The Day After

I don't WANNA study....blah...

I was fed up with my apartment and the studying that I figured I would go get my flat tire fixed. The day after the typhoon, and while the sky was still a bit cloudy, there was a nice breeze which gusted into my teeny apartment. I sat out on my balcony for a bit, but I thought, "This will NOT do!" (So sue me for the Regency speech, I just saw the trailers for "Becoming Jane" and the "Jane Austen Book Club" yesterday - Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books).

So I went to the bike shop near me, which incidentally, word on the street is that it's the best bike place in Kyoto. Strike another point for my neighborhood! I get there and it was so windy that the only thing I could comprehend from the bike dude was "Is that ok?" I just nodded my head and sat down. I felt like I was in an auto repair shop getting hte oil in my car changed or going for a tune-up, except that this is Kyoto, I still don't have a drivers license (don't plan on getting it this summer) and the ride of choice is my bright yellow bike.

I thought it was going to be like 3000yen, as the posterboard listing the prices and the guy said; but turns out the way he repaired my flat tire was just putting some rubber cement on the hole - it was just a tack, after all. So it only turned out to 840yen. To celebrate, I rode my newly repaired and tire-pumped bike down to Rue Ergo to study a bit, and drink - overpriced, but delicious - coffee.

Because its summer, rainy season AND a typhoon just hit us yesterday, the Kamo River was higher than usual. And the current was much, much faster. Normally, in the Spring, you see people going across the stepping stones (in the shapes of rectangles, or even turtles and boats) to go across the river; I did it myself once, back in October.

When I ride the bus to school, I cross the river; at the delta near Demachiyanagi, I can tell how high the river is by whether or not the water covers the stepping stones. Today, I didn't even need to go up close; as I was riding my bike to and from Rue Ergo I just stopped because the sight was amazing. The water going over the little ledges was so fast and so smooth it just looked like glass. Add to the fact that there were still storm clouds (which is why I left Rue Ergo earlier than anticipated, since I didn't have my umbrella with me, and there was a very light, slight drizzle) it was one of those things that you just needed to stop, and take photos of.

I lamented the fact that I didn't bring my camera but I remembered: "WAIT...I have a camera on my cell phone!" Normally, I really don't take pics with my phone but I figured this was something cool to put up here. Even though the quality isn't great (it IS a cell phone camera after all) I particularly like the contrast in the blue of the sky and the blue-green of the river.