Where's my personal bubble?

Every morning at 7:45am, I see my train pull up and observe the many body parts and faces smashed against the windows on the door. I give a heavy sigh knowing that I'll have to shove and pry my way into the negative space provided for the 2 minute ride to the next station where everyone and their cousin will transfer to the trains heading to Osaka. The location we live in is nice enough -- clean, quiet, convenient. However, there are some drawbacks to living in a sleeper town: Rush hour is hell on Earth! Now, I've never really had a problem with being in small spaces, but even the most claustrophobia resistant people can get a bit on edge here after awhile.

You might think, "It's only a 2 minute ride, how bad can it be?" Well, those 2 minutes are the longest 2 minutes of my day. This morning I had to lever myself into the train by pushing on the walls beside the doors, and get this, I was the first person in line at my stop! There were still 5 people behind me! The funny part about the morning squeeze, is the fact that the people at the opposite doors -- a mere 5 feet away, I must add -- seem to have an enormous amount of space. How is it that they have so much room when the rest of us have our noses smashed against the windows and are struggling to breathe?? Why don't they just move a little and even out the space? These are the questions that run through my head every morning. After I fail at answering these, other questions pop into my head: Why does someone always insist on farting in these tight, enclosed spaces? Why don't people brush their teeth in the morning but insist on talking across my shoulder to their friend behind me? The mixture of last night's alcohol seeping through pores, stale cigarettes and morning breath is sometimes just a bit overwhelming. And now, since the weather has cooled down to a pleasant temperature, the train conductors have turned off the AC. Sounds reasonable enough except for the fact that they circulated fresh air around. Now every time I'm forced into the mass of commuting humanity, butt to crotch and shoulder to chin, with the fogged up windows and stale, uncirculated air, my heart starts to beat a little harder, my breathe becomes shallower and my only thoughts are "Why can't this damn train go any faster! Open the doors! Get me outta here! Move people, move!! Brush your f'n teeth!!!!!!!" (or a variation thereof...)

This has also happened to a friend of mine, so I know I'm not alone in developing claustrophobia. I really have this feeling that Japanese don't have a sense of personal space. They don't seem to have those forbidden bubbles of space that other people should avoid entering. You can't really have a bubble on the train, I know that and I accept it. However, I would normally assume that I should have one at work, right? Well, I'm wrong about that too, as I've come to find out.

My desk at work is maybe 3.5 feet long and 2 feet wide. It's crammed with English Teaching Resource books, my plant and a couple other important accessories like hand lotion, hand soap, tea/coffee/miso soup cup etc. Add my beloved lap top to this and I'm left with about 1 square foot of work space... That's really not bad and I don't mind that. Most other teachers seem to be far less organized and are lucky to be left with 1 square inch of work space, so I should be very grateful. My problem is not with my desk so much as with the bubble of personal space I assumed I would have around my chair and desk area. Well, unless I'm currently occupying that space, it's fair game for everyone else. The teacher next to me seems to be a pretty popular guy and always has other teachers coming by to chat and students needing help on homework. This always seems to happen around lunch time. I sit in the corner of the room with the kichenette, so not only do I have chatty teachers squeezing into the 2 feet of space between my chair and the window behind me to talk to Mr. Popular, but I also have people in the 5 square foot area to my right, getting in and out of the fridge, microwaving some odd Japanese concoction, or just standing around chatting. The result: me scooted all the way into my desk with my elbows firmly pressed to my sides to avoid people knocking food out of my hands, dreaming about how nice it would be to have a space as big as a cubicle!

Another odd occurence happened yesterday as I was reading BBC News. One of the PE teachers who must have smoked since the age of 5 due to the sound of his voice, and who dyes his hair a strange orange color (hiding the gray maybe??) came over to my desk area. He mumbled something unintelligible, and then, to my complete surprise, stuck his face 2 inches from my computer screen -- no exaggeration. He shook his head and mumbled "Ahhhh zen zen wakarahen!" (Ahhhh I never understand!) I was taken aback and wasn't really sure what to say. I mean ok, so he couldn't understand the English.... How do you respond to that? Too bad? Congrats? Now you know what I feel like? I kinda just laughed and shrugged my shoulders thinking, "Ok weirdo, can you please remove your face from my computer screen and step out of my bubble so I can go back to reading the news?" I think he was just trying to be friendly, but... I don't know. It struck me as slightly invasive. Oh well.

Speaking of more odd occurences, I've recently had people roll down their windows as I'm walking home from work and say something to me in English. It's happened twice now and is kinda weirding me out. The first time, one guy shouted "Nice to meet you!!" and waved frantically. The second time, another guy drove past and shouted, "Harro!!!" while flashing me a thumbs-up sign. Too startled to react both times, I just stared at them feeling like a Sims character with a "?!" floating above my head. Honestly, now, what the hell is all that about? What kind of a reaction do they expect from me? I don't know them! Ugh... strange, strange, strange. I wish I could react quick enough and have time to flash them the bird.

Apart from all that, the weather has been unusually pleasant lately! Getting up to about 75F during the day and cooling off to the 50s at night (I think), it's really been a nice change. I actually am surprised it's still so warm. I would have expected it to be a lot cooler, but hey, I'm not complaining about this! Also with the autumn weather come the wonderful smelling bushes that I mentioned in my last blog I believe. I finally found out what they're called: Kinmokusei. In English it's just the latin term for the species, Osmanthus Frangrans, because I think they're only native to Asia. Although, it might also be called "mock orange" or "sweet olive", not sure. Whatever they are, they're wonderful! Rice harvesting season is also underway, so people seem pretty excited. On the news you hear them talking about the new and fresh, delicious tasting rice that will be out soon. Ummm... delicious white rice? Am I missing something? I wasn't aware it had much of a taste... Anyway, as I was passing by a store I saw something I'd never seen before. Someone was growing 3 rice plants in a flower pot! Not 1, not 5, but 3 rice plants... in a flower pot. Maybe they ran out of flowers? Maybe they couldn't afford a rice field? Your guess is as good as mine.

Also, on a completely random note, I've decided that I really prefer using a squatter toilet when going number 2 (I told you I'd have a lot of time to think...). I've noticed that it feels much more natural and you hardly ever have to push! Adam also informed me that Western toilets force you to put a lot of strain on your colon and other areas in that region which can cause problems later in life. Makes sense to me. The only time I DON'T prefer them is when my balance is not at it's finest -- after drinking for example or in the middle of the night. So, it'd be nice to eventually have one of each in our future house. Supposedly, squatting is also the most natural way to give birth....

Ok well that's enough babbling for today. Now I just have 4 more hours until I'm able to leave. This time will be consumed with lunch, some reading, a nap, some more reading, and checking my email and Myspace. Yay...?