Gaijin Chronicles Issue 2 - Small People, Big Bugs

So, the first few installments of the Gaijin Chronicles were short and sweet. I don't really have anything to add to this story as far as annotations go. It WAS a long trek back to the apartment. And the cicada really did freak me out. But you know what? Every once in a while I'll be somewhere in the summer where I hear a cicada… and it always makes me wistful for Japan.

Small People, Big Bugs

After an interminable amount of time traveling, negotiating customs, and exhausting every minor phrase of Japanese that I know, I was very, very happy to finally touch down in Osaka and meet up with Sean.  After our joyful little reunion, Sean asked if I was ready to head out.  “Yes,” I said, “but what do you think about shipping some of this luggage?”

You see, the Japanese are very intelligent people.  They realize that in a society where public transportation is the norm, it’s neither very easy nor practical to lug all your luggage (say that five times fast) to your end destination, wherever that might be.  Sean’s reply to my inquiry was something like, “Well, I don’t know.  How hard do you think it will be to handle?”  At this point I said nothing, but eye witnesses have reported that I allegedly gave him “the look”.  Which means, in the end, that we shipped part of the luggage—for a mostly reasonable price, as well.  And boy howdy… was I ever glad when I realized what sort of hoops we’d have to go through just to get home.  Of course, anything feels like too much effort after 24 straight hours of travel.  So I suppose giving “the look” to Sean might have been a tad unfair.  But only a tad.  It turned out okay, though.  Like I said, the Japanese are ingenious people.  There are elevators that take you up the worst part of the hill to our apartment.  I love the Japanese. 

On the way, Sean pointed out a couple of spots where he had already hit his head.  Being at least 6’ 0” barefoot and soaking wet, he’s taller than approximately 99.9% of the native population.  Okay, it’s not that bad, but it’s a writer’s prerogative to use hyperbole to make a point.  Not only does he bonk his head on a semi-regular basis, but he also has to stoop significantly to use the counter in the kitchen.  It is indeed a country built for short people.  I have finally come into my own. 

Walking up the stairs to the front door, I was dive bombed by a miniature kamikaze pilot… or at least that’s what it felt like.  After I got done shrieking like a little girl, I asked Sean, “what the #$%^ was that thing?” 

“A cicada,” he replied.

“Is that what all that noise is?” I asked.  Upon closer evaluation, I had realized that the surrounding jungle noise was not a crowd of people shrieking like little girls, nor was it approximately five gazillion trillion zamillion crickets.   The cicada is, for those who don’t know, the loudest insect in the world.  On the entire planet.  And they’re HUGE.  Imagine a flying, shrieking cockroach. 

“Isn’t their lifespan only about two weeks?” I inquired, quite calmly, I thought. 

Sean affirms my question.

 “Thank God!” I said.  “Why do bugs like this even exist? “

Sean shrugged and said, quite nonchalantly, “Small people.  Big bugs.” 

Yes, I thought.  That really does sum it up rather nicely.

My dive-bombing friend