January 13 was Coming of Age Day, the day on which Japanese people celebrate their 20th birthday, which marks the year of adulthood. For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming_of_Age_Day
Since I'm already 20 and wasn't in Japan soon enough to receive information about the relevant events anyway, for me and my fellow students, it was just a day off. No school! I used the time to do homework and go shopping with my roommate T.
We biked to A.L. Plaza, a department store with a grocery in the basement, and clothing stores, a train ticket vendor, a bakery, and a 100-yen store on the upper floors. There I bought:
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| Matcha (green tea) and red bean flavored mochi-texture bread |
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| Frosted Flakes: carefully baked, high-quality flakes with 9 vitamins and minerals so you can keep a balanced diet! |
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| Love milk, with iron and calcium: "One cup is half a day's worth." Margarine with butter in it that "tastes as delicious as butter" (according to the label). |
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| Actually, my roommate bought this. It's a packet of Milk Tea powder; just add hot water and stir. The black packet on the side is a chocolate caramel-flavored candy which I disliked but which was fully appreciated by roomie T. |
On the way back from AL Plaza, I took the opportunity to take pictures of the wildlife that I'm always biking past along the path next to the river.
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| One of the birds that's always swimming in the river. |
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| Can you spot the heron? It's a blur, though. |
The heron and the other birds are all very wary. If I get too close and/or try to take a picture, they either swim farther away, or fly away (especially the heron) shrieking. I figured out later (from a fishing event) that it may be because the birds have probably been captured and tagged (in a traumatic way).
On my way back, a bus was waiting to turn into the road from Circle K (the convenience store that's closest to JCMU). I went slightly into the road to avoid the bus, but as I went back on the sidewalk, I didn't turn perpendicularly enough, so my tires caught on the edge of the curb and I fell down. I immediately got up (embarrassed) and pulled my bike out of the street. I walked my bike to T. She asked me if I was okay to keep riding. "Yes," I said. We were about to start riding again when I realized that maybe my knees were bleeding inside my jeans. "Actually," I added, "Since we're here anyway, do you mind if I go into Circle K and grab some bandages?"
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| The bandaid is made of a white, cloth/paper-like material that is soft and breathable. |
By the way, the logo for Circle K is a K inside of a circle. It doesn't actually say "circle K" on the sign or the building, as far as I've seen--just on the receipt in katakana: サークルK.
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| I ate the green tea bread, and it was bland and soggy and gross. I was highly disappointed. |
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| Roomie T made yakisoba for us! |
And so Coming of Age Day passed rather uneventfully for us American exchange students.
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