Dartboard

Yesterday I pulled out and wore my jacket for the first time since last winter, and I wore socks to bed last night. I’m using my futon cover at night instead of just a sheet. I turned my water heater from small to medium strength. I think it’s finally becoming fall.

Saturday I had a total of 3 hours of video chatting with my mom, George and Daniel. Since summer I’ve been too busy to get online much, so I’ve missed instant messaging at school and video chatting on the weekends. It was good to see their faces and hear their voices again.

Some more pictures from the triathlon.

The triathlon was at 海の道 (umi no michi) in Fukuoka. A beautiful park.

Our little spot in the park. Everyone in their spandex and bare backs. I felt so modest!

We finished!! My team members are Asagami (left) and Kiyomi (right).

Me and my bike.

A big group of us.

The home stretch. This is the last part of the run and the finish line ahead.

My triathlete friends!! Remember I met them in Narao in June?!? I was so happy to see them again! Shige on the right didn’t race today because there were too many people and he’s training for a Worldwide Iron Man Triathlon in Australia next year. But he cheered us on!

And this is me and Naomi!!!!! We were both the third racer in our relay group so we were biking at the same time. She yelled “Hi Sierra!!!” from her bike as we were going around a curve. Of course, she passed me very quickly in that first lap and I never saw her again, but that also means she didn’t lap me!!

And this is Naomi on the cover of Triathlon Magazine.

Isn’t she cute? This weekend she is at the World Championships in Hawaii!!

Then there was another party that night. Here’s the plate of sashimi with fish head included!

Kawazoe drinking amaizake (a sweet rice alcohol). I don’t like sake, but this stuff was good! They passed the cup around to table until it was all gone.

After the race I was exhausted. I don’t just mean tired. I was unable to keep my eyes open no matter where we went or what we did. I chose to sleep rather than take a shower before our party. Although it wasn’t much of a choice, I just couldn’t get up. The whole week before the triathlon I had slept very little—I had just gotten back from Okinawa and was really busy at work and at all my after school activities. It wasn’t just the triathlon that did it, but a whole week of sleeping late and getting up early (5 a.m. on the day of the race), then pushing myself so hard at the triathlon.

Sunday night after our party in Fukuoka, I went back to Omura with Kondo-san. I stayed at his house with his wife because the next morning I had to get my driver’s license in Omura. I slept in the car from Fukuoka to Omura and when I got to the Kondo house I finally took a shower and a hot bath. I don’t usually take baths, but in Japanese homes the bath is filled and heated every night. Almost like a one-person hot tub. It looked so wonderful so I had to partake!! Then Kondo-san gave me ice for my knee (it was hurting a little from the bike) and I stayed awake just long enough to be polite before I crashed in their daughter’s bed. I slept so hard I can’t remember anything except when I woke up I was finally well rested!

Kondo-san had work the next morning, but his wife made me breakfast and invited me to her “stretch class” at 10 a.m. We had a great time driving up to this beautiful building in the mountains of Omura, looking at the cosmos and enjoying the drive.

The building was a log cabin!!

I had no idea what to expect at this “stretch class” but it was almost like yoga. There was annoying music playing in the background, but in generally the stretches and exercises were very relaxing for my worn-out body. I was very content.

These are the yoga ladies. I loved this room.

Kondo-san was great. When I was with her, I felt like I was home. We got some ice cream before she finally dropped me off at the testing center that afternoon. She invited me back to Omura to hang out sometime. I hope I make time to go.

I’ve got scuba in an hour so I have to race off.
All my love, Sierra

When the sun breaks through the clouds to shine on the distant ocean, it’s brilliant.

Finally here to post pictures from the triathlon. These first ones are from the party we had in Fukuoka the night before the race. They all think they’re faster if they drink beer the night before.

Silly kids.

This is Kawazoe-san.

We slept 雑魚寝　(pronounced “zakone”) in Mr. Kawazoe’s tiny Fukuoka apartment. Because our group of about eight people had eight bikes, we took three SUVs everywhere we went. I rode with Kawazoe almost everywhere and we had some great conversations together. I even started looking forward to our car rides because I learned so much and had such a great time.

Sometimes I meet someone that I really wish could be my host father or mother, and he was definitely one of them. He didn’t speak English, but spoke Japanese that I could understand. When I didn’t understand a word, he would explain it to me clearly until I understood. He used the word 雑魚寝　actually, and when I didn’t understand, he wrote out the kanji for me so I knew it had something to do with fish and sleeping, then he drew a little picture of a bunch of people sleeping side-by-side until I realized it meant a many people sleeping in a small room. “Packed like sushi” is a similar expression.

We had the same camera so the picture above and this one are us taking pictures of each others cameras.

This is the woman that called me fat.

All of us outside the restaurant.

Walking home with one of the group members. These guys are really strong triathletes—they often win first place for their age group. Imagine if they didn’t drink so much the night before the race—how much faster would they be?

I know this isn't even from the day of the triathlon, but I had to post SOMETHING because I was sick of having that other post on my front page.

Goodnight, Sierra

1. Kindergarten teacher’s name: I couldn’t answer this for any K-4 teacher if it were the million dollar question. 5th and 6th though—I remember their full names.
2. Last person you kissed: a 20-year old Japanese guy.
3. Last word you said: “Bye”
4. Last song you sang: Kreba’s “Natsu ga owaru” (in Japanese!!!)
5. Last person you hugged: The last good hug was from Joelle or Steven this summer.
6. Last thing you laughed at: with my students in 2-2A last period, we were just being silly.
7. Last time you went running: for any substantial distance, Oct 2nd triathlon.
8. What's in your CD player:
house: The Boom (an Okinawan band)
car: a mix CD from the last person I kissed.
9. What socks are you wearing: no socks, just indoor school shoes.
10. What's under your bed: once I take it out of the closet and unfold it, tatami
11. Current taste: sesame seed dressing (I ate over my salad).
12. Current deodorant: secret solid.
13. Current hair style: down.
14. Current clothes: a red skirt (a hand-me-down from Kerry’s predecessor!), a black Adidas top, and hyakuen shoes.
15. Current job: English teacher.
16. Current longing: for an email from Naoki
17: Current events: every morning from BBC and CNN.
18. Current worry: the falling dollar.
19. Current hate: cigarettes.
20. Story behind your name: named after a horse.
21. Current favorite article of clothing: jeans.
22. Favorite physical feature(s) of the opposite sex: tall and dark skin.
the same sex: …shorter than I, I guess.
23. Last CD that you bought: The Boom (Shima Uta) and Begin
24. Favorite place to be: at our family farm
25. Least favorite place to be: dirty public toilets
26. Time you wake up in the morning: between 6:09 and 7:40 a.m.
27. If you could play a new instrument, what would it be? guitar
28. Half your age: 11.5
29. Current favorite word/saying: “natsu ga owaru mamonaku”
30. Favorite book: 1st my Spanish to English dictionary. 2nd Kanji and Kana
31. Last video/DVD you rented: Friends Season 2
32. Favorite top 2 bands or songs: constantly changing, now it’s Sister Hazel and Begin
33. One person from your present you wish you didn’t have to talk to: my boss.
34. One person from your past you wish you could talk to again: my father.
35. Favorite day: a happy day.
36. Where do you want to go: many places, but the next most realistic places I’ll go are China and Hokkaido.
37. What is your career going to be: international student adviser
38. Back-up plan: EFL university professor.
39. What kind of car will you have: the one I need and can afford.
40. A random lyric: “I hope that I don’t fall in love with you.”
41. Eye Color: green
42. Hair Color: reddish brown
43. Height: 174 cm
44. Righty or Lefty: righty
45. Zodiac Sign: “She’s a Libra”
46. Innie or Outtie: innie
47. Describe your heritage: 1/4 irish 1/4 czech, 1/2 unknown
48: Shoes you wore today: gray runners (‘cause I rode my bike to work)
49. Your hair: frustrating 360 days a year
50. Your weakness: foreign men with accents and cookie dough ice cream.
51. Your unrealistic fear: something happening to my air supply while scuba diving.
52. Your realistic fear: ascending or descending too quickly and injuring my ears while scuba diving.
53. Your most recent secret: like I’d tell you!
54. Your thoughts first waking up: “breakfast!”
55. The first feature you notice in the opposite/same sex: height, then face.
56. Your bedtime: last night, around 11 p.m.
57. Your most missed companion: my mom
58. Your perfect pizza: pineapple and cheese
59. Sweet and chewy or salty and crunchy: depends, am I on my period?
60. Single or group dates: both for different reasons.
61. Dogs or cats: if I’m settled down, a dog; in transition, a cat.
62. Lipton ice tea or nestea: water
63. Chocolate or vanilla: vanilla (if it’s ice cream or cake)
64. Coffee: mocha
65. Smoking: will not be tolerated.
66. Cursing: when injured or provoked.
67. Singing: in the car.
68. Take a shower everyday: there are rare occasions, but because I workout so much I rarely go without a daily washing.
69. Have a crush: always.
70. Have a g/f or b/f: a J-boy
71. Think you've been in love: I know I have been.
72. Want to go to college: graduated, but continuing next year.
73. Want more than what you've got: usually.
74. Want to get married: the sooner the better... =)
75. Type with your fingers on the right keys: thanks to “Mavis Bacon Teaches Typing.”
76. Think you're attractive: Not since the florescent light in my bathroom.
77. Think you're a health freak: Heathlier than the average American.
78. Get along with your parents: always have.
79. Play an instrument: I guess I can't really say "the flute in 5th grade" anymore.
80. Do you think this went on too long: a little.

Scuba is fun, but absolutely exhausting. I had my first two training sessions this weekend—and they were great—but I’m so tired now. I’m looking at the clock now at 9 p.m. and thinking—BEDTIME!

Scuba’s fun when you have someone who takes care of all the complicated stuff for you. When you’re controlling your own air and buoyancy, it’s frightening! The hardest part is remembering to breathe when something scary is happening. I always think holding my breath is going to help things, but sometimes—especially when I’m floating to the surface too quickly—I just need to empty my lungs.

There’s a lot to learn about scuba and it’s all very frightening right now, but I’m sure the more I practice the more comfortable I’ll become. I’m looking forward to when I don’t have to think about technicalities and can just enjoy my surroundings. In the meantime, my brain is exhausted from all the training.

I will put up my triathlon photos tomorrow or Tuesday. I’ve made the first step to getting them online, now I just have to write the blog and code.

Soon.

The new iPods have just come out and how tempting they are! If displaying color photos wasn’t enough, they now play video, too. Since my trusty old iPod seems to have finally died and isn’t coming back from the grave I may be justified in purchasing one of these bad boys, but getting on the Apple website is always a dangerous activity. I started looking at new PowerBooks as well! I’m going to try to hold out for the G5 as Daniel recommended, but this Titanium is getting so out of date! It’s still an awesome computer, of course, but the money in my pocket is burning a hole and begging to be spent on new technology.

The Titanium has it’s problems. The overheating is getting worse. Right now, even though it’s cool in my room and I have it propped up so it’s not touching any surface, the fan is running. Recently, it’s been running constantly. And although I had a new top cover installed before I left Japan, the edges are beginning to chip again. The Velveteen Rabbit is a nice story and all, but I can’t wait for the day I can sport the new 12 inch.

I guess I should remember the most important thing—it still runs like a dream—and that’ll keep me satisfied until the G5 enters my life.

Love and technology,
Sierra