Neighborhood Watch (Vol. I)

I just learned that the safety lock on my front door doesn't fit in the slot. Tonight's the first night I've really felt the need to try it out. I have just been an eye-witness to 2 crimes in the past 3 weeks. Call me a scaredy cat, but I live in the HOOD. Please refer back to the stories about the drunk guy upstairs who backed into my apartment and the one where he finally decided not to throwdown with Greg and me after a solid hour of peacemaking. I may tell you the other crime story if I have time later.

Let me start out by saying that Japan is a very safe country. And minus the Japanese m_fi_ (fill in both blanks with the first letter of the word "assault"), I would dare to say one of the safest in the world. But "the m_fi_" is a huge problem in Japan. So I will refer to them this way so as not to pop up on any possible google searches I care not to be associated with. Japanese people usually look both ways and still lean in to whisper their name, so I feel I should be careful in a public setting like this.

Lately Greg and I have been hearing crazy noises outside. Our buddy has been worrying us a bit. He's obviously into some bad stuff. He's always bringing home new cars. We've seen him drunk driving and he has backed into my apartment at least 3 times. (The first time I thought the big earthquake Japan has been waiting for had finally hit. The other 2 times were just minor bumps.) He has two of our five parking spaces in front, which we really appreciate because we have to park across a field. But he also has been double parking different cars at the apartment complex next door as well. Well, three nights ago he had a station wagon parked out front. I was asleep but I was half-awakened to a loud crash. Greg asked me about it the next day and realizing it wasn't a dream I told him I heard it too. I remembered waiting for his car to hit my apartment again. We checked the next day and there was a nasty dent in his car grill. The fender was pretty beat up. We looked around the area behind our apartment and saw no damage to our stuff. So we shrugged it off, but Greg and I decided we should play detective and keep a running track on this dude.

So here's the crazy part. Tonight, after I got home from church I was sitting in my room when I heard a minivan pull up, a bunch of guys get out, and then a bunch of guys busting out our buddy's new car window. This was a different car than the station wagon that they had apparently vandalized the other night. I went to my dark bathroom and quietly opened my window. I played spy for a while, but didn't see too much because they could have easily seen me if I was staring. I really don't wanna have to answer to the godfather. I mean, they know where I live and everything. From what I perceived, the van backed up and a messenger went up and informed our buddy. Then the messenger ran back and the van drove off. A minute later our buddy got out and looked at his damaged car. He called somebody on his cell and drove off in his other car chasing them. I, being that idiot who's always looking for a good blog story, got out there and took a picture real quick. I wanted a better one but our buddy was already coming back so I hurried inside.

You can see the window they busted out. And they did a pretty good number on his door. I don't have a picture of the station wagon. Sorry.





Hopefully I'll have time to write Vol. II. I also want to update you on what's been going on in my life over the last couple of months. It has been a busy eventful time. If I don't have a chance to write again, Have a Merry Christmas! Tomorrow is my last day of school! I'm headed to Thailand and Taiwan for a tropical Christmas!!!

It's Cold Isn't It?

“Samui desu ne?” It’s cold isn’t it? This is THE official opener to every conversation throughout Japan during the months of November to March. It is socially expected to mouth these words everytime you pass someone, even if you’ve said it 4 times to the guy already that day. I wonder what people here would talk about in the winter if buildings were insulated better and had central heating.

This summer the prime minister of Japan issued a “Cool Biz” campaign to save energy. This meant that employees at companies could shed their coats and ties and wear “cooler” clothes while all businesses in Japan were asked to turn the air conditioners to higher temperatures. Well this winter he issued “Warm Biz”. You can guess what that means. Eskimo like working conditions. In Mito the temperature is relatively mild year round. It doesn’t get as cold as Oklahoma or Colorado in the winter, but I have never felt so much like a freezing Pilgrim enduring his first few winters in the New World. This year I have a car and don’t have to ride my scooter in the nasty winter chill again. That is such a blessing. I really shouldn’t complain because many AETs are enduring the winter on scooters. I still find myself complaining and thinking about how cold it is everywhere I go. My car is now the warmest place I can retreat to and I often sit in there for a while before entering my apartment. While in my apartment, I toggle my “high energy - low heat” oil heater and my carbon-monoxide emitting kerosene heater to keep the apartment breaker from blowing, and it is still a struggle to keep warm. I don’t heat my kitchen at night and it is 45 degrees in the morning.

The reason I’m writing this is I want to show you what happened at my school today. We're currently in a temporary building while some renovation is going on on the school building. This temporary building has even less insulation than the typical schools. Well, I got to school this morning and was about to go to the bathroom when my teachers said I couldn't use it. The teachers had let the bathroom faucet drip overnight to keep the pipes from freezing. This is how cold it is INSIDE school. The toilets were also completely frozen and would have made some nice skating rinks.

The Japanese sign says "Icicle".