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May 20, 2004

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used books tokyo

Common Sense, Common Sense, Common Sense, Common Sense, Common Sense, Common Sense,
What we take for granted back in OZ just barely exists here in Tokyo. Barely....

rae

i used to get train rage on my daily commute from kyoto to osaka (10 yrs ago). when i needed a little space, i'd whip out my knitting needles. if i needed a lot of more space i'd blow my nose or eat. eating isn't a big deal anymore, but blowing your nose in public still grosses out a lot of japanese. it might even clear an elevator : )

Mock

God Bless dear KHM

It's strange that there's so much rage all over the place and in such unusual places. As you would well know, I have experienced quite a myriad of these - not in the pool, but definitely in the elevator (something that I'm currently working on); the shopping line (don't get me started on the alleged express line); pedestrian rage; driver rage; restaurant rage; parent rage; sibling rage (of course, now non-existant); risotto rage; gym rage (I mean, how long can you stay on one piece of equipment); art gallery rage (oh, please, that's not art); and the one that I'm working on the most - Road Rage (currently under strict control - more or less).

I'm glad that you have acknowledged your rage and have put your rage on notice. It's going to pop up somewhere else I'm sure, but a little bit never hurt anyone, has it?

Love SMM

nicole

I am laughing so hard reading your post kat & everyone's comments!! I can empathise with lane rage - have experienced it since primary school/swimming club days, and even more recently at my local pool. Those nannas can get really nasty!

but nothing like beating some boy who thinks he's a bit of an 'ian thorpe' when in fact he's more of a fish out of water :)

qepe

Lane rage? Why are you swimming at a 3-lane pool health club? Are you in Tokyo?

There are several better options, depending on where you live. One step up from an health club is a normal city pool. You need to experiment to find out when the pool is not in heavy use. Another option is to use one of the several bubble-era olympic-class pool facilities, like Tatsumi, which tend to be rather deserted much of the time, and have a 50-meter deep pool, a 50-meter sub pool, and a 25-meter square diving pool. Another option is to join a swimming-only club, like Tokyo Swimming Center, one of the JSS schools, the Takaido club, Tokyo Dome, or any of several others. Finally, if you can find them, there are semi-ad hoc swimming groups that rent lanes (which are cheap, since there were so many pools built during the bubble).

I swam at TSC until recently (home of Kosuke Kitajima). Now I'm at a JSS school nearer to where I live. Last summer I swam twice a day a an outdoors 50-meter city pool, on occasion the only swimmer in the unlaned pool, with 4 lifeguards watching me.

You should join Japan Masters Swimming and do some meets, where you'll have the opportunity to meet people who might be able to give you some advice about swimming in your area. Also, the programs will list all the swimming schools and clubs whose members are participating in the meet.

I'm sure Australia has a lot of very nice pools, but one thing they don't have is the Japanese Ministry of Construction, which spent gazillions of yen of postal savings funds 15-20 years ago building unneeded public facilities. I would be truly surprised if the pools in Australia, swimming crazy though it be, were superior to or more numerous than those here in Tokyo.

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