Well,
it seems like its been ages since I lost wrote anything here. I guess
that's probably because it HAS been ages since I last wrote. As a
testament to that fact, my fingers are creaking across the keyboard at a
particularly tepid pace tonight. Anyway, sorry it has been song long
since the last time to wrote. It is unfortunate, because I don't really
even have an excuse. I haven't been terribly busy, but at the same time
there has been plenty for me to write about. I guess I am going through a
bit a detached streak right now. I’m somewhere between homesickness, finally
feeling like I actually live here, and being sad about leaving so soon. It’s an odd place to be in.
Outside
of my minor existential crisis, my life in Japan has been pretty great lately. When I last wrote, I had just taken the
LSAT. Now, that feels like years
ago. The acute, high-level of
stress I was feeling leading up to the test has been replaced by a general
low-level of stress about the future in general. I finished all six of my applications at the end of February and beginning of
March, and now I am waiting to hear back.
I should hear from the first school I applied to sometime in the first
half of April, and everything should be figured out by the beginning of
May. I don’t know what is
worse: the days leading up to the
test or sitting here waiting for things that I have no control over. Anyway, there is nothing I can do about
it, so I’m trying to relax.
In
that vein, I have been keeping relatively busy in the last month. The highlights of March have to include
running a 10k in Nagoya, the resurrection of our Futsal games, a wonderful game
of touch rugby in the mud, and watching the Chunichi Dragons play baseball in
the Nagoya Dome.
The 10k was awesome, but brutal. It was held on March 11th, the first anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant, and was a part of the Nagoya City Marathon. The City Marathon consisted of a 10k, a 21k, and a full 42k marathon, each starting from the same place at the same time. Also running that same day at the same time and the same place was the Nagoya Women’s Marathon. I think this race was a full marathon only, and as the name suggests it was only for the ladies. So, with the four races that day there was something like 30,000 people running. Combine that with the spectators, and it was pretty close to the most people I have ever seen in one place. I ran with three friends, Chinatsu, Machiko, and Jon. I was the youngest of my group by a few years (slightly more than a few in one person’s case!) and finished last. It was a bit embarrassing, but it was a pretty wonderful day. It was also just a training run for the next 10k we are running on April 22nd in Shima, near Ise. That race is going to be crazy, because apparently it’s all up in the mountains along the ocean. I’m pretty pumped for the view, but I hope I survive the race! Wish me luck!
 |
| FUTSAL!!!! |
The
next thing that has been keeping me busy has been Futsal. Futsal is essentially indoor soccer
played outdoors with a slightly smaller ball. Now, anyone who saw me play indoor intramurals or outdoor
for that matter might doubt this next sentence, but the last two times I’ve
played futsal I’ve essentially been the next incarnation of Lionel Messi. No exaggeration. Ok, maybe a slight exaggeration. But only slight. I am a goal-scoring machine!! Goal scoring prowess aside, futsal is a
fantastic way to take your mind off the hook for a while. We get together with 20 or people and run
around like idiots chasing a ball for 2 hours. It’s wonderful.
A lot of the people I only see at futsal, so it’s as much a social event
as it is a sporting event, probably more so for some of us!
My
time in Japan has been full of sporting firsts. I went to my first rugby game last fall, and I played my
first rugby game a couple weeks ago.
A bit of back-story first.
This spring in Japan has apparently been much colder and wetter than
usual. I say apparently because
anytime I can get through March without a blizzard, I feel like I’m doing
pretty well. Anyway, it’s been
persistently chillier than it’s supposed to be. Being stubborn as we are, that didn’t stop us from organizing a
game of touch rugby at a local park.
As has been the case for most of March, it was a cold and rainy day when
we decided to go play. We decided
to tough it out and headed to the park.
About half of us had never played before, so we started with the
basics. Rules and basic throwing
technique took up the first half-hour or so. For all my newfound skills at soccer, I am terrible at
rugby. Something about having to
throw backwards all the time seems terribly counterproductive and I just
couldn’t get the hang of it. Even
though I was severely lacking in the skill department, the game was great. It was muddy and sloppy and tons of
fun. I’m going to add it to the
lists of sports that I love to play even though I am terrible at them. That list now includes hockey, golf,
basketball, soccer, and rugby!
To
cap off a great month in Japan, I was lucky enough to go to a Chunichi Dragons
game in Nagoya! For those of you
who don’t know, the Chunichi Dragons are Nagoya’s pro baseball team. Last year they were central league
champions, and this team has pretty high expectations. It was also the Dragons’ home opener
weekend, so the stadium was packed!
I went with China and Machiko.
China’s dad is a member of the Dragon’s fan club, so China had a pair of
tickets to the second game of the season.
We had three people for two tickets, so we had to buy another when we
got to the stadium. Unfortunately,
there were no tickets left in our area, so we were forced to buy a lower level
ticket instead. None of us really
wanted to sit alone though, so we just sat together in the club level and hoped
that none of our neighboring seats filled up. We weren’t that lucky, but we got the next best thing. A random college student came all alone
and sat next to us in the seat that Machiko was illegally occupying. China and Machiko asked him if he wouldn’t
mind trading seats with us, and since the extra ticket we had was twice as
expensive as the one he had purchased, he agreed, and we could all sit together
happily ever after. The game
itself was great too. The opposing
team was the Hiroshima Carp, and they were about as terrible as their name
suggests. The game was over after
the first inning with the Dragons leading 2-0. The final score was 9-0 and the best part of the game was
the fact the China’s crush was the player of the game. Mr. Ibata was 3 for 4 from the plate
and made some great plays at shortstop.
All in all the game was pretty great. Both the Hiroshima fans and the Dragons fans were super
entertaining. They had songs for
each of their players, and they brought instruments and flags into the
seats. It was really cool to
listen to. I even learned a few
lines of the Dragons’ song!
Well,
that just about sums up my last month or so! Happy Easter everyone!
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