rainy day adventures

rainy sunday afternoon
Originally uploaded by nitaspitas.

I braved the 15-20 mph winds of the impending typhoon this afternoon and went to Korakuen Garden to take some pictures. It was drizzling on and off all day, so most people just kept their umbrellas open. I don't usually take pictures when it's raining, so this is probably one of the few rainy day pictures I've taken.

I ventured out again later to try and get some knitting supplies to no avail, but on my way back, I was stopped by a police officer checking bikes to confirm registration. I'd gotten my bike from work, so it was registered under the name of the first teacher who had it years ago, i.e., not my name on my ID. I tried explaining that I'd gotten the bike from work to the officer in my broken Japanese, but he kept asking me something that I couldn't understand. I couldn't answer his question if I didn't know what he meant, so I tried calling the Japanese teachers at my school to see if they could talk to him, while he called what seemed like all the other officers in the area. While I was trying to get a hold of someone who could translate, four more officers came over. I was literally less than 30 feet from my apartment building, but instead of going inside to get out of the wind and damp, I was standing outside with five police officers who didn't speak English.

Usually, when I explain that I can't understand Japanese, I tell people that I'm an American. But today, for some reason, I just said that I wasn't Japanese. So then one of the officers asked me if I could speak Chinese. I said yes, because I can, and I was hoping maybe he did, too, but he just wrote it down in his little notebook. So then they thought I was a Chinese teacher, even though I had said earlier that I was an English teacher. I guess he didn't understand me.

Finally, one of the Japanese teachers at my school called back and talked to the police officer and explained about my bike. I spoke to her in English to thank her and make sure I didn't have to do anything else, and the police officers all looked really confused when I hung up, until I explained that I'm an American, and one of the younger officers managed to make out that I was from California on my ID. Then, the original officer who stopped me thanked me and apologized profusely, and I pedaled the less than thirty feet to my apartment building bike parking.