Settling In

My bike is called Manwell but we rarely get to try out how fast we can go because everyone here cycles so bloody slowly – there are very few opportunities to test your reflexes or fight the good fight against the taxis. There are taxis but most drivers here, even the taxi drivers are polite and well behaved – its put manners on me. The only place Manwell and I get to really test our speed is on the traffic free bike path to the sea, its left both of us quite disappointed.

Politeness is as the stereotype here goes, very important. My reflections on cycling here are flippant but demonstrative and so the first few days here were a succession of introductions to Board of Education administrators and school teachers. Learning the polite Japanese phrases and etiquette and unpacking is about all I actually did.

So yeah politeness is very important here but the reserve that I had half expected is not so common. People are curious about us gaijin and really eager to help when you’re stuck – which is often.