Stimulus

Did you know they have been working on replacing all of the sidewalks on the main street in town since April? There wasn't anything wrong with the sidewalk before. Every day about 50 government wage receivers gather at the site of the former supermarket parking lot around 7:30AM to get their assignments.

80% of these people stand around with red and green flags, helping old ladies and pedestrians cross the street. The fat guys always get a job holding the red and green flags. Where they come up with fat guys in Japan is a mystery to me. But all of them get a job holding red and green flags at bogus construction sites. There's a fat Japanese guy hanging around at each corner of the construction area. This is good for the restaurant business.

Another 10% are just standing around, smoking, or they are sweeping or watering the street. That's not a typo, they spray water on the street to get the dirt off. And they sweep up the dirt using old fashioned brooms made with sticks and straw. No kidding, one of the klutztier guys dropped his broom on the gaijin (me) as I was walking by.

The remaining 10% are actually working on digging a hole or tearing out the old perfectly good sidewalk and installing the new one.

The town's main street runs about 3 Miles from end to end, counting both side of the street that makes six miles of pavement for the sidewalk. They've been on this job for 6 months and arn't finished yet. Not even close. Are they using chopsticks to do the work? No, it just seems that way. They actually have heavy equipment, like steam rollers and backhoes.

This is what they call "stimulus" in Japan. Does anyone in their right mind think that wasting money on this will help the economy? The economy here has been in recession for about 30 years. Betcha the construction companies working on projects like this make a lot of contributions to the politicians in power.

Kouyou

In spite of global warming, autumn leaf changing season in the northern hemisphere has arrived. The Japanese people have a special word for the leaf changing season, Kouyou. The leaf colors around here are magnificent and despite the beauty, remind me that another year is passing. In another 3 short weeks the mountain roads where I ride bike and where elderly people forage for wild mushrooms will be closed until late next spring. My thermal underwear is ready to wear, having been located at the back of the closet where it had remained comfortably hidden underneath our camping gear, behind a suitcase we haven't used in 8 years.

This year has been a wonderful success for me. My repertoire of Japanese kanji symbols has increased by 50%, from 4 to 6. Even better, I can almost understand what the neighbor's 3 year old is saying to me. (Do you want to eat some of this? Child holds out a piece of slimy looking cheese in his dirt encrusted fingers)

Can an adult be comfortable operating at this level, living in a child like state, mostly unable to communicate, as if I was an alien that just landed on earth? Say, did you ever notice that TV and movie aliens always know how to speak English? Just once it would be fun to see what would happen if they only spoke French, or Japanese. What would Captain Kirk do?

More than a year after having arrived here I can report that I am comfortable living in Japan, despite the language difficulties. For once, my hesitation to form interpersonal relationships is actually a benefit. I have formed no relationships and don't mind it. My neighbors, mostly elderly women who hang out and gossip all day long, keep a close eye on me. How do you say "what's that crazy, lazy, non working, bike riding, foreigner doing today?" in Japanese?

My wife and daughter also like it here in an isolated part of rural Japan. Guess we'll stay. It's a great place to hide!