Daybreak Serenade

The Japanese do not practice Daylight Savings Time, so daybreak has been getting earlier every day. Right now the room is getting light, the birds are singing, the giant-size, killer, Jungle Crows are making raucous noise, and the frogs are croaking starting at around 0430. I suspect it will only get earlier as spring progresses. It is impossible to sleep in. However, on the other hand, there is no excuse not to exercise. Japan seems to be full of beautiful, blooming plants and pretty little birds; it is a joy to run in. While on my trip I lost that ten pounds I’ve been grumbling about for the last five years, and I intend to keep them off!

Every day tasks give me the willies here in Japan. I worry that I am not up to the task, linguistically. My loved one has a much better grasp of the language. Yesterday I had to pay my road tax. This is a tax that all the cars pay annually for use of the roads. For my size car the tax was 7500 yen (about 70 USD). The actual process was simple enough, a form (conveniently printed in Japanese and English), and about ten minutes waiting to see a teller. The teller checked my insurance, took my yen, and issued me a decal to indicate that I was legal for another year. All was successfully accomplished in Japanese; no probrom. I celebrated with a tin of hot royal milk tea.

Early to bed, early to rise, makes you slim and capable of facing down the bureaucracy. 🙂