Neighborhood Hirakata

I live in a city near Osaka called Hirakata City. It's

a really big place; I just found out yesterday that

I've only seen half of the city, and I've been here for six months.

I've never thought I'd truly comfortable here. To be truthful, I thought I'd be a lot more mobile,

taking weekly trips to Osaka and Kyoto to see some Japanese history, but that hasn't necessarily been the story. Hirakata is so vast that I can spend an entire day exploring new neighborhoods while riding my bike in one direction.

It's very easy to get to the downtown area; quite literally, it is

located in the lower section of the city, at the bottom of a giant and fairly hazardous cement hill. The Keihan railway system

intersects Hirakata, with one direction leading you to Kyoto and

one to Osaka. Next to the downtown area is a central park area and the Hirakata Main Bridge. A big, bright lake flows underneath it and next to the park grounds, where people ride bikes, fly kites, and play sports in the soccer field.

If you want books, movies, and fast food, Hirakata's got it. You can really get an idea of the

typical Japanese lifestyle if you stay here long enough.