After arising from a rather incomplete somber, I decided to grab some breakfast - tangerines to be exact. Anyway, I pushed my chair back from the computer and headed for the kitchen. I found the tangerines as I had left them the night before, still in the brown bag on the floor. Needless to say, I was hungry and quickly peeled my first tangerine. It was rather frim and ripe, with an extremely sweet taste. Since I had such success with my first endeavor, I quickly grabbed the second one and began to peel it. The skin came off too quickly and there appeared to be a space between between the covering and fruit itself. As I took a bite, I quickly realized that this one was past its prime; it was soft, tastless, and the juice did not burst into my mouth as it had with the prior one. Little did I know that my luck for the day had vanished as quickly as the first tangerine.
I entered my room shortly there after to find a bit of smoke beginning to rise from my towel. As I pushed back my chair, I took little notice to the heater sitting directly next to it. Now, there will forever remain an engrained brown spot upon my towel to remind me of my clumsiness. Luckily, as we do not have fire insurance on the apartment, I caught my mistake before it burnt down the house. Once again, I thought my luck was perhaps taking a turn...
I had a lesson in Shin-Osaka at 11 am so I hopped on my bike and away I went. I bet some of you know where this is going and to give you a hint, I still have my bike. Anyway, after the lesson was over I threw my bag in and headed home. As Joel has said to me, "riding a bike in Japan is like a video a game." At each cross walk you are thankful that you have survived another there block. Besides the countless people on the sidewalk, many which seem to appear out of nowhere - from around a corner or out of a store - there are also the other bikes which present an immenient danger. Oh yeah, and the cars. In order to avoid the people it is sometimes easier to ride your bike on the street which eliminates many of the aforementioned hazards. Well, on my way home, I took such an action in order to avoid the swarms of people on the sidewalk. I figured I would shoot out around them and then return the safeheaven of the sidewalk after it was clear of pedestrians. I managed to go about twenty yards before I saw my opening and made my move back towards the safety of the cement.
It all happened in an instant. I continued to head towards the sidewalk as my bike went straight and the seat came out from under me. I attempted to return to the sidewalk at the very point which there was a one inch lip. I noticed the lip and thought that my angle was sharp enough that the front tire could overcome this hurdle. Well, as you already know, my calculations proved to be rather poor. As a result, my pride has been damaged, as it occured right in front of a fairly large supermarket on the corner, I have a brush burn right below my right knee cap about the size of a quarter, and the palming of my glove has had its stitching partially removed. Well, at least I have my first accident under my belt and I am sure that there will be plenty to come.
Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day in the house. When I got home I took the liberty to inspect my injuries a bit more. I forget to mention that the hand which I landed on was indeed my right, the same one which has a two and a half inch scar from wrist surgery. The past few days it has been rather stiff but slowly, the pain is subsiding. Additonally, I never could understand "old" people as they complained of joint pains in the winter months. However, I now have a new appreciation for their pain as my wrist is often stiff and bothersome as of late. Over the summer and when I first arrived, my wrist had given me few problems, quite frankly, none that I can think of. As of late it has been quite a different story. I can feel the nagging pain as I do my push ups or use my wrist for any other period of time. Oh well.
Well, that is all for now as there is nothing else of interest to report on. I have a feeling that tomorrow I am going to purchase my new shoes with the money that my grandmother has given me for Christmas, either before or after my lesson. Other than that, no plans for tomorrow. Hope everyone is smiling. Take care! I have been thinking a lot about everyone with the holidays lately and I am trying to get my Christmas gifts all sorted out. I have an idea but you'll just have to wait and see...
One last thing, I will be working on Christmas. After my lesson today, my student informed that she would not be able to make her regular scheduled Monday lesson due to a national holiday. She then informed me that it was the "Emperor's Birthday Celebration" on Monday since his actual birthday is on Sunday. So, I agreed to meet her next Tuesday. So, as you go to bed Christmas eve, I will be waking up and preparing for my lesson.
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