A few things about life in Tsuru...
I think it's time I talked about the insect life in Japan. There's the kinds we're familiar with -- ants, mosquitos, butterflies -- just like back home... except bigger. I mean something like twice the size of the American varieties. And as I think Davey put it, the spiders have grown to compensate. You'll see the latter, or at least their webs, everywhere, but some days they just seem to be slacking off. Still, I understand why spiders are considered good luck here: without them the bugs would have eaten me alive by now. But then there's the kinds of insects that we don't see, at least in California, and those are just gargantuan. The occasional dragonfly will buzz my window, and that's alarming enough, but there was also this jumbo beetle (I swear it was the size of a baby mouse) that parked itself near Tae's front door for a day or two with the obvious intent of chasing off solicitors (or visitors of any kind, who would suddenly opt to meet in another apartment). American visitors, anyway. The locals are used to bugs this size, apparently, and I've been informed that one of the female tutors was actually spotted picking up another of these beetles and petting it for a bit: "Kawaii!" Yeah, kowai (scary) is more like it...
Tsuru's got an interesting series of canals running through it: little narrow ones along the sides of the road, sometimes covered with concrete plates to use as a sidewalk, sometimes exposed. Also larger ones where they join up. They seem to be partially for irrigation purposes and partially to channel drainage from the occasional storms. And I think some of the cleaner water sewage (that is, non-toilet) dumps directly into it.
Garbage system involves two categories: glass/metal (which is recycled, I believe), and everything else (which is incinerated, even the plastics). When you're short on landmass and sea landfills would cover valuable fishing waters, garbage dumps need to be as small as possible. They make you buy official bags for these purposes: red for the flammables, green for recyclables. (It's a racket, I'm telling you. :p)
I'd heard stories about the vending machines in Japan, but never quite believed them until now. You can't walk two blocks without seeing one sitting there, right on the sidewalk, sometimes in places where you wouldn't even expect an electric outlet (the most inexpensive one on the way from my apartment to class sits on a dirt path skirting between a parking lot and a lumber mill). Naturally, it being as hot as it is, just about everything's stocking drinks at the moment, but I'll see a few with cigs from time to time.
Tsuru's got an interesting series of canals running through it: little narrow ones along the sides of the road, sometimes covered with concrete plates to use as a sidewalk, sometimes exposed. Also larger ones where they join up. They seem to be partially for irrigation purposes and partially to channel drainage from the occasional storms. And I think some of the cleaner water sewage (that is, non-toilet) dumps directly into it.
Garbage system involves two categories: glass/metal (which is recycled, I believe), and everything else (which is incinerated, even the plastics). When you're short on landmass and sea landfills would cover valuable fishing waters, garbage dumps need to be as small as possible. They make you buy official bags for these purposes: red for the flammables, green for recyclables. (It's a racket, I'm telling you. :p)
I'd heard stories about the vending machines in Japan, but never quite believed them until now. You can't walk two blocks without seeing one sitting there, right on the sidewalk, sometimes in places where you wouldn't even expect an electric outlet (the most inexpensive one on the way from my apartment to class sits on a dirt path skirting between a parking lot and a lumber mill). Naturally, it being as hot as it is, just about everything's stocking drinks at the moment, but I'll see a few with cigs from time to time.