posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
laurainlimbo at 10:16am on 29/05/2005
laurainlimbo at 10:16am on 29/05/2005Happy Birthday to Me! I will have dinner tonight with my two good friends named Naomi and maybe go sing karaoke.
Thanks to my good friend Nikki in Chicago for the ecard!
Well, I'm happy to say that I survived my first close encounter (physical contact, nonetheless) with a nasty Japanese insect. I was just minding my own business and walking barefoot in my room, which has hardwood floors, when I felt something pinch my little toe. Of course I was surprised - how often do you feel something pinching your toe? So, I looked down and screamed, just like in a horror movie, because I saw the nastiest biggest creature I've ever seen wriggling around on the floor. It was what the Japanese call "mukade" and we would call a centipede. But this is not a cute fuzzy insect, not like the house centipede you see in the states. This is a nasty, disgusting poisonous creature with pincers (and probably fangs, but I didn't get that close!). You can see it here: http://www.ainurin.net/japan/mushi/photos/photo_2.html
I also realized, strangely enough, that there is a Japanese fairy tale or myth about a man-eating monster the size of a mountain, called "My Lord Bag of Rice" in which they refer to the serpent dragon as a "giant centipede" that carries off one member of the family each night. You can read these tales here: http://www.blackmask.com/books54c/jpnftdex.htm
Sometimes "mukade" get as big as 14 cm. long, and I think that this one was at least that! I still can't believe it was actually pinching my toe! I could still feel it on me throughout the whole day. Masahiko killed it and preserved it to show his father who told us that these things live in the roof (oh, yeah, our room is on the top floor of the house!). but let's hope we won't be seeing any more. When I lived in Japan previously, I did encounter lots of nasty insects, including several cockroaches, giant bees, and a spider the size of my fist (really!). And I've seen these centipedes in the wild, but never in my room. Oh, well, that's the perils of living in a semi-tropical climate.
Otherwise, life has been pretty calm. I walked to the 7-11 yesterday to get my little exercise, and I guess I shocked some junior high school boys riding their bikes. Unaccustomed to seeing "gaijin" (foreigners), they looked at me, did a double take, and then after they were safely past me, they yelled out "bye-bye," probably the only English they could muster up. its kind of fun getting a reaction from kids - adults just ignore me most of the time.
Thanks to my good friend Nikki in Chicago for the ecard!
Well, I'm happy to say that I survived my first close encounter (physical contact, nonetheless) with a nasty Japanese insect. I was just minding my own business and walking barefoot in my room, which has hardwood floors, when I felt something pinch my little toe. Of course I was surprised - how often do you feel something pinching your toe? So, I looked down and screamed, just like in a horror movie, because I saw the nastiest biggest creature I've ever seen wriggling around on the floor. It was what the Japanese call "mukade" and we would call a centipede. But this is not a cute fuzzy insect, not like the house centipede you see in the states. This is a nasty, disgusting poisonous creature with pincers (and probably fangs, but I didn't get that close!). You can see it here: http://www.ainurin.net/japan/mushi/photos/photo_2.html
I also realized, strangely enough, that there is a Japanese fairy tale or myth about a man-eating monster the size of a mountain, called "My Lord Bag of Rice" in which they refer to the serpent dragon as a "giant centipede" that carries off one member of the family each night. You can read these tales here: http://www.blackmask.com/books54c/jpnftdex.htm
Sometimes "mukade" get as big as 14 cm. long, and I think that this one was at least that! I still can't believe it was actually pinching my toe! I could still feel it on me throughout the whole day. Masahiko killed it and preserved it to show his father who told us that these things live in the roof (oh, yeah, our room is on the top floor of the house!). but let's hope we won't be seeing any more. When I lived in Japan previously, I did encounter lots of nasty insects, including several cockroaches, giant bees, and a spider the size of my fist (really!). And I've seen these centipedes in the wild, but never in my room. Oh, well, that's the perils of living in a semi-tropical climate.
Otherwise, life has been pretty calm. I walked to the 7-11 yesterday to get my little exercise, and I guess I shocked some junior high school boys riding their bikes. Unaccustomed to seeing "gaijin" (foreigners), they looked at me, did a double take, and then after they were safely past me, they yelled out "bye-bye," probably the only English they could muster up. its kind of fun getting a reaction from kids - adults just ignore me most of the time.
silly