It's winter

Which means the weather can get rough. Last night I was out on a walk and saw a car partly stuck in a ditch (it began snowing the other day). As I slowly walked past the car, the driver's side door opened up. Inside were a young couple, I asked in Japanese ''are you ok?'' They replied with ''Yes, we are, thank you''. Of course, in my mind, I knew they weren't. They're Japanese and burdening another person with ones own personal matters maybe be considered rude or めんづくさい. A large part of me felt sick walking home that evening. I felt like the rich man stepping over the poor in a parable Jesus once told. Me and the other fellow in the car could have easily pushed it free. It was a Kei-Car and needed only a few inches to be back on the road. I hope the tow truck didn't take long. Twenty-four hour service is standard in American, not so much in Japan. I have to continually remind myself that, I'm human and they are to, they need help them. And helping out with such a task shouldn't be a problem. I helped changing a young couples tire a few months back, what's it to me pushing out another couples car free from a ditch?

Recycled Bikes

Moving to Japan requires a little bit of money. I broke the bank getting over here. Then I racked up some credit card debt, just to stay a float (something I am not happy about). For the past few months, I have been finding different ways to spend money on necessary items, on a small budget.

One of these ways is to purchase items used. A few weeks into living here, I saw a giant lot where people were bringing in bikes, washers, dryers, etc... It was a recycle center. I decided to find out if I could take a bike off of there hands. Luckily, I was able to. I purchased a working bike at a fraction of the cost of a new one.

It has a few rust spots, some dings, and dents but overall works just as good as any other bike. This same bike, new, would cost somewhere around $150. People buy these bikes frequently and is the most common one you'll see. Its known as a 'Mama Chari' which means 'mama chariot'.

Growing up, I never wanted to buy anything used. Something inside of me thought it was bad. Then I had to get by on my own money. Can you guess who was hitting up Goodwill frequently?

When you buy anything used here, it has a much higher quality to it. Either the Japanese take care of there goods really well or they are continually getting new items and tossing out the old. Regardless, one mans trash is another mans treasure.

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