The Even Greater Tokyo Region

You can't fly without wheels

Out here in the countryside of Japan, it is almost impossible to live without a car. The other day I was in the next town at a small music festival. At about 9:40 I thought I had better check what time the last train back leaves. Of course, we had already missed it. It wasn't too much of a problem, but it goes to show how much I need to get a car.

This was reinforced yesterday when I was taken to my other schools. I have one main school, a Junior High School. This is where I spend most of my time doing nothing. Ontop of this, every week I visit two different Primary schools, and a nursery school (4 in total). Now, these schools are all very spaced out. Remember, this is rural Japan. Even though I am pretty fit and I enjoy biking, you`d have to be dreaming if you think I`m going to bike to all my schools.

I have mentioned the fact that the temperature and humidity in Japan is at levels that you would think is not suitable to sustain intelligent life-forms. Now I'm not one to complain easily, but it does start to wear you down when you have to bike for a half hour to get to school. (note: it takes a half hour, presuming I don't get lost. This does sometimes happen- i.e. not getting lost). So most days I show up to school, (NZ slang alert!!!) "sweating like a rapist". Even at 8am, the sun has been up for a few hours, and I have to wear business attire. It is not the ideal way to commute.

That is why, this morning, when it didn't feel hot at all, I was so happy. "Brilliant", I thought, "I wont show up at work dripping wet". And then, not just the gods, but also the bhudda's and the allah's all conspired against me and sent down the rains. By now it was too late to catch a bus, and I wasn't going to take one of my paid holidays because the weather. So I biked. It really wasn't so bad. The rain was nice and warm, I will even go as far as to say the bikeride was pleasant. However, I have spent the rest of the day sitting at my desk with wet underwear.

And of course, come winter, it will be unadvisable, reckless even, to take the bike to school. I don't know if they even make bikes which work when there is slushy snow waist high.

Okay, so I hear you saying, "well, stupid, just buy a car then". I only wish it were that simple. I mean, I have a job which allows me to afford a decent car. But lets just say that the process isn't very easy, especially if you're foreign and don't have really good Japanese. The choice of (affordable) cars is very limited in rural Japan, and even if I find one that I like, I will have to contend with insurance, proving I have a parking space, paying for the parking space that I already own, getting a loan to pay for the car, buying extra insurance, registering the car, road tax, vehicle inspection... proving that no blood relative has ever been to North Korea etc...

But as they say: out of great nessecity comes courage to achieve great deeds. And buying a car in Japan will be the greatest achievement of my life. Lets hope the heat doesn't get to me first.