Bicycles are a common form of trasportation in Japan. Just as when many people need to park their car a need for parking lots arises when a lot of people need to park their bicycle the need for a bicycle parking lot arises. Here is a shot that is very prevalent in Japan, a sea of functional bicycles used for transportation. Do not forget to lock your bike though. You don’t have to lock it to anything you just have to make sure the wheels do not turn. Most bikes have a locking mechanism that secures the rear wheel built into the bike.

The Japanese class is put on by a volunteer group. It is very similar to the “Hello Nihongo” class that I had in Himeji. It is only 100 yen for a single lesson. That is about enough to cover copier costs for lesson plans. I will make sure to get my generous teachers something at the end of the class.

On the way home I noticed a strange depression in a rice field close to my house. It looked as if a 500 pound gorilla leaped from the sidewalk into the field, laid down, and leaped back. Perhaps it was aliens. Most probably it was a rice harvesting machine parked for a few moments, but I still do not know how it got into the field without track marks.

Yesterday NTT came to the apartment and could not hook up a broadband connection without major construction that would take over 2 months. Mimi called a cable television company and made an appointment to get cable internet installed. A salesperson came to the apartment today and I filled out a service contract. Therefore tomorrow evening I should have internet at my fingertips. It has the option of an IP phone for an additional 325 yen a month so I do not even need NTT. There are a few restrictions, not able to dial emergency numbers, toll-free numbers, and something else but it is a flat rate all over Japan and affordable overseas. I can use a pay phone for toll free numbers and in an emergency I can just run or use the cell phone I will get next week.

Making public art proposals and other applications will require a lot of full color printed documents. Instead of spending a fortune on inkjet cartridges, I ordered a color laser printer online today. Should arrive in a few days and with my new internet connection will complete my home art campaign command center. Full speed ahead from now on.

I also went to a different Japanese class tonight. A volunteer group holds it in the Seto City International Center. Luckily there was a level 2 class there that I could join. I studied with a woman from China and a man from Indonesia. Now I feel like I am settling into Seto and am ready to continue my research and work.