Earthlark

It was a little strange waking up this morning, knowing I had superpowers. Oh the possibilities.

***

Yesterday, I walked out of サンチェリヴァ (San-Cherriver ), the local shopping center, and headed down the sidewalk to my car. I had a bag in one hand, while with my other, I was checking something on my PDA. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large object moving rapidly towards me. I looked up and instinctively reached out my hand to stop whatever it was from running into me. It was a mid-sized delivery truck. I touched the snub-nosed front and it stopped 50 cm from me. The driver looked surprised, then apologetic. I gave him a half smile, waved at him, and continued on my way down the sidewalk.

In the moment before the truck would have struck me, my heart had decided I needed more blood, so it was still slowing down as I walked to my van. I realized then that I had just stopped a rather heavy-duty truck from causing considerable harm to myself. I looked at my hand stunned. What as of yet unknown powers lay therein? What more could I do?

…then again, maybe the driver had employed JITB (just in time breaking). Maybe I’ll wait before performing field tests with other cars.

Lists that shall continue to expand during the next few months.

Reasons I’m looking forward to going home

• Lunch-time conversation—I hate sitting in the teacher’s room and eating lunch in silence, so I usually go to eat with the students, but sometimes they have better things to do than talk to me.
• I’ll be able to converse with nearly everyone.
• 24-hour supermarkets

Things I’ll miss in Japan

• My friends!
• My students!
• My coworkers!
• Lunch with certain students

Things I may miss

• The chimes in Mitoya that go off every day at 6 a.m., 5 p.m., and 9 p.m.
• The chimes in Iinan an Kakeya that sound at 5 p.m.

Things in Japan I won’t miss

• The ear-piercing war siren that goes off at noon in most cities.
• Spending days surrounded by people in the teacher’s office, yet having little to no communication
• A year of “silence”

I just watched Zatoichi: The Last. Interesting; however, it was a typical Japanese film: on the whole, hopeless. Well, perhaps I can take a lesson from it anyway: Those who live by the sword, die by the sword. I’d best sheathe mine while there’s still time.