Yesterday morning on the way to the local station I was passed by three junior high school aged kids who were either not going to school anymore or enjoying the last few days of their summer vacation. One had yellow hair, and you could quickly tell that they were troublemakers. The were also making sure to make lots of noise to gather as much attention as possible from the people around them.
After they passed me they rode their bicycles right past a policeman on a scooter waiting at an intersection. They continued making noise while waving at the cop, and then a few hundred feet past him one turned around and yelled “Baka!”, which is a pretty good insult that isn’t thrown around casually in Japan.
I looked at the cop, but he looked straight ahead and ignored the kids. I was waiting for him to roll out and go give them a talking to, but he didn’t move a muscle. Would the police do something in other countries?
Later I passed the kids when I arrived at the station. They were sitting in the middle of the road smoking cigarettes and trying again to get lots of attention. They smiled at me when I walked by and said “hello” in English, but I just gave them the cold stare and kept moving. That’ll show ’em.
Starting yesterday I began a busy schedule of drinking – four out of five days of drinking/parties. Last night I kicked it off with the Denya master and the other regulars in Tsuchiyama. It had been a long time since I’d seen the gang from Denya, and they were doing pretty good. The master looked happy and healthy, and the other guys seemed to be doing well. We caught up on what we’ve been up to, and shared some travel stories as well. I didn’t stay late last night, getting home around nine.
Tonight we have no special plans – just kicking around the house eating curry made from the veggies from Kuniko’s parents. This will be the only slow night the rest of the week, so we’d better take advantage of it.
