Friday, March 11, 2005
All Americans wear sexy underwear to bed, even in the winter
The wind is howling outside. My sliding glass doors are shaking and rattling and I can see the trees on the hillside outside my apartment are being whipped around. Why is the weather so warm and nice during the week, but turn nasty on the weekends? Just yesterday I wrote a short story about the arrival of spring, but the forecast for this weekend? Snow!
This morning I woke up with a mild sore throat. It’s no surprise really—everyone is sick right now. I just don’t want influenza (or “inhuruensa” as it’s pronounced here). This sore throat is very mild compared to most people. It doesn’t even hurt actually, it’s just red and inflamed. When I get “sick” it’s usually so mild that I only barely know that I got exposed to something and then it’s over. I bet this will not even last the weekend. A strong immune system is God’s greatest gift.
Last night I went up to the pool before going to karate. Both Thursday and Friday I was in the pool by 5 o’clock—at the same time as the small children’s lesson. Ages 6-8 or so. There’s only one free lane open at that time, but I’m usually the only person there so it’s not a problem. Ryohei (an employee who usually works as a trainer in the gym) and Tanabe both teach this group of kids and so we all sat around in the onsen (jacuzzi) chatting before it started. Ryohei’s English is really good. It sounds like he has lived in an English-speaking country for some time, but actually, I don't think he’s even visited one. I always ask him how he got to be so good, but he just says by talking to people. He doesn’t study, he says. Maybe he just has a knack for languages.
Ryohei asked about Kerry and her mom before telling me that his mother too has cancer. However, she is terminally ill with brain cancer. As he was telling me this he looked so sad that the American in me wanted to give him a big hug, or at least pat him on the shoulder to comfort him. But the Japanese inside me wouldn’t let me touch him. I had to force myself not to reach out because I know physical contact would have made him more uncomfortable than would have been comforting.
I met Ryohei back in August in the gym. He was working out when I arrived to lift weights and he came right up to me and started talking in English. For a minute I felt like I wasn’t in Japan. Actually I felt like I was back in Mexico. I don’t know why I felt like I was in Mexico. It may have been being in the gym (because I used the gym religiously in Mexico), combined with the fact that Ryohei’s English was so understandable, or because he is so un-Japanese in both personality and looks. Ryohei is not only really tall, but he is huge. He lifts a lot of weights and is… huge. Not fat—more like The Incredible Hulk. It may be his body type, but he looks Mexican to me. And he is relaxed around foreigners—willing to walk right up and start talking. I liked that.
Ryohei’s wife had just given birth to their first son when we first met. The baby was about a week old and I’ll never remember the first thing he told me about him. “It is always crying.” It. Not he. It. He sounded less overjoyed and more annoyed that this crying-machine had entered his life. Things are different now. He speaks lovingly of “it.” Maybe parenting comes a little slower to some of us, but I think he’ll be a great father.
Tanabe and I talked about baseball. Boring! I hate baseball, but I dated a enough baseball players in high school that I can tolerate it. Daniel and I went to a baseball game in Portland that I quite enjoyed. You just have to learn how to follow the game and keep yourself entertained between plays. The games are slow, but their pants are tight. It’s a trade-off. Tanabe has a game this Sunday that he invited me to, but it will probably be canceled with the snow. Next weekend, maybe. If watching baseball is what it takes to get friends my own age here, then I guess I’ll make that sacrifice.
Karate was great last night, too. Because everyone is sick the class is really small. Even Matsuzono-sensei was sick, and we went home after our opening greetings. Koichiro and I are practicing for our next test which is on Friday, March 25th. We’ll both take the 4-kyu test for a purple belt. Suyama-sensei (another Nakako teacher) will be taking 2-kyu for his brown belt. They asked me again if I’ll participate in the World-Wide Renshinkan Competition in Kumamoto-ken in November. They can only have two people from our school go and I feel bad that I’ll be taking one of those spots. I’m sure there are students that deserve to go before me. But they say I could do well and I should go for the experience if nothing else. I have to learn many kata before November though.
Koichiro and I practiced the two new things that will be on our next test. This winter I’ve attended class much more often them him so I had to catch him up on a lot. The entire class it was just the two of us punching each other and defending ourselves. Just the way I like it. He’s so cute and so much fun—we can’t stop smiling when we’re together. Last Tuesday at practice when Matsuzono-sensei was teaching Koichirio and I something and we couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. I was gently reprimanded for not taking it seriously. But Koichiro was smiling just as much as I was and the more we tried to be serious, the harder it was not to laugh. You know how it goes.
Also last night, as we were just hanging around, I absentmindedly did a yoga pose—standing bow-pulling pose—and everyone gaped at my flexibility. I'm quite used to people being impressed with how flexible my legs are, but Koichiro was really impressed. In class everyday part of the warm up is doing the splits and Koichiro and I are the only ones who come even close to being able to do them (besides the kids under 6 years). Koichiro wanted to try bow-pulling pose, and we spent about 20 minutes working on that posture together—me demonstrating and correcting his positioning. He’s not very good at it yet, but he has the potential. I told him to practice in the sauna at the pool when his muscles are relaxed and warm. Or I said he could come down to my apartment and do yoga with me every morning at 6 a.m. He just laughed.
I’m having some doubts about my blog. I’m doing a lot of thinking about why I post “the diary of my life” on the internet. Who reads it anyway? Why does (if anyone) read the pages and pages of things I write on here? I wonder if I’m being too personal or descriptive about my job or the people around me. It’s one thing to write about myself, but I write about everyone. I’ll take this weekend to think about it, but reading Dooce’s website and some of my friends who have recently started their own blogs, has made me reconsider what I’m doing here.
Lost in thought,
Sierra
This morning I woke up with a mild sore throat. It’s no surprise really—everyone is sick right now. I just don’t want influenza (or “inhuruensa” as it’s pronounced here). This sore throat is very mild compared to most people. It doesn’t even hurt actually, it’s just red and inflamed. When I get “sick” it’s usually so mild that I only barely know that I got exposed to something and then it’s over. I bet this will not even last the weekend. A strong immune system is God’s greatest gift.
Last night I went up to the pool before going to karate. Both Thursday and Friday I was in the pool by 5 o’clock—at the same time as the small children’s lesson. Ages 6-8 or so. There’s only one free lane open at that time, but I’m usually the only person there so it’s not a problem. Ryohei (an employee who usually works as a trainer in the gym) and Tanabe both teach this group of kids and so we all sat around in the onsen (jacuzzi) chatting before it started. Ryohei’s English is really good. It sounds like he has lived in an English-speaking country for some time, but actually, I don't think he’s even visited one. I always ask him how he got to be so good, but he just says by talking to people. He doesn’t study, he says. Maybe he just has a knack for languages.
Ryohei asked about Kerry and her mom before telling me that his mother too has cancer. However, she is terminally ill with brain cancer. As he was telling me this he looked so sad that the American in me wanted to give him a big hug, or at least pat him on the shoulder to comfort him. But the Japanese inside me wouldn’t let me touch him. I had to force myself not to reach out because I know physical contact would have made him more uncomfortable than would have been comforting.
I met Ryohei back in August in the gym. He was working out when I arrived to lift weights and he came right up to me and started talking in English. For a minute I felt like I wasn’t in Japan. Actually I felt like I was back in Mexico. I don’t know why I felt like I was in Mexico. It may have been being in the gym (because I used the gym religiously in Mexico), combined with the fact that Ryohei’s English was so understandable, or because he is so un-Japanese in both personality and looks. Ryohei is not only really tall, but he is huge. He lifts a lot of weights and is… huge. Not fat—more like The Incredible Hulk. It may be his body type, but he looks Mexican to me. And he is relaxed around foreigners—willing to walk right up and start talking. I liked that.
Ryohei’s wife had just given birth to their first son when we first met. The baby was about a week old and I’ll never remember the first thing he told me about him. “It is always crying.” It. Not he. It. He sounded less overjoyed and more annoyed that this crying-machine had entered his life. Things are different now. He speaks lovingly of “it.” Maybe parenting comes a little slower to some of us, but I think he’ll be a great father.
Tanabe and I talked about baseball. Boring! I hate baseball, but I dated a enough baseball players in high school that I can tolerate it. Daniel and I went to a baseball game in Portland that I quite enjoyed. You just have to learn how to follow the game and keep yourself entertained between plays. The games are slow, but their pants are tight. It’s a trade-off. Tanabe has a game this Sunday that he invited me to, but it will probably be canceled with the snow. Next weekend, maybe. If watching baseball is what it takes to get friends my own age here, then I guess I’ll make that sacrifice.
Karate was great last night, too. Because everyone is sick the class is really small. Even Matsuzono-sensei was sick, and we went home after our opening greetings. Koichiro and I are practicing for our next test which is on Friday, March 25th. We’ll both take the 4-kyu test for a purple belt. Suyama-sensei (another Nakako teacher) will be taking 2-kyu for his brown belt. They asked me again if I’ll participate in the World-Wide Renshinkan Competition in Kumamoto-ken in November. They can only have two people from our school go and I feel bad that I’ll be taking one of those spots. I’m sure there are students that deserve to go before me. But they say I could do well and I should go for the experience if nothing else. I have to learn many kata before November though.
Koichiro and I practiced the two new things that will be on our next test. This winter I’ve attended class much more often them him so I had to catch him up on a lot. The entire class it was just the two of us punching each other and defending ourselves. Just the way I like it. He’s so cute and so much fun—we can’t stop smiling when we’re together. Last Tuesday at practice when Matsuzono-sensei was teaching Koichirio and I something and we couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. I was gently reprimanded for not taking it seriously. But Koichiro was smiling just as much as I was and the more we tried to be serious, the harder it was not to laugh. You know how it goes.
Also last night, as we were just hanging around, I absentmindedly did a yoga pose—standing bow-pulling pose—and everyone gaped at my flexibility. I'm quite used to people being impressed with how flexible my legs are, but Koichiro was really impressed. In class everyday part of the warm up is doing the splits and Koichiro and I are the only ones who come even close to being able to do them (besides the kids under 6 years). Koichiro wanted to try bow-pulling pose, and we spent about 20 minutes working on that posture together—me demonstrating and correcting his positioning. He’s not very good at it yet, but he has the potential. I told him to practice in the sauna at the pool when his muscles are relaxed and warm. Or I said he could come down to my apartment and do yoga with me every morning at 6 a.m. He just laughed.
I’m having some doubts about my blog. I’m doing a lot of thinking about why I post “the diary of my life” on the internet. Who reads it anyway? Why does (if anyone) read the pages and pages of things I write on here? I wonder if I’m being too personal or descriptive about my job or the people around me. It’s one thing to write about myself, but I write about everyone. I’ll take this weekend to think about it, but reading Dooce’s website and some of my friends who have recently started their own blogs, has made me reconsider what I’m doing here.
Lost in thought,
Sierra
