D&F 12/17/23

It’s almost holiday break and yet it’s a sunny 63F outside. After a few weeks of riding my bike in Japan in close to freezing temperatures it feels surreal to return to spring weather.

During my bike trip, I managed to sprain my right ring finger pretty severely, which made for a challenging end to my riding. Japan’s roads are smooth, but every curb or small bump was torture on my hand, so I cut a few days shorter to cope with it. Beyond the little crash-related injury though, my trip was a resounding success. I saw tons of countryside west of Tokyo, beautiful mountain passes, and views of Mt. Fuji. I met an English arborist and visited a shrine for a 1000 year-old conker tree. Every area I rode through was new to me until I got to Kyoto, and I particularly enjoyed Matsumoto, Lake Yamanakako, and the area around Kiso-Fukushima. I rode through farmland, wine country, and winding mountain passes. Most days it was cold, but one day it rained, another it snowed. I wrote up the entire trip on my site if you want to hear more, and I’m in the process of editing-together a little video of my trip.

This is my first time traveling without a keyboard in years, and that meant writing about my trip in-situ wasn’t going to happen. It also meant I spent more time on my phone or just reading when I finished my day of riding. I can’t wait to go back and see more of Japan on two wheels.

But for now, here’s some…

Links

• Wandering around Japan is something I recommend to a lot of friends, but to get the most out of any foreign travel, I think you need to learn the language spoken there. With Google Translate and other services, it’s easier than before to skate by with photo tools and other computer help, but depending on these tools robs us of the very human experience of communication. Sure, not every country speaks a language you can learn online, but even picking up simpler phrases and making an effort is usually appreciated. I think there’s a tendency for Americans to depend on other places adopting English, but this imperialist drive is unfortunate. Instead of hoping we all lose the language and cultures that provide distinction and interest to the globe, let’s instead spend time learning about the other people we share this planet with.

If every apartment decorated with IKEA furniture looks the same, prepare for every city in booming Asia to start looking like Shenzhen. If you like clean streets, bullet trains, public safety and fast Wi-Fi, this may not be a bad thing.

• As the United States continues to support some of the worst regimes and people around the world, China keeps investing in the global south. The soft power of economic growth, coupled with high-speed rail, is shaping much of the world as our country languishes in the depravity of huge trucks and cheap fast food.
• Privacy is, I think, an important right for all people, and on the forefront of protecting communication privacy is a company called Signal. You might not use Signal, or even know about it, but besides iMessage, it’s the best encrypted messaging service out there. Instead of relying on monetizing your data and mining your private chats for advertising, Signal relies on donations. It’s nice to see that more tech and non-tech people realize that sustainable community-supported projects are the future of software. They days of VC-supported, hypergrowth-at-all-costs flash and bang might not be over, but I hope in the end it’s the human-size, ethical stuff that sticks around.
• If you’re a driver, you likely use “right on red” all the time. Why wait for the light to turn green if you can see the traffic heading towards you and choose when to turn? But wait, do you always look to your right to see if there are pedestrians or cyclists crossing the road? Many road fatalities and injuries come from drivers only looking left before turning right, and the solution to this problem is to force drivers to wait for a green light, in addition to paying more attention to the world around them. Neither of these solutions are easy, and it probably doesn’t surprise you that drivers would rather fight for their convenience than care for the safety of other people. Being in Japan made me even sadder for the increasingly deadly size of vehicles in the US, allowed to travel at absurd speeds. I hope for the day where cars are relegated to the past, and we use trains, bikes, and our bodies to move around most of the time.
• I’ll end this section with a nice sip of absinthe after a louche. If you’ve never tried the green fairy, I recommend it. The flavor of licorice and wormwood is a treat, and the rumors that it gives you hallucinations are false, coming from the lead and other additives in the 19th century pours of this liquor. Even a wash of this liquor in a glass can enhance a cocktail, as in the improved whiskey. Bon appetit!

Closing

I’ve got one more week of work before it’s time to relax a little and make some vegan egg nog. We won’t get a white Christmas, but ideally I’ll get to share some warm mugs of glögg with friends and ride my bike around the bay in the sun. However you plan to celebrate or not, I hope you also get to see friends and family and share memories of a year that felt faster than the past few. Pick a movie from a best-of list, or curl up with a good book and get cozy, space cowgirls~