6.18.2004
Children of the Corn or Rice or Whatever...
My "walk" this morning turned into a two hour odyssey because I was so enjoying it that I went much too far south then couldn't find a way to cross the river, and naturally, instead of turning back the way I had come, I plowed ahead. Funny like that.
At one point I did locate stairs up from the river to where the access road should have been, but instead found myself on a "path" surrounded by 4-foot grass. That's when I started running because I just wanted to get out of it. It was fun...being a little lost, a little scared that an off kilter homeless person might wander out of the grass but none did. Finally found a bridge and promptly went from hopping over foot-long earthworms to zig-zagging past industrial junk.
Altogether a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Also realized I need not be so shy about saying hello or rather, ohaiyo gozaimasu and it's variants, to the 100 or so middle-aged men I pass when I go for a run or a walk (can't say why, but there just aren't a lot of women or younger people there...a few). It does make me a little nervous but when they smile and say good morning (and I do too) I feel great. But I worry about my accent.
Then I decided, why not just pretend I'm Andre Codrescu, only speaking Japanese. If I were walking in the morning and Andre Codrescu said good morning to me, I wouldn't critique his accent. I'd be tickled. "Guud Mouurning" he would say, so if my "Ohaiyo" sounds like that, I am happy.
At one point I did locate stairs up from the river to where the access road should have been, but instead found myself on a "path" surrounded by 4-foot grass. That's when I started running because I just wanted to get out of it. It was fun...being a little lost, a little scared that an off kilter homeless person might wander out of the grass but none did. Finally found a bridge and promptly went from hopping over foot-long earthworms to zig-zagging past industrial junk.
Altogether a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Also realized I need not be so shy about saying hello or rather, ohaiyo gozaimasu and it's variants, to the 100 or so middle-aged men I pass when I go for a run or a walk (can't say why, but there just aren't a lot of women or younger people there...a few). It does make me a little nervous but when they smile and say good morning (and I do too) I feel great. But I worry about my accent.
Then I decided, why not just pretend I'm Andre Codrescu, only speaking Japanese. If I were walking in the morning and Andre Codrescu said good morning to me, I wouldn't critique his accent. I'd be tickled. "Guud Mouurning" he would say, so if my "Ohaiyo" sounds like that, I am happy.
