I`m Mobile!

Last week Roslynn inquired to one of her co-workers about the possibility of purchasing a used bike in Niimi for me to use there. Roslynn has a bike and I don't, so whenever I'm in town with her, she walks her bike alongside me and we embark on a 40 minute walk to the train station.

Roslynn's coworker's answer to her bike inquiry was that there are no used bikes for sale in Niimi, but her daughter is away at college and I can use her bike. Arigatoo gozaimasu!! So now I have a bike and on Monday, Roslynn went to city hall to purchase a parking space for my bike at the Niimi train station. So now I am legally parked and mobile. It opens a whole new world for me in Niimi because it is big enough to be a time consuming hassle for travel by foot.

I biked to a vegetable stand yesterday in Osa on Roslynn's bike. My bike stays in Niimi because it's illegal to bring a bicycle on a train. Everything in the vegetable stand is ¥100, the approximate equivalent of a little less than $1 U.S. An elderly lady was running the stand and I greeted her with, "Konnichiwa" and bowed. She started talking to me in Japanese and I responded with, "Watashi wa Amerika-jin." I'm from America. "Nihongo," I gestured with my thumb and forefinger about an inch apart gradually coming together until there was no more space between them as I said, "Chotto, chotto, chotto." Japanese very, very, very, little. She confirmed her understanding with a nod and continued to speak to me in Japanese. I respectfully responded with, "Hai," yes, even though I didn't understand what she was saying. I would pick up a bag of vegetables and she would tell me what they were called in Japanese. I would repeat after her. I picked up a bag of fresh soy beans in their pods. "Edamame," I said. She confirmed delighted. I was delighted too.