I woke up nice and early to go on my daily walk and everything was going fine. Listening to my iPod (which is actually illegal here... you can't listen to headphones and be on the sidewalks) and enjoying the morning. I get to the top of the rather sizeable hill that I huff and puff my way up every day and see this little dog kind of chasing a car that is pulling away. The dog weighs about five pounds and is sort of a cute version of a rat. I walk by the dog and it starts to follow me. It starts skipping alongside my ankles and almost looks like it's smiling and really enjoying the company. I ignore it and hope that it will get distracted and stop following me. I doubt that it understands commands, especially in English. So we're walking along... one block...two blocks... 1/2 mile. Once and awhile the dog will stop for a moment but then I can hear it's paws running on the sidewalk to catch up. I'm getting a bit nervous at this point because I don't want it to follow me home and make me feel guilty. So, finally, a jogger passes me going in the same direction. The dog was really really excited to have two new friends. It ran in between the two of us, trying to catch up with the jogger, but also making sure I was following. After a final glance back and a wag of the tail, I saw my out.... I waited for my "friend" to go around a slight bend and then sprinted off onto a sidestreet. I hid behind a building for a second, peeking back to see if the dog caught on, and then made my way on this new path (which took me through a bunch of graves on the side of the road --- a strange Okinawan custom). I realized that I was going to be back on the main road that I usually walk shortly. As I approached the road, I looked to my right and saw the jogger heading towards me. Alone. Escape. (I'm trying not to think about what he did to get rid of the dog. Probably a swift kick. Very depressing because it was such a happy little dog.) A bit nervous about my walk tomorrow though.
That about sums up the excitement of my day. I taught two classes today and am thoroughly tired of doing "self-introduction" lessons. Tomorrow is my first real lesson based on the textbook. I think my idea is a good one, so I'll have to wait to see how it's implemented. Oh, yes, and the "Dallas" people have competition. We have singing cars, people in pink with white gloves, and a multitude of other strangely dressed, enthusiastic sorts roaming around with loudspeakers that start blaring at 7 am and continue until 9 pm. Election time in Japan. I'd vote for any of them.
One week until I'm in Shimane...
5 comments:
I wonder what the pink and "dallas" politicians are shouting over the speakers... I can only imagine.
I guess it's more entertaining than "Chris Chocola is a millionare and has money invested in the drug companies. He voted against legalizing prescriptions from Canada for our seniors. I'm Joe Donnely and I support this message." (they haven't over played these ads at all...)
I think I prefer not knowing. And since the Japanese are generally not confrontational and always want to keep face, I can`t imagine how they`re slinging mud. They try to `outcheer` each other. It`s like Funshine Bear running for office.
You should vote for Count Chocola, the drug czar.
I wish elections back here were that interesting, maybe then I"d pay attention! I could totally see our school board members dressing up as something wild and crazy! Hope all is well! Miss you tons!
Me encantó la historia del perro. Una vez, cuando fui a un bar un perro vagabundo manchado aprovechó que yo abria la puerta del taxi y subió conmigo. No pude echarlo y lo llevé hasta mi casa. Durmió ahí. Al día siguiente le di de comer pero no quizo nada. Lo solté para que corriera un poco, pero noté que caminó mucho buscando su casa. Tomé mi auto y lo devolví a donde lo dejé. Era un perro vagabundo pero esas calles de la zona eran su casa.
Le llamé Vaca, porque tenia manchas blancas y negras.
Besos.
Best wishes...translate?...my english is so poor...maybe you can translate my comment..i don´t know...kisses
A Babelfish translation (slightly edited to avoid ambiguity):
The enchanted history of a dog. Once, when I went to a bar, a stained vagabond dog took advantage of that abria and followed me into my taxi. I could not throw it out so I took it intol my house. It slept there. On the following day I gave him something to eat but nonquizo nothing. I let it run a little, but I noticed that it walked much looking for its house. I took my car and I gave back it to where I found it. It was a vagabond dog but those streets of the zone were their house. I called him Chow, because he had tapeworm and white and black spots. Kisses.
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