31 July 2005

Japan, Land of Huge Bugs and...Scary Western People

The bugs here are amazing. There are butterflies I've never seen before (bigger than my hands!), HUGE dragonflies and worms, and tons of cicadas. Their chirps are deafening and they fight with the birds. On the way home from the grocery store, I tried to take a short-cut through the overgrown park, but I had to turn around half-way through. Not because I got lost, but because a giant bug flew in front of me, straight up from the ground like a helicopter. He hovered at eye level like he was daring me to take another step. I didn't know if he could sting me or not but I decided not to risk it. The little helicopter won and I turned around to take the long way home.

Friday night I met some other JETs in Fuji for a night out on the town. I ate sushi (raw salmon, tuna, and an unidentifiable white fish) and was surprised by how much I liked it. After dinner we went to a little bar on the roof of another building. Six or seven of us Westerners were packed into the little elevator, and when the doors opened at the top, a Japanese woman literally screamed in terror. Her eyes got huge and she covered her hand with her mouth, and as she screamed she jumped back about 5 feet. That's how used to foreigners they are! The lady was very embarrassed and apologized in Japanese but we cracked up about it all night long. Pure terror and surprise on that woman's face.

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