Today I lived dangerously. That's right. I did something very against all the rules and protocols of Japan. You ready for it? I walked across the road during a green light. **gasp**
The Japanese refuse to cross the street if there is a green light or if the "little green walk man" has not appeared. In the city I can understand, however we are talking every single street and alley. There may not be a car in sight and yet they will still stand there, right at the curb, waiting for the light to change. (I swear Japanese can make a careers out of waiting.) And if you cross the road "illegally" you will hear someone gasp. We are so used to waiting by now that if we see someone cross when they shouldn't we always joke about them being a rebel.
I am very impatient, so I really hate being a good girl and waiting for the light to change. And today when Emily and I were carrying 6 bags of grocery's a mile up the hill (no joke) I threw all caution to the wind and took a walk on the wild side –– I crossed the street when the light was green. I am so going to Japanese hell.
Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A Walk To Our House
Last Friday I decided to take some shots on the way home from the train station. I thought it would be cool to show some of the things I see on my daily walks.
This is the back entrance to a famous restaurant here called Soshuen. Weddings and parties are held here everyday. Our cul-de-sac entrance backs up to this restaurant. It is pretty fancy, so Matt and I will need a special occasion to go.
This is a look down the street at the entrance of our cul-de-sac.
A tree blossoming near our house. I can't wait until all the trees look like this.
We are a 5 minute walk from the Mikage Hankyu train station and about a 15 minute walk from the Sumiyoshi JR train station. On the way home from the JR line we are always stopped at this train crossing. The Hankyu line has 2 trains that run every 10 minutes so it is inevitable that we will get stopped nearly every time we walk home from the JR line.
Point in case. Waiting for the Hankyu line to go past.
You will see statues like this "dressed up" everywhere. This is at the foot of a train crossing. Chris said it has something to do with remembering people who died. You will see them not only dressed, but with food and drinks surrounding them at some places.
This is a Temple right by the Sumyoshi JR train line.
This is the back entrance to a famous restaurant here called Soshuen. Weddings and parties are held here everyday. Our cul-de-sac entrance backs up to this restaurant. It is pretty fancy, so Matt and I will need a special occasion to go.
This is a look down the street at the entrance of our cul-de-sac.
A tree blossoming near our house. I can't wait until all the trees look like this.
We are a 5 minute walk from the Mikage Hankyu train station and about a 15 minute walk from the Sumiyoshi JR train station. On the way home from the JR line we are always stopped at this train crossing. The Hankyu line has 2 trains that run every 10 minutes so it is inevitable that we will get stopped nearly every time we walk home from the JR line.
Point in case. Waiting for the Hankyu line to go past.
You will see statues like this "dressed up" everywhere. This is at the foot of a train crossing. Chris said it has something to do with remembering people who died. You will see them not only dressed, but with food and drinks surrounding them at some places.
This is a Temple right by the Sumyoshi JR train line.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
How To Buy A Car In Japan When You Speak No Japanese
Everyone had told us that Matt should start the car buying process before I came over. We didn't listen as Matt thought it would be nice for me to get to pick out my car. (see he can be sweet!) Boy do we regret that now.
There are three ways to buy a used car in Japan. 1- A used lot (which there are not that many of) 2- An auction (this is where almost everyone goes) 3- From another person (we have tried this route however have only found a small car for sale) We had been told that the auctions are very stressful and that everyone hates them. We had been told of a dealership on Port Island that had an English speaking salesman and if they didn't have a car on their lot we liked that we could find one in the computer. So we decided to go the dealership route with the English speaking salesman.
Matt and I set out on Saturday morning with high hopes of coming home with a car purchased. After walking an hour looking for the place we arrived to find out that the only person who speaks English is out sick. (Of course) We managed to look at the cars and got a better idea of what we wanted. We were very disappointed, however a trip to Ikea afterwards was a great pick me up.
After leaving the dealership and heading to Ikea (on foot of course) I told Matt my feet were burning in the back. I had decided to go fashionable and wear some cute skinny jeans and ballet flats. Lesson learned from this decision is that you should never, ever wear new shoes when walking vast amounts of distances. (We probably walked 4+ miles that day.) Why not? Because by the time you get home your feet look like this:
Saturday night we got onto a used car site and located 3 cars that we wanted to see. After church we set out to try and find these cars at what we thought were close to each other locations. After having no luck in finding any of them we tried to find the train station home, figuring they were close by because of the Google map we had printed. However the map master (AKA Matt) didn't realize that he had blown up the areas pretty good and the train stations were miles apart, as were all the dealerships. We figured out that we had probably walked a good 7+ miles that day, if not more. Up and down hills. Thank goodness I had slip on shoes that day.
So today Matt is calling the auction consultant and finding out what we need to do. We have given up on doing this our own way and are ready to conform to what everyone else does. Maybe by the end I will have a cute car like this one:
However Matt keeps joking that I will get something more like this. And btw, these are about as long as they are wide.
So after being here 21 days we are still no closer to having a vehicle than we were before I arrived. While a car is not a necessity here as we will train it most places, it would be a huge help in getting Emily home each night from practice, making it possible for us to stay for Sunday school at church (the shuttle doesn't run after Sunday school) and in getting heavier groceries home. And the bigger pain, once we do pick out the car, with the red tape involved here it will still be almost 10 days before we even get the car.
And as far as my feet goes? They may never be the same again. This is what the looked liked this morning after I removed a Neosporin covering from them.
There are three ways to buy a used car in Japan. 1- A used lot (which there are not that many of) 2- An auction (this is where almost everyone goes) 3- From another person (we have tried this route however have only found a small car for sale) We had been told that the auctions are very stressful and that everyone hates them. We had been told of a dealership on Port Island that had an English speaking salesman and if they didn't have a car on their lot we liked that we could find one in the computer. So we decided to go the dealership route with the English speaking salesman.
Matt and I set out on Saturday morning with high hopes of coming home with a car purchased. After walking an hour looking for the place we arrived to find out that the only person who speaks English is out sick. (Of course) We managed to look at the cars and got a better idea of what we wanted. We were very disappointed, however a trip to Ikea afterwards was a great pick me up.
After leaving the dealership and heading to Ikea (on foot of course) I told Matt my feet were burning in the back. I had decided to go fashionable and wear some cute skinny jeans and ballet flats. Lesson learned from this decision is that you should never, ever wear new shoes when walking vast amounts of distances. (We probably walked 4+ miles that day.) Why not? Because by the time you get home your feet look like this:
Saturday night we got onto a used car site and located 3 cars that we wanted to see. After church we set out to try and find these cars at what we thought were close to each other locations. After having no luck in finding any of them we tried to find the train station home, figuring they were close by because of the Google map we had printed. However the map master (AKA Matt) didn't realize that he had blown up the areas pretty good and the train stations were miles apart, as were all the dealerships. We figured out that we had probably walked a good 7+ miles that day, if not more. Up and down hills. Thank goodness I had slip on shoes that day.
So today Matt is calling the auction consultant and finding out what we need to do. We have given up on doing this our own way and are ready to conform to what everyone else does. Maybe by the end I will have a cute car like this one:
However Matt keeps joking that I will get something more like this. And btw, these are about as long as they are wide.
So after being here 21 days we are still no closer to having a vehicle than we were before I arrived. While a car is not a necessity here as we will train it most places, it would be a huge help in getting Emily home each night from practice, making it possible for us to stay for Sunday school at church (the shuttle doesn't run after Sunday school) and in getting heavier groceries home. And the bigger pain, once we do pick out the car, with the red tape involved here it will still be almost 10 days before we even get the car.
And as far as my feet goes? They may never be the same again. This is what the looked liked this morning after I removed a Neosporin covering from them.
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