Bus Ride in Saitama / The Wheels on the Bus

I met Eric at the train station today. I waited and waited and waited. I was 10 minutes early for when we would meet. It was amazing that there were all these little school girls coming off the train and walking home. Some of these children were as young as 5. Once in a while, you would see a parent picking the children up at the station. I remember talking to Eric about this once and he said that when children are 5 the parents are allowed to take them to school for the first two weeks or so and then the children have to get to school by themselves, either walking or by bicycle. Saitama is a suburb of Tokyo, so it is pretty populated yet it is safe for these young children to get on a bus or train by themselves. How independent is that???

I knew it was getting past the time he and I should have met, so I saw a pay phone and pulled out my I AM LOST card and called him. He was waiting on the other side of the station that I was on. We met and he told me that he wanted to buy himself a new modem. So we were off on a bus ride to the other side of town. We got off on one stop and walked about ½ mile to the Electronic Store. He bought a modem. I bought new ear plugs for my ipod. We also got a coffee pot because I need my morning coffee and when I was planning my trip, I asked if he had one. I told him I would buy one for him. We went to one store and it was $79 and I just couldn't do it. Well, today at the electronic store, we found one on sale ($25) and now we will all have morning coffee at the same time! Yippee for us!