So, how is inaka Japan really like?

Some may remember that many months ago, I posted a journal entry lamenting over my inaka (rural) placement in Japan. So, six months later (has it truly been that long?), how do I feel? Honestly? It's pretty good. Being a person who thorougly enjoy being in big cities like Singapore, Sydney and Hong Kong, I thought that I could never enjoy living in the country, but I'm actually having a good time. Of course, the situation may be different if I'd came here all by myself.

It is pretty safe here in the inaka. No one locks their car doors (except for me). Heck, people even leave their cars running and unattended while they do some 'quick' shopping (sometimes taking more than 10 minutes!!). This is definitely not something that's done in the cities. The scariest thing I experience is riding my bicycle on the not-so-wide road by the sea (with teeny road barriers!) and having huge trucks squeezing past me with on-coming traffic in the opposite lane. Thankfully, being inaka, there aren't that much traffic even during the 'peak' hours. And 90% of the drivers are courteous and usually drive past leaving a wide berth around cyclists and pedestrians (there are many elderlies and youngies on bicycles and their cycle path can be pretty unpredictable and erratic).

Our apartment is bigger than the one we lived in in Highgate - I love having a big kitchen! The JETs' apartments in the city placement are very cramped, and I can't imagine having the two of us squashed inside one of them. We also get five days of 'cultural furloughs' every vacation period (i.e. 3 times per school year) in addition to the 20 days we already get for annual leave (ALTs in city placements don't get this luxury). That's pretty sweet, having a total of 35 days of leave a year!

And the best thing? The seafood. I've never had fresher or better seafood than here in the Noto. I've never seen so many choices for sashimi!

Anyhow, Kyoto, here we come!