Bike Accident. . .
June 23rd, 2006 at 10:23 am
Well, I haven’t written in a while partly because I’ve been sick, and then got into an accident. As I’ve mentioned, I’m very excited about my new bike, and have been on it every second I can spare. On Friday I biked to the next prefecture over after school, and spent the night (avg 29 km/hour but I felt most of the time I was actually going over 40. High speed of 49km/hr, breaking the speed limit). I got there in the same amount of time it takes to drive! My goal is to be able to get anywhere FASTER than the cars on the roads (which is easier than it sounds because Japan has the lowest speed limits in the world). In cities across the globe couriers pride themselves on getting anywhere in the city faster than any cars, so it’s not too ambitious actually. Anyway, so at 5am on Saturday I set out for a LONG day of riding. I was going to ride through 3 prefectures all the way to Tokyo. But after only 1 hour of riding I realized it was not the day for it. I have 2 bad knees, and though my right knee was injured more recently, my left knee is (and always has been since I was a kid) the more problematic one. Ever since I got seriously into biking I’ve noticed the problem with my left knee on long distance rides. It hurts a lot during the ride, but it isn’t until the next day that I realize I can’t pedal another stroke. So thinking about my trip to Tokyo I realized I’d be pretty well stranded if I could not bike home on Sunday. The trains in Japan don’t allow bikes and in theory I wasn’t even going to have a lock with me so I couldn’t go home alone with out the bike. On top of that I got really sidetracked along the river where there are ALL kinds of fun activated to watch. Strangely, among the 2 glider airports, the jet skiers, the windsurfing, the immaculate golf course, and the paragliders, the activity I was drawn to the most was a bunch of guys mowing the grass. They were mowing it for good reason, but I never bothered to stick around for them to start flying their model airplanes and helicopters. I just thought it was great to see people mowing grass again! See, in Japan they don’t believe in grass. They think it’s a weed that should be torn up as soon as possible!!! Seriously! They literally prefer dirt yards, and parks, and fields!! Amazing. So much for Japanese aesthetics. They have zero sense of aesthetics as far as I have seen. The only Japanese who are aesthetic are foreigners, who have probably merged they’re strange Japanese sense of minimalism with European ideas of grace, and art. As I’ve mentioned before I was stunned to see the school grounds when I first started teaching. Just dirt. A huge patch of spotless dirt. When I asked I was told it was because it kept the budget down if they didn’t need to manicure a grass field. Fair enough. But I have since come to realize that’s not true at all. The children are told to go outside and rip up any offending piece of grass that has sprouted up, because it is a weed!! I see kids with handfuls of nice, green grass on outside cleanup days. So sad that they are trained that grass is dirty, and dirt is clean.
Well, so seeing these RC enthusiasts mowing the grass just satisfied something in me, so I sat down and watched the entire process. The smells, and rich greens of this enormous field were so pleasing, and almost nostalgic. I realized I hadn’t smelled this smell since my summers spent back in America! And I hadn’t seen green like this for years (Japan, Nepal, and winter in America are all very brown). So I stopped my biking for the day and parked my butt at the top of the hill overlooking the scene. There was something else satisfying about it all. In a country of rules, and laws, and regulations about everything, it stuck out in my mind that these men had just showed up at the riverbank. Pulled 2 old lawnmowers (where they even GOT them, I don’t know. I’ve never seen one in Japan) out of their vans, and started mowing down the tall grass and weeds. You have to understand this is not a park in the sense that it has public paths, and rolling grass, and trees, and PEOPLE. It is the overflow plain of the river. The hill I was sitting on was the levy on the side of the river. They use the overflow plain during the dry season for whatever people want. But then each year I suspect it all becomes part of the river (in July). So the city doesn’t use it for anything, and only the golf course has actually invested any money in making something of it. Mostly it’s wild. Occasional dirt paths carve there way through the tall weeds to little fishing spots, or boat put-ins, and there are numerous soccer fields and of course the 2 grass airports for the gliders. But this is public, un-manicured land. So it struck me that these people were mowing it down, as if they were some sort of pioneers in unclaimed land, doing as they pleased without a sideways glance. It is VERY un-Japanese. I would expect this in an unruly place like Nepal, but in Japan (or America for the most part) it was just surprising to see people mow down public lands. I enjoyed that feeling of… freedom?
So, there I was with the whole day ahead of me, and nothing to do now that I scrapped my plans for Tokyo. Well, I bike on this river path a lot. It’s my gateway to many destinations, and it always irks me that it is so poorly maintained. They built the damned thing, but don’t cut back the weeds growing out of the pavement, or keep it clear of gravel and rocks from cars (which occasionally drive across or on it). So I thought, today would be as good a day as any to sweep away some of the bigger rock deposits. I went and bought a broom at a local shop, and started sweeping. It was weird. I know. Maybe I was spurred on by the sight of the lawnmower men making the park their own. I wanted to make the path my own. I’m one of only 5 or 10 people in ALL of Japan who actually bike on the path, so in a way I feel it is kind of mine. So there I was sweeping rocks and gravel and sand off the side of the path at major intersections. A few Japanese passed, and one of them asked why I was doing it. I explained that it was just for me (I wasn’t sent there to do community service ours by the prison or anything). He seemed kind of pleased. Probably because gaigin NEVER take it upon themselves to improve their community, whereas the Japanese are always out in the early morning cleaning up their neighborhoods. It felt nice to be of service.
After 3 hours and making it only 1/2 a kilometer down the path, I gave up. I was exhausted, and hungry, and thirsty, and very badly sunburned (as I realized later). So I collected my broom and bike, and started my tired ride to the nearest sushi shop. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! I should have known!! When I bought the broom I thought, gee, I probably shouldn’t bike with this thing hanging down to the ground. Especially on my nice bike. I DO have a crappy $100 Japanese bike. But I wanted to get some extra miles in on my road bike, so I didn’t go home to switch bikes. Well, as you know by now, I got in an accident. By myself. When I tell Japanese they ask what I hit. They are very confused when I say “nothing.” I was speeding down a hill when my broom blew into my front wheel. Of course I didn’t see it. All I knew was I was suddenly catapulted into the air, and I instantly knew what had happened. In a split second I remember thinking: “Oh shit. I’m in the air. I know what happened. There’s the pavement. Maybe I can land. Oh no, I can’t unclip from my pedals.” Crack! I heard a huge crack in my head as I landed with all my force on my chin. I thought, gee, that didn’t hurt too much, aside from passing out for a second. Then I went to touch my chin, and realized there was a steady stream of blood pouring out of it. Shit. I’d never seen blood pour out of my body before. That made me pass out again. I was covered in blood. My bike was covered in blood. My gloves were blood-soaked. I was awesome. I couldn’t move my jaw, but there was no pain to speak of. Just a massive headache, and light-headedness. But when I tried to move my bike to the side of the street, it was all locked up. The carbon fiber fork had shattered, and the derailleur cables had shredded. The front wheel was warped. “Shit. There goes $1000″, I thought. Then I thought, “shit! I hope I don’t have to go to the hospital. Another $1000!!”. So I stood and sat at the side of the road for a few minutes as my bleeding slowed down. I ripped all the cables out and bent some things back into shape so the bike would roll. Needless to say it was unridable. Aside from the obvious, the fork could barely hold the weight of the bike. It would have collapsed to the ground if I sat on it. I was far from home, and had bike shoes on (not good for walking). So I tried to think of how to get home. A taxi was a possibility, but I much preferred to try to hitch a ride in a pickup truck. I stopped at a temple to use their fountain to clean myself up a little. Japanese are scared of gaigin, and it wouldn’t help if I looked like some freak covered in blood.
I walked a ways and came across an old farmer couple doing yard work with a pickup truck parked in their driveway. I asked if it was theirs, and if I could have a ride. They ignored my bloody face and seemed to think I just needed my chain put back on. I had to explain that, no, I was in pain, and needed a ride. They weren’t sure about this idea, and decided to play it safe, and say no to the strange gaigin (likely, the first they had ever spoken to in all their 80 years). But a few minutes down the road, the old man showed up in his pickup and offered me a ride after all. He brought a new white towel for my chin and I fell asleep on the ride home. When he dropped me off I tried to pay him, and give him a new towel (small white towels are common gifts in Japan for some reason, so we all have a few lying around our houses wrapped as a gift), but he refused. But it was the first time he smiled, and seemed less suspicious. He had asked many times during the ride if we were ONLY going to my house, and not changing plans. He was definitely scared of getting chopped up into little bits by some crazy gaigin. They REALLY don’t trust or understand outsiders in Japan.
Before I got home I think the adrenaline was keeping me alert and pain-free, because as soon as I got home I realized I was in great pain, and extremely tired, and faint. I knew I had to go out to get some ice, but I collapsed on my bed anyway. When I woke up I forced myself to get out and buy Band-Aids, Bacetracin, and ice. I spent the next day in pain - mostly from the extremely bad sunburn actually - with ice all over my face and body. It sucked. Now it is Friday and my sunburn has begun to peal and my face doesn’t hurt anymore. But I still can’t close or open my jaw much, so I can’t eat anything my tongue can’t squish. I’ve had to grow a goatee because there is no way to shave the pus-ie cut on my chin. The school nurse looked at it and said I HAVE to go to the hospital, but that just isn’t happening. I know they’ll sew it up, and it will cost a fortune… and they might ask about my insurance (or lack thereof) which could get me in a lot of trouble and a hefty $2000 fine.
So that’s my crappy weeks story. On a lighter note, I bought a new camera lens and am VERY excited to get it in the mail. It is reviewed by most photographers to be one of the best lenses out there, and THE best walk-around lens. It’s a Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L series. If you know cameras, you know that’s a SICK lens!!! I’m psyched!!! Hope to get it in the mail next week. And today I am picking up my super large (poster-sized!) print of one of the YAUC kids. I hope it comes out well. The last one I blew up to this size was totally grain-free to my surprise!
Tomorrow I go to a picnic with one of my old kindergartens, just for fun (and to pick up last years yearbook and school DVD). Hope it doesn’t get rained out.
