I'm Freaked Out

On Thursday, I went to Joyful Honda to get a new bike b/c the tire on my old bike was completely gone, and plus I had wanted a new bike for a while anyway.

This morning (Saturday), I rode my bike to the train station and left it there to take the train with Ann to Shibukawa for a cooking class. The class was decent but we didn't cook anything I think I'd be making by myself at home...all too Japanesy...with gobo (burdock) and everything. Anyway, it was good to visit Shibukawa and see some other JETs. After Shibukawa, Ann and I trained to Takasaki to meet up with Jenny, Jeff, and later Anna to do some shopping. It was all very successful and all of us made some nice purchases, especially Jenny, with her oh-so-British coat from the GAP. It's like they made the coat with her in mind? I dunno how that's possible but let's just say it was a perfect fit.

Anyway, after lots of shopping and eating, we all trained back to our own apts. When I returned to Kizaki station, I went to where I left my bike and realized that it had been stolen. I had only bought the bike 2 days ago and it was already gone. I WAS PISSED. I had to walk back from the station to my apt, but luckily, I live very close so the walk was not bad at all. As I reached my apt, I saw my old bike (still w/ the flat tire), but I also saw another bike parked next to it. It looked a lot like my new bike...the one that had just been stolen from the station. I walked up to it, took a closer look, and realized from the serial # that that was indeed my bike. I thought I was going insane. Did I actually just walk to the train station and not bike at all? How did the bike end up back at my apt? Anyway, as I inserted my key into the bike lock, I saw that the lock had been pried completely open. Someone had definitely stolen my bike at the station. I looked for a note from the cops on the bike, in my mail slot, but nothing. Do the cops just find random stolen bikes and return them to the exact location where it belongs w/o leaving any trace of even a note? That seems weird to me. If not, then this just means that SOMEONE went through the trouble of stealing my bike from the station and rode it all the way to my apt and left it there....only to not have a bike in the end. Freakin' scary yo!!! Am I being STALKED? HOW did this person know where I live? Can it be a student...although I can't imagine my students doing this. Whoever did it, it is some scary-as shit. I am afraid to go outside my apt tonight. I wish I knew who did it. I need to investigate this further on Monday...w/ my JTE and the cops. Maybe I SHOULD carry that personal panic alarm I got from my school from now on. Or WAIT...am I just being paranoid??? Okay, I need to get to the bottom of this because as you can imagine, seeing your bike parked outside your apt when you had originally left it at the train station is FREAKIN' SCARY.