watch out!

Back off, Swine Flu! I counted 8 out of 10 people standing in line for the train today wearing masks like this one. I've joined the herd since I spend about 7 hours a week on the train; that's a long time to be exposed to whatever is floating around in that small space with all those people. You see, Japan is a tiny bit smaller than the United States. I read once that Japan is the same size as California with about 4 times the amount of people. Meaning: there are a lot of people jammed in close quarters day in and day out. I've been pretty critical of the Japanese over-reaction to this "pig influenza" (as my students call it), not taking into full consideration how easy it is to pass along germs in this sardine can of a country. 2,000 schools around my prefecture have closed for the week. I noticed how eerily quiet the trains home tonight were, void of the noise of the highschoolers decked out in their uniforms. My baby English class has been cancelled this Friday and I'm wondering if I'll hear word of the same for my Thursday children's classes. This isn't a memory of Japan that I was expecting, but definitely a very unique one.