Running along

When I was an exchange student in Austria while in college, I used to take daily jogs in different directions to try to get a lay of the land. I've had less time at each stop in Japan, but my runs have generally served the same purpose. It's also a great time to let my mind wander over the events of the previous days and to catch people here in the act of daily life.

This afternoon after we arrived in Kitakami —where we are attending the Rotary district's annual conference— I tied on my shoes and set off. Although our hotel sits at the foot of a sprawling city, I didn't' have to run far along the river here for the high rises to start fading and little cropping of bungalows to replace them.

Eventually, I was just running among rectangles of rice fields, with men on tractors, small irrigation ditches dividing them and little old ladies plucking pine cones out of their yards. I had this surreal sensation of being very far away from the hotel, and being very alone, which is maybe just what I needed.

My favorite moment was on my way back when I came upon a pack of elementary school boys freshly released from class. All of the where in uniform, with identical blue backpacks. "Hello" one of them called. I answered in Japanese. The collective shock on their faces was so cute. "Konnichiwa," they called back in perfect chorus, then all dissolved into giggles. I wish I had the chance to hang out with children a bit more here. There's something so endearing about youth in another culture. They speak a different language, but they're just like kids at home, laughing, running everywhere and asking grandpa for money to get something from the vending machine.

Lesson learned: I don't always have to be in vocational training to learn about Japan and its people.