相模原駅から座間市へは、ＪＲ相模線で30分程かかります。毎週日曜日の午後、私は座間市の入谷駅へ行きます。その後10分程歩き座間市コミュニティーセンターでZAMAビッグバンドジャズオーケストラの練習を3時間行います。この電車移動は、相模原市から30分かからず田舎の光景が広がる場所へ行けるのでおもしろいです。

Sagamihara Station to Zama City on the Sagami Line- And Frogs!

Traveling from Sagamihara Station to Zama City on the JR Sagami Line takes about 30 minutes. Every Sunday afternoon I head for Iriya Station, in Zama City. Then I walk about 10 minutes to the Zama City Community Center for 3 hours of big band jazz music. The commute is interesting because it takes me from Sagamihara city to the countryside in less than a half-hour.

In the winter, when I arrive around 5pm, it is dark and cold. But the area comes alive in the summer. It is something that I really enjoy and appreciate about Japan. The process of planting and growing rice fascinates me every year. It really is beautiful to see the progress on a weekly basis. Every Sunday is noticeably different.

On my walk to band rehearsal, I always have to stop and snap a photo or two. It really does grow quickly.  And as the summer progresses, these rice paddies get really noisy at night. While walking back to Iriya Station at 8:30 pm I always smile, because the frogs are loud and seem to be celebrating life. The sound of croaking frogs peaks in August, and the harvest begins in late September.

Going home, I wait for my train and listen, wondering what it’s like to be a frog in a rice paddy! A slow ride home on the Sagami Line, I feel lucky to be sitting in a good band and listening to frogs! I know that sounds strange, but it’s true. The small things make living in japan a pleasure. And I never forget that working with Smith’s School of English allows me the time to do this.

Jim