Questions for a Friday

1. Why does it take so long for road-works to be completed in Japan? The crossroads near my apartment is always being worked on. There are always traffic cones sectioning off one of the corners, making us pedestrians cross the road 3 times, when it would normally only take one crossing to reach our destination. There was one weekend, when I actually thought they had finished as the corner near me was all wonderfully hole-free, new tarmac, and no traffic cones. However, by the Tuesday evening, they had dug it all up again, and I had to walk in the road to turn the corner. And how long have they been doing all this???....well, put it this way, the cones, work-men, and diversion arrow-signs have been there since I arrived!!! So, they have spent at least a year and a half on one intersection!...what the heck!

2. Why is the PTA at my school having a meeting at my school tomorrow (Saturday) to discuss the possibility of putting air-con in all the classrooms. Surely they could combine this topic with others, and therefore have fewer meetings, thereby allowing some of my teachers to have at least one Saturday off in a month. One meeting on the subject of air-con!…I’m sure at home, that would be a point on an agenda of many…rather than a meeting in its own right! Bizarre!

3. Is there ever a time when blowing your nose is ok in Japan? I understand and have come to terms with the fact that the Japanese do not blow their noses in public. I have even become used to the disgusting sound of sniffing and snorting…..although, I still think it’s gross. However, surely blowing your nose is preferable to sitting at your desk with a tissue stuck up each nostril to stop the snot! That was the sight I was greeted with yesterday when I went to talk to one of my teachers. He had an awful cold, and was clearly not well enough to be at school, and spent the whole day sitting at his desk with 2 bits of white tissue hanging out of his nose!