When I was fresh out of college, I moved to Japan for two years and taught in a rural school in the backwater city of Morioka. I lived in a modern apartment which even had a card key entry and a computer-controlled bath/shower. This was in direct contrast to the very humble facilities at the school. These days, the school is completely unrecognizable with modern buildings and facilities and it has changed so much that I can't really orient myself to the structures I knew and inhabited. Perhaps the biggest change was the conversion to modern bathrooms. When I taught at the school, there were bathrooms, and they had western toilets...but they were essentially indoor outhouses...no plumbing...no flushing...just a straight drop to the murky depths.
One day, I remember using the facilities and hearing a sound (when there should not have been one). I didn't think much of it and went back to work, finishing the teaching day. As usual, I rode my bike home and went to remove my card key from my wallet when I suddenly realized there WAS no wallet. My brain did the reverse scan of my day and paused at the mysterious "plop." Suddenly everything came into rich focus...money...credit cards...identification...all sitting in a deep pile of...
The next day, after I'd made my peace with what had befallen me, I went to school and was greeted by another teacher who smiled at me and said "You're so lucky!" Knowing that he knew of my situation, I couldn't imagine how he could say that...unless...unless the wallet HADN'T ended up where I'd supposed and was safe and sound in my desk! It was then that he swung his other arm around revealing a ziplock bag...inside of which...was my wallet...looking all the worse for the wear.
Evidently, the school administrator had gone fishing. How he retrieved it, I'll never know...and never CARE to know. But I spent the morning scrubbing Yen and credit cards with an old toothbrush.
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