Adventures in Japan

In the Membrane

I think I might be going a little insane. At some point today, I acquired a bag. Wait, let me be more exact. I was in the train station waiting for my train home. I had just used the facilities when I thought to myself, "Hey, what is this that I'm holding?" I raised my hand up and saw that I was carrying a small, but nice looking, paper shopping bag. I swear to you that that is exactly what happened. Just a few minutes earlier I had bought a pizza man (man being like Chinese buns, pizza man being a Chinese style bun filled with tomato paste and something that at one time might have almost been cheese) and was using it to warm my hands. I remember this quasi clearly. I did not have the bag at that point in time. The first real time I noticed its existence was when I wondered what I was carrying. I wondered what to do with the bag, of course. But since I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out how I got it, there was no way to figure out what to do with it. So I brought it home with me. Inside it was a nicely wrapped package filled with Japanese treats. Made with red bean paste which neither I nor Carla particularly enjoy.

The rest of my day was kind of up and down. I missed my connecting train which was sucky. I was running to catch it as it started to pull away, the Japanese dude at the rear of the train smiled and bowed to me. I'm not sure what that means. But I ended up not being late, so yay. And the train trip to Kameoka was beautiful. I wish I would have noticed sooner. I awoke from a half doze to see that we were crossing far above a mountain river. It was nearly breathtaking. Then we went through a tunnel only to emerge to a very similar vista. By the time I got my camera out, the train was in another tunnel. Dang. Dejected, I put my camera away. At the next station, I espied two Japanese gentleman dressed in kayaking gear, dripping wet, lugging their gear. By the time I got my camera out and ready, the train was leaving the station. Dang.

My last lesson of the day was with a girl who had just turned four. The introductions seemed to go well but as soon as the lesson was about to start she began crying. Loudly. For, like, ten minutes. That was a trifle awkward. But I got fancy chocolate covered almonds as a gift after the class.