Illusion

The rice fields in the big wide river valley near my apartment are in full flood now and I'm able to stare out my window when the sun is sinking over the hills in the west, and catch only the glare of the solid water patches where it used to be land, and feel the brief illusion that I'm actually at my beach house watching the sunset sink over the glittery ocean.

But then some old woman starts walking through the middle of it and the illusion sort of disappears. It's amazing how much detail work goes into the planting, growing and harvesting of rice here. Rice is serious business, especially in this part of the country because good famous rice is really the only 'good' thing Niigata has going for it sometimes. Right now the fields are all flooded about six-inches deep, and every field has old women bent over at the waist hand-planting every single bunch of little pre-grown rice plant stalks in perfect proportion. There must be a thousand in each field, and there are thousands of fields around the area. Now I understand why I see these elderly people walking around town bent over at a complete 90-degree angle at the waist...planting hundreds of thousands of rice bunches and then harvesting and drying them every year have completely morphed the shapes of their bodies.

It's something similar to what the $30 used couch I bought is doing to my back. I've been laying on the floor a lot lately to read, and also on the roof of my apartment building...I'm almost finished with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I tried to read it a long time ago but got distracted by one of the other 5 books I was attempting to read at once. I've finally learned how to just read one book, even if it takes a while.

Last night my friend Masahiro called to go to his friend Hiro's bar for a drink. I didn't realize it but it was actually a surprise birthday party for Hiro, so I felt sort of like an intruder and I tried to leave but everybody wanted me there so I stuck around till 2 A.M. talking to some weird businessmen who claim that they not only have a beautiful wife, but also a Brazilian, American and several other girlfriends. I think he was full of it, but it illustrated a pretty common attitude towards marriage over here that sort of promotes a culture of extra-marital affairs (also indicated by the secret love-hotels everywhere so people can carry on their adultery in private). Then he asked me "Why do American girls make big hips after marry? Japanese girls always ok!" I was just like..."uhhh...wha?" People here ask me strange questions.