I tried to return to AIU using the same route as the bus, but I found out that route is for cars only. In addition I tried to ask the locals how to get to Akita International University in Japanese, but I got lost or I could not understand everything they were saying. While biking I saw a wild animal, almost got ran over at a crosswalk, and rode at a road that prohibited bicyclists but I was unable to notice due to my limited Japanese.
I felt really stupid for buying a bicycle at AEON mall when I returned to the mall. I thought I had to ask one of my friends to pick up my bicycle for me tomorrow morning or beg a taxi driver to drive my bicycle and myself to AIU. Luckily I ran into couple students from the university while walking around the mall. One of the students knew how to get from AEON to AIU by bicycle so he rode my bicycle to Akita International University for me.
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| My new bicycle |
Thanks to my bicycle I can ride it around Akita and go to other routes I would not be able to go to normally. In addition, I can share my bicycle with my roommate so both of us can use my bicycle if we need to go to some place near. Compared to Hawaii, I cannot ride my bicycle from November to May because of the snow, and I cannot use the train or bus to carry my bicycle for me. People in Japan are friendlier than people in Hawaii, and people in Japan drive safer so I think I may be okay with riding my bicycle on the road if I need to.
I know I could have been like my friend also from the University of Hawaii at Manoa who bought his bicycle at Akita City and biked eight hours from Akita City to AIU, but I know I would have gotten lost easily if I tried the same thing he did. In addition, I do not have a phone that has a GPS feature. Although my bicycle cost around 12000 yen compared to his bicycle that cost around 8000 yen, I am happy that I have a bicycle now.
