Bicycle safety

I enjoy my crosswalk duty job but I must admit these days I am earning my salary! Yesterday I spent half an hour shoveling snow with the principal and vice principal. Usually I leave the snow shoveling around our house to Tetsu but yesterday at the crosswalk and on the sidewalk area leading to another neighborhood, there was enough snow to keep us three school people busy. I think the principal came back later in the morning and shoveled some more. And this morning I was out spreading sand around the intersection in hopes to keep cars and children from slipping. My arms are tired!

Another traffic safety job that I have that only comes up twice a year is helping with the bicycle safety program. Yesterday there was a special class on bicycle safety for the 6th graders. (I went to another school a couple of weeks ago so I have fulfilled my bicycle safety class duties for the year.)

In April all the new jr. high school 1st year students will be riding their school bicycles to their school and the city makes sure they know "how" to ride a bicycle. Well, they know how of course but anyway, three crosswalk guards and two policeman showed up at the school with remote control traffic signals and stop signs and we mapped out a bicycle course in the school gym for the kids to ride through. I suppose everyone had fun. I learned about bicycle riding. Did you know that you are supposed to mount a bike from the left side because cars are going by you on the right side of your bike? At least in Japan. I wonder how that works in the States with cars and bicycles driving on the right side of the street. I never rode a bicycle in traffic in the States and I've never thought about which side is the "correct" side to mount a bicycle...