The Mean Streets of Sakai

AM

Least: Sometime between 2:00am and 3:00am, I woke groggily from my less than sleepy slumber. The night was silent except for the drone of a flight of pigeons that had decided to rest on the roof next door for the night. The pigeon problem has slightly diminished, however I suspect that the local flying rat chapter is planning a comeback. They were still there at 8:00am when I got out of bed. How boring for them.

Most: At nearly 11:00am, I felt the extremely unsettling sensation of actually missing the television. Despite earlier reports on this blog, I craved a half and hour or so of utter crap to help fill in the gaps of my morning. I have also sensed a gathering distance from everyday Japanese life and the ongoing courtcase of Noriko Sakai. It is amazing to think that an utterly vacuous stream of information could get addictive. I will resist for now and not pay my NHK bill as a reward.

PM

Least: Just after 3:15pm, I groaned again as the scrubbers from a nearby high school, flitted into my train carriage. Despite their Japanese flavour, they had all of the boring characteristics of bogans from the Melbourne suburbs. The general look included badly dyed hair, inches of make-up, dirty looks towards other girls and incredibly short skirts. Each of them could have easily fitted in to any notorious school a person could name. I wonder what their mothers think?

Most: Between 8:00pm and 8:40pm, I spoke to one of my regular students about living in Sakai city. Being from the north of Osaka, she viewed Sakai as an unrelenting hellhole. Her paranoia even extended to a fear of murderers lurking in the backstreets at night. Sakai is famous for its knives so maybe she has a point. Her fear of crime seems to be duplicated throughout Osaka to the extent that there are areas such as Shinsaibashi where some Japanese fear to tread. She also informed my that gangsters were easy to spot because they all have golden hair. I wonder how she would go on the slightly meaner streets of Melbourne?

Just when you thought you spoke English

AM
Least: At 10:18am, I poked my nose through my kitchen window to get a whiff of the weather. The air was as hot as the gas-fired kitchen. Worse, though was the sour smell of decomposing pigeon guano that has piled up between Sanshou and next door. I'm sure that a bird-lover next door is aiding and abetting the local pigeon gangs with crumbs or some such. The scourge is such the we, like thousands of others need netting to defend our balcony against these depraved rats of the sky.

Most: At exactly 11:00am, my phone told me that I had 30 minutes left on my phone card. I spoke to Ceridwen for a whiles and mused about the oddities of Japan. We discussed important birthdays approaching and the growing clutch of babies that are beginning to populate our lives. The conversation reminded me of how hard it is to speak freely in Japan - it's very easy to get the wrong end of the stick - and that's only speaking to Canadians. Just when I think I'm speaking fluent English, my 'space' becomes 'spice' and my 'cram' becomes 'crime' - context, context, context. Perhaps interesting proof that Orstraylians are an outward looking people.

PM

Least: By 1:50pm it was becoming clear that I was about to miss out on the end of another classic war movie - Where Eagles Dare. Working in the afternoons has the effect of obliterating my motivation to do anything substantial in the mornings. I usually wake at 9:00am, eat at 9:30am then eat again just after noon. By the time that the glow of the midday meal wears of, I am usually sweating in my suit-pants, and the movie is not yet over.

Most: Just before 2:40pm, I walked into work to find that all the staff were wearing surgical masks. There was an unintelligible sign at the door explaining that a staff member had fallen ill with the New Influenza. Several disinfecting dispensers of alcoholic gel were scattered around the office. During the one week of swine flu panic last time, I often found myself the only person in a room or carriage without a mask. Some people in Japan seem to wear masks to stop getting the flu, to stop spreading the flu and to stop allergies - these people probably have little time left to travel mask-free. How long does it take to incubate?