Have you ever seen the show Dirty Jobs? Well, students here have the opportunity to go to different companies around the city to experience working for a day. Now I thought they would be going to administrative type places. One of the teachers had to around to check on them, take pictures, and talk to the workers. He invited me to go so I tagged along. It was so interesting. First, we stopped at the shop that the teachers’ lunches come from. We all know that the best tasting food comes from the most questionable places and there was no exception here. The inspector in me (my mother) was like “Uh Uh!” looking around the overcrowded greasy little kitchen. Our next stop was a water sanitation company. When we got there, the students were already out with the workers to do a job. So, we drove to an apartment complex where they were learning about how the wastewater is treated before it goes into some river somewhere. All this made me wonder where the water in my apartment goes and comes from. Since turning on the faucet expecting clear water and getting otherwise, I’ve only been drinking bottled water and the water that I use to make other things with is always boiled first. I only shower, wash dishes, and do laundry in the tap water.

While leaving, the teacher said that we were going to a pet shop next. What do you think of when you hear “pet shop?” Animals in cages? Staff in khakis and polos? Well, I was mistaken. When we entered the “pet shop,” there were two dogs in kennels at the front. The smell of wet dog was almost unbearable until I switched on the shallow breathing. Beyond the two dogs, there was a bunch of students surrounding a table under what appeared to be big hand-held hair dryers on stands. There were two pairs of furry gray and white legs on either side of one of the students. I had never thought about it before, and perhaps I’m being a drama queen, but the sight of a sleeping dog on a table being worked on by 6 people kinda made me sad. Did anyone else know that dogs are sedated before they’re groomed? Then, they turned on the dryers. I wanted to run out of the tiny shop. Between the wafting of warm wet dog smell and the fur flying everywhere, I almost lost it thinking of fleas doing summersaults through the air, screaming, “WEEEEE!” Okay, so, at that point I was indeed being a drama queen…but still! So, I backed up to the door a bit to look at the two other dogs. THEY WERE ASLEEP! I felt like I was witnessing some evil ritual or something. Thinking about it now makes me itch!

Lastly, we went to a facility that packed trash to be recycled. There were massive piles of newspapers, boxes, wood scraps, furniture, bedding, etc. I can see why little boys want to drive Tonka trucks when they grow up. Watching the trucks picking up stuff, carrying it away, and dumping it was really fascinating because the equipment moved so gracefully. The two students there were opening batches of today’s newspapers. So, the newspapers are distributed at like 6 a.m. and by noon the unused ones are already on their way to being recycled.

On the way back to school, I talked about how awful our apartments are and the whole asbestos thing…by the way, using asbestos is not illegal in Japan. I asked about the teachers’ apartments in that city so the teacher drove past them so I could see. Upon seeing the building, I expected to be stopped at a checkpoint so that roaches and rats could inspect our vehicle. The outside looked as if the building was constructed a long time ago, never completed, and people moved in anyway. If it were painted, then their place would look like ours. The doors/windows looked nice and they all had screens on them though, which makes me wonder how the inside looks. Which brings me to my newest venture… I’m making screens to go in the windows of my toilet and shower rooms. Last night was the trial run. The wood that I bought for the frame was too thin so it bent and wouldn’t stay flush with the wall. So, I bought some more wood and tried again. Looks pretty good huh? I think I’ll start a Do It Yourself TV program for those of use who live in abject poverty like me…ok, so perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration…anyone willing to invest? Without central air, it’s impossible to keep the whole place cool with the windows closed, not to mention the possibility of mold being an issue…but if I open the place up without a screen, then every bug in the neighborhood will move in.