#47 - Seems like another planet

Yesterday after work, I went biking around our neighborhood. That is, if you can even call it a "neighborhood." I live in the countryside and our house is surrounded by vegetable farms like these. The houses are so far apart from each other. Well, OK, not all the houses. But for the most part, the scenery is like this. Not that I'm complaining. Living here has made it extremely easy for me to social distance. I hardly ever encounter anyone except when I'm at work or in the convenience store.

Anyway, the weather was nice yesterday and that's why I decided to bike around. This I guess, was just before sunset.

And re: the title, I sent this picture to my friends. And they all live in the city, so they encounter a lot of people everywhere they go. So when they saw this, one of them said, "It's like you're in an another planet."

It feels that way sometimes, to be honest. Because everyone I know and love is living so far away from me and are living lives so different from mine. And now that the entire world is on lock down, visiting another country may as well be like visiting another planet in that, it's nearly impossible.

Like most everyone, I'm just waiting for things to go back to normal. Or at least, resembling the normal we once knew. I don't think we can ever go back to the way things were. Nothing will ever be the same after this.

#46 - My Plants

Over the winter, I lost a few of my leaves due to poor sunlight and over-watering. So, I bought new soil, cut off the parts that have rotted and re-potted the healthy parts that were left. I managed to salvage only half of my snake plant, and my rubber plant, well, I lost the bottom part. I'm hoping that they like the new soil and that since it's springtime now, they'll grow better.

It's my first time to ever take care of plants, so I'm a bit anxious about them. But also really quite proud that they didn't immediately die as soon as they got into my hands. My Japanese yew plant, for instance (in the middle), had nothing strange happen to it in the winter and looks even a bit bushier than when I first bought it.

I never thought I would ever be the kind of person to take care of plants, much less, actually do something about them other than water them. I mean, I bought soil! But, it's actually a pretty fun pastime. Since I only have these three, and they're all low-maintenance indoor plants, it doesn't take too much of my time and effort to take care of them, but they bring me joy just the same. And I think they do add a a bit of life into my room, albeit they're in just one corner.

#45 - Graduation

Even though the school year abruptly ended on the last day of February, we still had a graduation ceremony. The catch--the program was shortened into just 1 hr (No boring speeches from school officials! :P), and only the teachers, graduating students and their parents were allowed to attend. Also, we were all required to wear masks and were seated a meter apart.

Anyway, this is the corsage I wore for the ceremony. Ordinarily, the students from the lower years (1st and 2nd grade junior high) make them, but since they weren't allowed to come to school this time, it was up to us teachers to make them ourselves.

We made about 100 of them the day before graduation and while it was fun, they were really quite difficult to make. And we had to make so many! But anyway, I think they turned out pretty great.

Well, this was the last graduation ceremony for junior high that I get to attend. Next school year, I'll be working at an elementary school. So, I kind of considered this to be my graduation, too. It was really too bad that it was so short, and there wasn't enough time to say goodbye to the students. But in a way, I guess it's better because I didn't get to cry so much. And I'm not too focused on leaving the school that I love, because somehow these days, things like these seem trivial in comparison to the rest of the events going on in the world.

People all over the world are on lockdown, including my own family. I've been trying not to read the news or my Facebook feed because they said that would cause panic, but at the same time, I'm so worried about everyone. And there's no sense downplaying what's happening, because downplaying it is exactly what caused it to be so widespread in the first place. But anyway, there are still things to be grateful for, and I think I'm just going to focus on those.

#44 - Spring in Japan

Cherry blossoms!

I actually took this picture two years ago, when I'd only been living in this country for five days. I arrived on March 25th and it was the peak of spring. When we went to this park in Saitama, it was my first time to see cherry blossoms. This is also the first photo I ever took with the phone I got in Japan. I'd had it for only three days then. But it remained in its box until the day I took this picture.

Anyway, because of the virus, most cherry blossom viewing festivals (if not all) have been cancelled. People aren't supposed to be gathering in large groups, you see. So I think that this year, I'll have to be content with just looking at pictures of these flowers. Not that they won't be blooming in a few weeks. They'll of course bloom, regardless. So I'd still probably see them around during my daily commute and whatnot. But I'm not expecting anyone to suggest having a picnic at a public park soon.

#43 - Mt. Fuji from Tokyo

We were just taking pictures of the buildings when the restaurant manager pointed out that from one of the windows, you could see Mt. Fuji.

There is a conversation in my Japanese book that goes:

A: Can you see Mt. Fuji from Tokyo?
B: In the old days, you could. But nowadays, it's difficult.

I think it's because the atmosphere's changed, there are too many buildings now, etc. etc. But I guess, if the building is high enough and the sky is clear enough, you still can. :) Anyway, I'm really happy that we got treated to this now-rare occurrence.

This photo was taken around 5:45 pm at a MORI Tower in Tokyo last February 23rd. (And by the way, I didn't use a filter.)