christmas bells are ringing...

so this past saturday i headed out early to downtown kyoto to run some errands. i got on my bike and headed to koksaikaikan station in the cold air. i was basically shopping for some souvenirs for people back home. little things like this that are so simple for other people somehow create so much stress for me. the stress i assume stems for the fact that i don't want to give something cheesy to someone that i care about. i'd really like the gift to represent a lot of thought and not just something that i got off an end cap at the local 100 yen store. but when does this need for good will really worth the insanity it causes? in some cases, it's well worth it. and today was one of those days. so i did that in the morning and then headed to japanese class. we learned how to ask for our "yellow beanie" (along with various things). so after a good day of shopping for others (and i didn't buy anthing for myself, but i think to reward myself i'm goign to by these shoes that i saw (dude, they're on sale for about 5000 yen which translates into about $41. SCORE!), and possibly another jacket!) i grab my bike from the station parking lot and head back to the dohokan. one of the interesting things here is the fact that in a mainly buddhist nation, they still celebrate christmas. apparently christmas in japan is for lovers, so it's not a religious thing. but the station, the arcades and everthing else is deck out for christmas. well as i was riding my bike i saw this house with blinking lights, santas and elves outside. it was just so funny. anyways so i was looking at this in amazment and all of a sudden i turn my head and this bike light is heading towards me...AHHHH!!!!!!! fortunately i swerved to the right and the girl swerved to the left. so after this whole 1 second ordeal i yell out "SUMIMASEN!" (excuse me in japanese) and proceed to head home with my heart beating 100 miles per minute. dude, i didn't even check if the girl fell. whoops! i felt really bad, but i was so in shock. but i guess if she fell i would have heard a thud and a cry right? i'm sure she's fine.