it's a quiet village

For the second morning in a row, I went for a jog along the side streets of my neighborhood. The first morning, I went in a straight line, following the road as far as it went. When I arrived at a park, and a sharp turn, I turned around and jogged back.

This morning, I turned left, and at the next intersection, right again, now following a new road as far as I felt I was willing to jog. I passed more houses, more little plots of land growing rice and vegetables, and what I think might have been a Shinto shrine on a wide expanse of cleared land.

Both times, although I passed people and the occasional car, I was mostly on my own along the roads. Last night I remember lying in the dark before I fell asleep and thinking, "It's so quiet." No distant din of traffic, no undertone buzz of electricity, no nearby growl of a scooter engine, no occasional shout or yell from somewhere in the streets. Last night, I fell asleep to the silence of suburbia. It's a marked difference from what I became used to in Taipei, and I think it's part of the reason why I'm adjusting so well (so far).

When the city is busy, you feel caught up in the rush. You feel there's somewhere you need to go, now, and the river of life is moving along everywhere you go. Then even when you're still, you're aware of everything else going on without you. Life is still busy.

Here in Hitachinaka, it's not like that. If you go out onto the streets, there are cars, and people on the sidewalks, and a bike or two, but there's no mad dash. Maybe the fact that I came during spring vacation is why the city is so still, but I think it's just that we're so far away from any major metropolis that makes Hitachinaka so peaceful and relaxed. I haven't gone out driving on my own yet, but the one time I did, I didn't feel pressured to go quickly. When I'm jogging along the streets, I don't feel like I'm going to get so distracted by everything going on that I'll lose my way. Hitachinaka has a comforting sort of calm that's making it very easy to get used to living here.

I still have a lot to do, including learning how to competently drive my car so I can drive to my classes when I start teaching on April 14th. But I don't feel like I'll be diving into deep water. I think I'll manage to tread just fine.

Today's goals include buying a second futon, practicing driving my car on these small side roads, and hopefully meeting up with my fellow Interac expats for dinner.