tunnels

so the other day, i was in a taxi on my way home when random chit-chat led into a conversation about tunnels in tsushima. now, one thing you must understand about tsushima is that it's super mountainous, hence the windy roads and me always getting carsick. during that car ride home, i pointed at some construction on the side of the road, and inquired what it was for. my driver explained that they're in the process of building a new tunnel and a road that leads from the main road to the town of Uchiyama (where my school just closed... *sniffle*).

it order to get to Uchiyama, you have to climb this really obnoxious mountain, only to decend it and enter the valley where Uchiyama lies. the thing is, it can get really foggy in the mornings, and during rainy season, it gets really slippery and dangerous. this is why they're building the new tunnel and road: because of the fog and rain.

this led to my driver explaining that there are currently 50 tunnels in tsushima in use. at first, i thought, "wth?! there's that many?" but in retrospect, there are a lot of tunnels.... there are tons of tunnels on off roads i've never been on, so 50 is definitely a reasonable number (not to mention all the tunnels not in use anymore that aren't included in that number).

then he got on the subject of tunnels currently in construction (all over the island really), and how all tunnels and roads always have a reason for being made. but in terms of tunnels that would affect my commute, there's the one i mentioned before and one more out in Are, one of my furthest schools (if not my furthest... *shrug*). Are is so far from me and there are so many mountains between my home and it that it's easier to go through the neighboring town of Mitsushima to get to it (it'd take longer to go through the windy roads in my town). all the kids that go to that school eventually go to Sasu Junior High School, which is about a 10 minute drive down a very windy road.

anyway, they're building a new road between those two places (Are and Sasu), and what's the reason for that road?

"Kodomo ga yoimasu." (The children get carsick)

i quietly laughed to myself as he went on to explain how parents kept placing complaints, and eventually, word gets back to the prefecture, and the prefecture okays the project.

as odd as this sounds, and as annoying as construction can be to traffic (and harsh on tires), seeing constuction makes me really happy here. with the declining population on the island and the number of mom and pop shops closing down, unemployment has also been on the rise. but when there's a big project like digging out the side of a mountain or paving new road, it means someone's parents have a job and at least for the next year or so, that family is pretty set.

in other news, yesterday i went sea kayaking with all the guys (literally... aaron, jayne, master lees, rob, and oliver), in addition to finally going back to badminton last thursday. i hadn't gone to badminton practice since february, but i did surprisingly okay. still lost my matches, but not by as much as usual (^ ^)v needless to say though, these sudden bouts of activity left my right arm in sh*t shape. *sigh*

time to watch shawshank redemption... yay $1 DVDs from china!