i managed to weave my way through the center of marugame and find the long, rice paddy lined road that would lead me out to nova. i kept walking. and walking. i came across a drink vending machine and bought myself some sort of green tea drink. and i kept walking. and walking. almost positive at this point that i had missed some of the landmarks natasha had described. but maybe not. so i kept walking.
eventually i saw the bright pink glow of the promise land - aeon town. compared to most of my walk, the large strip mall was like the big city. there was a restaurant (bamiyan), a 100 yen store, a pharmacy, a discount store, a supermarket, a video arcade, a book store, and of course - a nova english school. i felt relieved to have actually found the school, one less thing to worry about on my first day of actual work. but i headed straight for the max valu supermarket (food excites me) - which made the marunaka supermarket i had gone to the day before look like a farm stand.
inside the massive (and air-conditioned) store was every food i could imagine and thousands more i could not. i wandered the aisles for a good hour or so. i found rice - which i hadn't been able to find at the marunaka (not that it wasn't there, mind you, i just couldn't find it in my weakened state) - and a few other little things. after i made my purchases i sat on the bench outside trying to plan my next move.
it seemed too early yet to hang around and wait for the other teachers to finish work. so i opted to walk home with my purchases while the sun still shone and perhaps borrow the extra bike to come back in the evening. so i started walking. (can you see where this is going?) and walking. and eventually started getting really tired of lugging that 2kg bag of rice. but i trudged on. now that i was certain i hadn't passed any landmarks though, i didn't have the fear of being lost.
by the time i reached the town center i was feeling confident in my sense of direction. it hadn't steered me wrong yet. and i felt certain that there was a more direct root back to the flat than the one i had taken. so i walked. and walked. then i was starting to feel like maybe i didn't know where i was going...
it was getting darker. my arms were tired of carrying the rice. as i passed a random beer vending machine i stopped to make a purchase, feeling that i would want a beer when i got back. if i got back... i found myself near the river, which i was certain was near my flat. so i followed it for a ways.
followed it until a wild dog started barking at me and following me. and then 10 of his closest friends followed suit. needless to say i was scared to death, trying to put on a cool face, telling them to go home (do stray japanese dogs understand english commands?), envisioning having to tell people that i was mauled by wild dogs on my 3rd day in japan (and they say japan is so safe!).
after getting myself away from the dogs i decided that maybe i was wrong about the river. or maybe it was a different river. so i headed up the next main looking road i found. but following this road was actually taking me *farther* from where i wanted to be. eventually i found the raised tracks of the local train - which i was certain there was only one of - and i followed them home.
i plopped my exhausted self down on the little sofa and cracked open a beer. when i had finished the beer i went to the kitchen to cook myself one of my favorite comfort foods - rice. then i settled in to watch the ninth gate, knowing full well that there was no way in hell i was trekking out there again today.
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