Well, the cherry blossoms have fallen and we are now in the full swing of springtime. The weather is unpredictable as always, swinging dramatically between downpours, thunderstorms, near-typhoons, chilly overcast, pleasantly warm showers and gorgeous spring sunshine. Its difficult to know what to bring when you step out your door! The morning that starts cold and blustery has equal chances of ending in a typhoon or a glorious sunny day. Ok, I will try to move away from the weather now, but as Sydney can tell you, it is one of my favorite topics.
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| One of the few non-blurry pictures |
When I last wrote I had just returned from a glorious weekend of cherry blossoms and picnics. I am still in awe of the beauty that is Japan in spring. It was amazing. Riding your bike to work could quickly become the most beautiful part of your day. Going to the supermarket made you lament leaving your camera at home. For two weeks, running became more than a necessary bit of exercise; it became an artistic adventure. I am now the proud owner of a whole iPhoto album full of blurry pictures of cherry trees taken on the run.
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| 2k in and still smiling! |
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Running through rice fields, soon
to head up the second mountain. |
Now that is all over, and I am forced to find new motivations for running. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you feel about running) I was signed up for the Shima Marathon by some of my friends here. Don't get too excited, Japanese people call any sort of running race a marathon regardless of distance, I only ran the 10k race. Shima is a city about an hour and a half south of my current home town, in Mie Prefecture. It is near the somewhat famous city of Ise which is the home of the Ise Shrines and lots of delicious seafood. Shima is right on the coast, and is a great destination for scenic sightseers. The whole area is particularly mountainous and the course was designed to take advantage of both elements. That unfortunately involved a lot of very literal ups and downs for me while running. The mountains of Shima are not particularly tall, reaching a very humble 700 meters at their highest, but when you find yourself running up one, it seems to channel its inner Pike's Peak. The 10k course brought us to the top of two different mountains and let us run for about a kilometer along the ocean as well. It was really the most beautiful run I've ever done. Boulder, Co is beautiful, but that course didn't really take advantage of its scenic-ness to the extent the Shima course did.
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Many, many people beat me
across the finish line! |
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| Triumphant Machiko! |
The race was on April 22nd, and that day with stay with me for quite a long time. Sorry to get back on the weather track, but it really did shape that day. I woke up that morning at about 5:30 am, and for those of you who know me well, that was quite a challenge by itself. I looked out my window and was treated to a blast of cold, wet wind. It appeared to be the start of an early spring tropical storm or something of that like. I seriously considered calling up my co-runners and canceling, but decided against it. I got picked up by my friend Machiko and we drove to the third member of our running party's house to wait for the fourth member. At Jon's Chinatsu met us and informed us that she would not be running in this weather. After much ridicule and name calling, we left Jon's house and started our 1.5 hour drive to Shima. We got there around 9:30, registered, and got ready for the race. Running costumes are already pretty ridiculous on there own (dudes in tiny shorts and tank tops, bright colors, and sports bras) but the weather had inspired some truly hilarious outfits. People in plastic bags, parkas, ponchos, and raincoats were in great supply. Somehow Jon, Machiko and myself managed to be late for the start of the race, so we had to go on our own. Since the weather was so miserable, Jon and I decided to entertain ourselves for the first couple of kilometers by singing silly songs to each other. The hits of the day included "Oh When the Saints Go Marching In," "The Man of La Mancha," and of course, "Singing in the Rain." Needless to say our fellow runners thought we were ridiculous. It was a pretty enjoyable race given the conditions and the challenging nature of the course. I can honestly say that I enjoyed that race.
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The view from my beach reading
session. Its ok to be jealous. |
I appear to be telling my story a little out of order, so let me apologize and skip back about a week before the race. I've said it before and I will say it again: I have fantastic friends. My birthday is April 18th, and I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday with fellow April babies Katsuya and Rika. We started the party with a barbeque at Jon's place, where we drank some beers and cooked some über delicious blue cheese burgers courtesy of our lovable Austrian friend Flo. Post-picnic, we moved on to a karaoke house called Japan Rent-a-Car, which incidentally is the most random combination of businesses ever: a car rental shop, mechanic shop, and a karaoke club. We sang for a couple hours and then carried the party over to the Melting pOt bar. It was quite the birthday experience!
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Crazy, scary waves in the
background |
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| Wet-suit up! |
Now to bring my story's erratic timeline up to the present, I am currently on vacation! In Japan, we are currently celebrating Golden Week, which is some sort of collection of holidays that all happen around the same time. I don't really understand the whole thing, but basically it means that I have 8 days off of work! I started off on a sour note, substitute teaching for Sarah's weekend class because her brother is in Japan for the next 10 days. Apparently, she thought that she could spend her limited time with her brother more productively than in the classroom. Go figure. I did manage to turn the day around pretty well. After work, I rode my bike down to the beach and camped out under some pine trees to read my book relax in the shade. It was a marvelous way to spend an afternoon. I'm currently reading "Youth in Revolt" and enjoying it immensely. The weather the next couple of days was not quite so forgiving, but Sarah, her brother Casey and I have still managed to have a good time. Sarah and Casey went to Kyoto and I made my triumphant return to the surfing lifestyle! My first time was on a gloriously sunny and warm day. This most recent attempt took place in some of the biggest surf my friend Jo has ever experienced. We were out in the ocean on the front edge of an incoming storm swell. I don't know the proper surfing term for the waves, but they were ranging from 9 to 12 feet, and scared me pretty thoroughly. I stayed close to shore and watched as Jon and his friend Masashi got their butts kicked by the surf. I didn't manage to successfully stand up on a wave, but I had a blast anyway. When we had had enough, we got lunch at a great little sushi place and headed home. Now, I am sitting in my apartment waiting for tomorrow when I will be heading up to Shiga Prefecture for two days of exploring Japan's largest lake by bicycle. Wish me luck!
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| Mmmm, sushi and tempura! |
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