So this morning started off badly when I hit a curb too fast and ended up with a flat tire. I had to walk most of the way to school and was late. When I went out after lunch to see if I could pump it back up I was dismayed to find that it looked like I had punctured the inner tube. The kyoto-sensei (vice principal) tried pumping it and also came to the same conclusion. Then he rattled off some Japanese, I smiled and nodded, and then we went back inside where I started whining to Nathan about having to walk my bike all the way back into town to the bike shop.

But then one of the teachers told me that kyoto-sensei was going to fix my bike before it was time to go home. Hooray! That solved the mystery of what he had said to me outside and better yet it meant I didn't have to lug the bike back into town myself.

What he actually ended up doing was loading the bike into his car and taking it to the bike shop himself while I was in class. After school one of the other English teachers presented me with a receipt for 1,200 yen (around $12) - the cost to replace the inner tube. I walked outside to a fixed bike and came home at my regular time. I work with some really awesome people. :-)