Surfing

Recently I have been surfing a lot. Usually, in a good month, I get out 2 times, but in the last 7 weeks, I've been out a whopping 5 times!

Mostly I leave my surf board at the surf shop in Onjuku. However, because I wanted to go surfing with a friend elsewhere, I brought my board home. I was so nervous to take it on the train. I had visions of broken fins and lots of dents. Luckily it was fine.

One thing that bothered me was that people kept getting too close to my board. It seemed that they were trying to tempt me. The whole time in the train when people were too close I was stressed out. I was worried they would kick my board, or hit my fins, or fall on it. Luckily (for the crowders) nothing happened and no board protecting tactics had to be employed. 

The next time I went surfing, I had to bring my board back. I got quite a few stares from people stumbling out of bars and host clubs at 6 am in the morning while carrying my board. Taking my board on the train was fine, it was just sad because I couldn't sleep. So I was quite tired as I missed out on my naps on the train. But it was nothing a little red bull or monster couldn't fix.

While I dreaded bringing my board on the train, it turned out to be fine, however, the trains were not so crowded. I have a feeling in a crowded station or car, it would be awful. As it was, with the scarcity of people, I almost hit people with my board. I needed a signal to let people know they should clear the way because I was coming through. Hehehe. If my board were any longer, there would be lots of problems. At 7'2" it is the perfect size for train travel. 

My baby's first train ride. 

The beach. This is Katagai beach. It is north of where I usually surf. This day was before a typhoon, so the waves were HUGE. They were more than huge, the sets were all over the place and the frequency of the waves was high. We didn't surf here. 

This is Hebara. The beach next to Onjuku. It was also pretty much unsurfable with a long board. Paddling out was big trouble. The surfers that went out took a long time to paddle out and then they just hung out not catching waves because they were big, and because they probably didn't want to have to paddle out again.

This is Onjuku, Hama beach. We decided to surf here and it was fun but still very difficult. We couldn't paddle out far and there was a very strong current pushing is towards the middle beach (chuo beach). So that left us playing in the soup, as the Japanese call it. To westerners, soup is known as white water, where the waves have broken, and it's smaller and safer than further out. Unfortunately, or fortunately, there was a lifeguarding competition on chuo beach, so I had to keep exiting the water and walking back to where I first got in. At one point, some lifeguards that were competing in a kayak event lost their kayak. I had just finished surfing a wave and resurfacing, found that the kayak was upon me and lifeguards were running toward me. I was lucky because if there had been a strong wave slightly sooner it would have slammed the kayak right into me and my board. At least there were lots of potential rescuers.

This weekend I won't surf, but I probably will next weekend. I'm loving all the time in the water :)

Oct 4-5, Eastern Japan ALT Soccer Tournament

At the beginning of October, the Saitama JETs participated in a soccer tournament in Nagano. This is the same tournament as last year. We had two teams: a boys team, and a girls team. This year was a little different because I was in charge of organizing our teams this year. Those who know me, probably know that I'm not an organizer, or even organized, but due to my passion for the game and senior status (and for lack of any volunteers), I was asked to do it. Organizing is much different than simply paying your money and going, but in the end everything worked out, so I'm relieved. 

On Friday Oct. 3, most of the team headed up to Nagano on the Shinkansen. It's really fun to travel together on the Shinkansen. Everyone buys snacks and drinks and it's a relaxing time. The funny thing is, as a group if foreigners, we are either very annoying or very scary, as Japanese people move away (if they can) when we sit by them. It's called the foreign bubble. It even happens to foreigners travelling alone on the trains. For example, if I sit down on the train and there is a spot next to me open, usually no one will sit there, even if the entire train is crowded and people are standing. It's very strange and a little unnerving at times. Anyway, on the Friday night, the train to Nagano was quite full, so we stood at the end of the car together, so no Japanese felt compelled to move. However, I'm sure they were scared off going to the bathroom, because that's where we were standing. 

Once we arrived at Ueda station, we were picked up by the hotel shuttle and whisked away to the Hotel Yamabiko. Upon arrival, we went to our rooms, and as usual, we were given the same rooms as previous times. The girls' room is huge, so everyone usually congregates there. After settling in everyone went to have a soak in the Onsen. Onsen are separated by sex, so the girls have their own and the boys theirs. Where the girls have a nice, peaceful, relaxing soak, the boys do something quite different. The stories the boys told about their bonding experience in the Onsen were hilarious, almost enough to entertain the idea of being a fly on the wall. Almost.

After the Onsen, everyone came back to the girls room to talk, chill out, and in the case of the boys, discuss strategy for the games the next day.

The strategy for the boys team. He he. 

Chilling in the girls room.

The next day, we had a full schedule if games. Each team would play 4 games. Unfortunately the girls tournament only had 3 teams, so we played each team twice. The boys had 9 teams, so they had a more interesting albeit challenging tournament. 

The pitch at Sania Sports Park in Sugadaira, Nagano.

The girls had a good day, we won 2, tied 1, and lost 1. The boys had a good day, because they won a game! It was the last game of the day that the boys won 2-0. I also played in the game, because by that time, the boys were getting pretty tired with no subs. 

Playing with the boys. 

Day 1 girls team. 

After a full day of playing games, it was time to go back to the hotel, wash up, dip in the Onsen, eat and then party!

 Having drinks and snacks in the girls room. Private Saiborgs party.

Don't know what's going on here. Something funny.

Everyone had to be up early the next day as the games were starting earlier than usual due to the incoming typhoon. The weather was awful. It was windy and pouring rain. The girls only had one game, the championship game. Unfortunately, we lost, but the refs were ridiculous and we just gave up. People were tired, cold, wet and a little mad about the reffing. So in the end, we lost the game 1-0. We came 2nd place, again. However, we were okay because we got a trophy and chuhis (fruit cocktail drinks). 

They made me drink from the trophy on the bus.

The boys had to play two more games so I played with them as they were tired, wet and cold, just like the girls. We lost both games, but oh well. 

2014 Saitama Saiborgs

We made it back home before the full force of the typhoon. Once again, we took the Shinkansen. This time we were able to sit, resulting in dirty looks by other passengers (they eventually moved - the foreign bubble strikes again). It was a lot of fun, mostly I was relieved because everything went smoothly :)