Kyukyusha and the Biker Boys

We celebrated our 2/3 year anniversary this week by going to the sweet shop for cherry blossom soft ice cream cones.  As we left our apartment to walk to get ice cream, we saw there had been an accident at the corner of our block between an elderly man who was the driver of a car and a boy who had been on a bicycle. We knew the elderly man standing in the street was the driver of the car because the car had the elderly driver symbol in the window.  The bike was still in the street in front of the car and the biker boy was laying on the sidewalk, surrounded by other biker boys. The ambulance (kyukyusha) arrived and loaded the injured biker as we walked by.

We bought our ice cream at the shop several blocks away and walked back home.  When we got to the corner, there were five police cars, ten police officers, and the elderly man. The man was pointing and the police officers were measuring and taking notes. I noticed several police officers had guns that were attached to them by a wire or something.  No one can grab the gun and run away.  We didn’t see the accident happen, but I think it was probably the biker boy’s fault.  Since the snow melted, there have been swarms of students wearing school uniforms or athletic uniforms riding bikes. You rarely see anyone on a bike wearing a helmet here and the biker boys ride like there’s no one else around.  I’m guessing we’ll see more of these accidents.  I really felt bad for the old man.

These are cute little desserts at the shop where we bought the ice cream, but I’d choose the cherry blossom ice cream over these every time.

In other news in Hokkaido, we had another earthquake. It was 6.1 and centered in the ocean between Honshu and Hokkaido.  I slept through it all and didn’t find out there was an earthquake until I got up in the morning.

We go out to our farm each afternoon and water the plants that are there.  We still have some other things sprouting on the balcony and when they get a little bigger, we’ll move them out to the farm. Ted likes to say we are putting down roots in the community.