Commute @ MindSay

Since my time in Japan is now limited to that of "extended vacation" I have started looking back on my experiences and looking forward to how I can apply them to my life in America. One of the things that I have had to do in Japan is find alternate means of transportation. In America I was used to either driving myself to where I needed to go or bumming a ride off of friends. Unfortunately out here I have no motor vehicle and getting a native Japanese to give you a ride is nigh on impossible (I have a story about that, but I will save it for my next post). Of course I use the bus and train, but I also started riding a bicycle to get from here to there.

So after being bombarded with various flash cartoons explaining why I am killing the environment I thought, "well, I don't really care, but what the hell... maybe I'll still ride a bike to do errands when I get home. It's healthy and ecologically friendly." But here in Japan I live in a pretty big city... nothing is more than about two or three miles away. Any type of bike will get you to where you are going and you don't have to think much about pacing. In America I live in a suburb of either Chicago or Detroit, both of which are very spread out. I figured if I wanted to continue riding a bike in the States I should look up some tips on what to buy, types of bicycle, etc.

I looked up "commuter bicycling" and a couple variations of that phrase and came up with mostly personal web pages and forums discussing the use of a pedal bicycle as a commuting vehicle. Now, I had heard before that environmental people can be very annoying at times, and that those who ride bikes to commute are very "holier than thou". I didn't really believe it until I started reading the web sites. I looked up about 10 pages, and each and every one was written by a douche bag.

The first I saw was written by some old guy who goes on about how in order to really commute on a bike you must ride something like twenty miles a day and train on the weekends. Basically he is a true bicycle enthusiast who is trying to get others to become the same through a combination of guilt and oddly empty promises (you will be more sexually attractive if you bicycle more!) He also included one of the dorkiest things you can on a website, a list of "ways to know you are a cycle enthusiast". (I don't have the link at the moment, I'll post it when I find it again.)

The next site starts out telling you that you ride a bike wrong. Pretty much no matter what, unless you follow the same regiment as these people, you ride a bike incorrectly. Again the author comes off as a douche and tells you once again that in order to simply commute to work you must train in your free time. I also find it amusing that on both websites they list "companionship (ride with a friend!)" as a perk to bicycle commuting. I personally would never want to even hang out with these people, let alone ride a bike with them.
Douche bag #2's site:
http://www.bicyclinglife.com/PracticalCycling/commuteguide.htm

The forums were all the same: Bicycle folks complaining. They complain about other, "poser" cyclists, they complain about cars, they complain about not having bike paths, they complain about the bike paths they have... it's just silly. Occasionally they will have a thread about equipment or technique, but as far as I could see it always just degraded into a "my way is best! NO! MY way is best!" style argument.

So after doing some research I have decided not to continue my cycling when I return to the United States. According to everything I have read I will have to devote a fair amount of time to simply getting in good enough shape to ride a bike as a commuter, and after that I will have to use a lot of my free time to keep up that condition. Other bike commuters will cast a very critical eye on me and most likely judge me as a "fair weather" environmentalist or poser or whatever. Even if I did get into good enough shape, I would apparently become an elitist asshole with a subtle but biting sense of unwarranted self importance.

So there you have it, I have been convinced to use only motor vehicles by opponents of motor vehicles. A word of advice to commuter bicycle proponents: Don't tell people they suck at riding then say they should ride a bike. It's confusing.

Also, as a personal note, they never addressed my main excuse for not wanting to ride a bike: I don't want to and it wouldn't be fun.

-Maru!

It's icy. And snowy.  All the school systems are closed. Even the Federal government is opening late.

But hey -- I'm "essential personnel." Which means I have to make every effort to come in.  I cleaned all the snow and ice off my car (which took a good fifteen minutes alone), did that fun "ski jump" where I made it over that hill of snow where the plow had dumped what it had been clearing, and slip-slided away all the way to work.

I decided to take the long way -- which puts me on more 4-lane highways.  More out of my way, but I thought that maybe it would have been plowed better.

Or at all.

Which, at 7 in the morning, it wasn't mostly.  It was an interesting commute. Certainly invigorating when your tracks ahead of you which you're following suddenly veer two lanes to the left without notice.   Most people I witnessed drove safely.  There were a few folks on the road who were idiots enough to zoom on by. And quite a few more who got themselves stuck facing the wrong way.

But I got here okay.  "Essential personnel," you know.

Except that 11 of my co-workers aren't making it in today due to the weather conditions. Perhaps they're the smart ones...

While it doesn’t at first seem like it should be interesting, for the first few weeks I was in Japan I was just amazed by every little thing. Japanese stoplights are exciting (they’re horizontal!). Ultra-advanced cell phones are exciting (although they’re behind on the mp3 player trend). Coin-operated bike racks are exciting. Hot drinks in vending machines are exciting. Everything is exciting! It wasn’t bad enough that I took pictures of every little thing, fortunately, but I’ve known people to go down that road.

Anyway, I’ve since calmed down and settled into a routine. Since I live in the suburbs, I get the feeling that I’m actually getting the everyday life experience (as opposed to the kids living in Roppongi, which is basically Tokyo’s foreigner party district).

My day starts at around 6:30 every morning. I have to get up that early in order to have enough time to do my thing, eat breakfast, and catch an 8-something train. The shower is a particularly special experience, although I don’t use it the way everyone else does. You’re supposed to sit on a small stool and soap down/shave/whatever you do, first, then rinse off and soak in the extremely hot bath for a little while (everyone has to use the same water, so you’d better hope the people before you were clean). I don’t have time for this, unfortunately, but the room can be transformed easily into a shower.

I get in a good twenty minutes of children’s TV programming over a traditional breakfast (a bowl of hot rice with a raw egg cracked over it and some soy sauce, hopefully with miso soup on the side) before I have to run. On that note, milk here is actually half-and-half, if you’ve ever had it. Please try some over your breakfast where possible. Anyway.

I walk about twenty minutes to the train station, because the bus is a hassle and costs money. On my way I pass a lot of neatly uniformed high school students and business people who seem to have never seen a foreigner in their lives. There I meet up with a friend for an hour and a half of commute. We only get to sit if we don’t get on the express train, so our choice is generally made by how much homework and how much sleep we managed the night before.

The local train is nice, but I recommend riding the express just once or twice. They actually pay people to push everyone into the train so the doors can close; there is no breathing room, and people will begin to hate you for your large backpack. Stopping at each station is a lot of fun, especially when everyone falls over onto everyone else. Girls, however, should watch whom they stand next to. Butt-grabbing is not above your average businessman. Your defense is to have your cell phone out, because they will be afraid of you taking their picture in the act. Also, if you are being stared at by anyone, do not act uncomfortable. Stare back. The person will stop almost immediately. Works like a charm.

We debark in Tokyo, for another twenty-minute hike through suburbia. On escalators, you will find that in most places, a set of stairs will be accompanied by an escalator—sometimes there won’t even be stairs. In Japan, people drive on the left side of the street, walk on the left side of the side walk, and stand on the left side of the elevator. Do not stand on the right if you don’t want to make people very, very angry and huffy with you.

And then, we finally arrive at school, a little after ten. Packages from home are a godsend, so frequent mail-checking is a staple of the day. After mail call, we spend a morning in Japanese or Japanese culture, depending on the day, where every little detail of Japan is drilled into our heads for an hour or so. As for lunch, while we thought at first it would be fun to eat “real” ramen all the time, we have since learned that it is expensive and almost impossible to finish a bowl of. We hit the conbini (convenience store) for cheap lunch boxes. Japanese food, if you are not eating crap all the time, is really good for you. From just eating the usual diet and walking a little every day, I’ve already lost about ten pounds, and my case would be considered average.

If it’s Wednesday, we hit yoga after that for an hour. I highly recommend yoga, it works wonders for balance, concentration, and tightening your big American behind. If not, we hang out in the caf’, where the Americans and Japanese mix it up for whacky mealtime adventures. If we’re feeling adventurous, we snack off for a field trip to Tokyo Tower or shopping in Shibuya or Akihabara. Last week we went to Ginza, where we accidentally found ourselves in the Eastern Grounds of the Imperial Palace. Of course, we couldn’t go in—the emperor doesn’t like kids on his lawn—but we photographed the surrounding area plenty.

In the afternoons, I have a class on Japanese comics—I won’t lie, it’s a buffer course, and we watch cartoons—and a special course on non-governmental organizations that I had to go through applications and screenings to get into. This course is actually run on a grant, and it’s sending us all to work at a foundation in India for a few weeks at the end of the semester, all expenses paid. The bulk of the grade is going to come from our fieldwork, so they’re having a hard time finding ways to grade our performance so far. I’m only taking four classes, but I do not recommend any more and I do not recommend any hard classes. You want to have fun abroad. If it’s down to a weekend trip or an A paper, you’ll choose the trip nine times out of ten, I guarantee. Speaking of which, I have a few most excellent ones coming up. Expect to hear more on that later in the week.

After classes, we have a variety of activities to choose from. If it’s a Wednesday, we go spend a few hours at the hot springs. If it’s a Friday, we head to archery club. Any one of a number of shopping districts is a short ride away. In addition, the school keeps us busy with varied culture activities. If we’re tired, it’s straight home (two hours approximately) to a hot mama-made dinner and a few hours of crazy Japanese television.

I get most of my Japanese practice during this time, chatting with my mother, playing with the kids, and just watching the telly. After about nine cups of tea, I head upstairs to lay on my futon and work/play on the Internet before bed. You will learn to live by your futon—Japanese homes are not heated. You also hang your clothes to dry, in you window—so don’t expect privacy.

This is also the time for emails, calling home, and writing posts for you guys, and it’s about 8 a.m. your time, 10 p.m. my time, on the same day. I think this might be the most disorienting thing of them all. You will also feel the loneliest for home around this time. But whatever you do, no matter how lonely you get or how bad your day was, you never go home in that culture shock moment. You ride it out. It is not that bad. Believe me, I know somebody who did, and they will probably always regret it. If you’ve actually made it abroad, you definitely have the will power to make it in your new home. Chin up. It’s gonna be good.

Til next time.