me. Most of them come out of nowhere from behind, and are gone before you realize what just happened. As I learned from a Japanese-American friend this summer before coming to Japan(hi Karin!), riding a bicycle in the streets is illegal in Japan. So, naturally, the sidewalks are crowded and busy with everyone trying to get everywhere all at once. OH, and watch out for the postmen! They zoom around on their little red motorbikes without any thought to how fast they are going from house to house. I definitely acquired a fear of motorbikes, thanks to them and others. Yesterday I was startled by a postman when he didn't see me at first and started driving right at me. Aaah! Maybe I should walk around with a helmet and knee pads...In the meantime, I have become very cautious of crossing the streets, looking both ways about 4 times before actually crossing...

I hope you like the pictures. I have no idea what Shun and Satoshi are doing in the last few with their noses. Don't ask...kids are silly :-)

-Monica