Trash Rules

Japan takes recycling seriously.

Trash must be divided into seven categories: combustible, noncombustible, hazardous, bottles & glass, cans, paper & fabric, and PET plastic bottles. Trash must then be placed in a municipally approved plastic bag and labeled with a sticker (available at your city hall or town office).

Each type of garbage is picked up once or twice per month.*

Large garbage - furniture, electronics, etc. - must be scheduled to be picked up by a trash service at your expense.

Failure to correspond with trash laws will result in the termination of trash services for your domicile. You must then make arrangements with a trash service at your expense.

Paraphrased.

*At my building bottles, for example, are picked up on the third Wednesday of every month. Ugh. Read more!

OUA Festival part 1

Art festival diary, part one:

As I walked towards OUA I heard a petit voice wail in my direction: "SA-MU." Oh sweet god, is that a girl on a motor scooter asking me if I want to ride with her to school? Is that a matching helmet with a star on it? Perfect?

Well, almost. Unfortunately the adorable-ness of Hitomi's scooter/helmet combo was outgunned by the piercing wail of her voice as she crossed the line from giggly to insane. I've found that people here frequently use laughter to cover up their embarassment at not being able to speak enough english. With Hitomi it's something far beyond that. And uncontrollable compulsion, perhaps - maybe prelude to some kind of seizure.

Later I realized that I had never met Hitomi before. How she knew my name is beyond me. I'm keeping my windows shut and locked from now on.

I managed to explain to her that I had to meet my friends - I think she got the message. After walking a bit down the street I ran down a back path to avoid an awkward wave. See, all that exploring paid off in the end.

I met up with Joyce and Ariyana and the three of us went to the festival.

More to come in part II! Including some pictures! Read more!

A Thought - Contrasts

A few minutes down the street for me there is a small farm. It sells produce grown a stone's throw away, and is run by adorable old people. Three feet away from that is a DVD machine that sells some of the sickest porn you've ever seen.

Who is the target audience here? Read more!

Alien Registration + Some OUA

I took these pictures at a drug store photo booth. There are little photo booths scattered all over Minamikawachi - Mr. Hisano said people generally have them taken for resumes. I imagine in America something like this would raise all kinds of discrimination flags(!) but here apparently not. Regardless the booths have the uncanny ability to make your skin look like freshly molded plastic.

I needed them to fill out my alien registration paperwork, which (thank god for Mr. Hisano) was a relatively painless process. Soon I will be an official Osaka resident!

Also today I had a chance to explore campus a bit!

OUA has a much larger campus than MICA. Its industrial architecture is a pretty far cry from MICAs century old marble staircases. While both have their charms I am a big fan of OUAs escher-esque staircases:



The view seals the deal, though:


Though really what endears me to OUA is the food. OUA has three cafeterias, two small restaurants, and a bakery. So far the food has all been somewhat healthy and (more importantly) exponentially more delicious than MICA's southern fried garbage:


Katsu-don: 440 Yen (roughly $4.50). Contains an egg, onion, fried pork, and rice. Delicious and filling - and it doesn't leave you feeling like you rubbed it all over your face*.

Tomorrow I have my first class - Japanese! I don't really know what to expect, but the way things have been working out it's hard not to be positive.

*Meyerhoff cheeseburgers, I'm talking to you. Read more!

Bike Photo Tour - Minamikawachi

There are a bunch of small bike-only paths around Minamikawachi. Today I explored two of them, hoping to shave some time off my commute.

I left the house around nine. Outside my apartment is a scenic construction yard, complete with grinding machinery and steam vents:

Good morning, steam vent!

There are several Leo Palace buildings, all of which seem to be around some dubious industrial landmark. I guess that's why it's so cheap? Regardless I'm still fond of it, even if it obviously isn't a palace:

After leaving the palace I headed north. This street is pretty typical for the area - a narrow road with no sidewalk or shoulder, farms on either side:

A ways down the road is a graveyard. You can find your way there by the smell of incense.



I really want to poke around - but I don't want to be disrespectful to the people paying their respects. It's so beautiful, though.



Down a bit further is the first trail I wanted to check out. I didn't think anyone used these until a few days ago when I saw a tiny, uniformed middle schooler rattling down the trail.



Making my way down the trail would have been a lot faster if it were better maintained (maintained at all?) - regardless, at the end, I was surprised to find...



A mini peninsula of sorts! There were benches there next to a proper cement path that looped back towards the river.



On the way was a baseball field. All around the river Minamikawach...i...ans(?) were biking, having picnics, and generally enjoying life. It was fun to see.



Further along the path connected with the river bike trail proper. Look closely and you'll see a tiny man walking towards the bridge. He was very, very drunk.



Came out here. Ah! I'd seen this entrance a bunch of times before and had always wondered where it went. I continued towards Meji Mart. Chow time.



I wish I'd had a video camera - that man by the tree was practicing some sort of karate. It looked like he was fighting invisible ninjas! I got so caught up watching him I almost got hit by a car. Worth it.



I passed more farms, mountains in the distance. I wonder if any of those are good for hiking? I stopped at Hana Hana, a local patisserie.




People around here seem to have a fashion sense so honed it makes them impervious to heat. They'll walk around in the seventy five degree sun with leather jackets and sweatshirts on. I wore a light jacket in a vain attempt to fit in - though honestly it's not like I'm going to fool anyone.

I was getting crazy overheated, so I bought this "ICE KUCHEN" from a Hana Hana. I'm still not sure what it was, but it tasted kind of like green tea? I also bought an amazingly adorable little piece of strawberry cake which seemed to be the store specialty. I then scooted the bike over to Meji mart across the street...



Every store here has bike parking since most people either bike or ride scooters. I don't even bother locking my bike anymore - partially because it's a piece of crap but mostly because there's so little theft here.



Meji mart is a compact, fully featured supermarket. It has a surprisingly large produce selection as well as an awesome ready-to-eat section. For the moment I'm living off of the latter - got a bento full of fried things and some chopsticks for lunch and scooted my bad self on home.


Yes.


YES.



Headed back out after lunch to explore another small path. Those of you with common sense might note that eating a meal full of cake and fried things after three hours of biking then biking immediately after is a terrible idea. Didn't occur to me at the time.



This path took me through some awesome farms that all seemed to be teetering on the edge of decay. Accross the water you can see families picnicking. I eventually found my way to another, larger baseball field!



Mr. Hisano tells us that baseball is huge in Osaka - the Hanshin Tigers have some of the most spirited fans in the world. I hope I've got to get to a game. I dig that they still use parasoals here.

This path eventually curved back towards OUA. Before heading home I stopped at Family Mart:



Family Mart is a convenience store very similar to 7-11. This one is always filled with cool looking college dudes and dude-ettes.



Ah, that's what I wanted - sweet Pocari Sweat. "With the appropriate density and electrolytes, close to that of human body fluid, it can be easily absorbed into the body."

It tastes kind of like melon and can be quite refreshing if you can get past the consistency which is... well... "close to that of human body fluid."

Gross. Delicious.

Refueled I made my way back to Leo Palace. I'm glad I took some more time to explore, even if none of the paths turned out to be secret shortcuts. Once classes start I probably won't have much time for leisurely bike rides.

Tomorrow we're going to finish up some logistical things, then Tuesday we register for classes. Exciting!
Read more!

Minamikawachi

I’m in Japan!

It was hard for me to forecast how I was going to react to this trip. I anticipated the worst – "Will I be anxious? Nervous? Terrified?" No.

I haven’t spent the last few days in terror - I’ve spent them in awe. This place is amazing.

Minamakawachi is a working town. Just outside my building there is a construction yard. Walk down the street and you’ll see working farms the size of back yards, tiny family owned bars, and a police station the size of a clubhouse.

Keep going and you’ll reach a beautiful park next to a river with a bike trail – used by spandexed bikers and rickety old ladies alike. Look by the bank and you’ll see a small outdoor kitchen - set up by the homeless man who lives there. Don’t be alarmed if you see clothes lying on the rocks, he’s probably just doing his laundry.


Minamikawachi feels more real to me than any of Long Island’s urban developments. This isn’t some perfectly planned out college town or grid-mapped city; it’s a bizarre little working town that has survived with its idiosyncrasies intact. Streets stop suddenly, sidewalks disappear, and roads branch off into cement pathways only usable by bike.

I’ve gotten lost three times now while trying to find my apartment. Each time I lose my way I discover something else amazing. I’m so fascinated by the character of these ramshackle little streets that I feel fortunate just to walk them. Now that I know my way I've begun getting lost on purpose.
I feel like most everything here is gorgeous, and the things that aren't are fascinating. I'll do my best to document both.

Oh, and I've updated the map with some more locations and my commute to school. Check it out.
Read more!