This morning I had the chance to talk to family – I spoke with my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, and my parents and brother. It was good to talk to everyone and to hear what kinds of things are going on at home.
In the middle of the day I went outside and put the sticker on my bike, narrowly avoiding it getting thrown away. It has a flat tire because it is missing a couple of pieces. It looks like someone probably had the same problem and grabbed mine. I’m going to swing by the bike shop near my school and try to pick up the missing pieces. Luckily Andrew left me a pump, so I can pump up the wheel once I get the pieces. It’s not like I really use the bike, but sometimes Melanie borrows it for her friends, so I felt like I should get it in shape.
Around lunchtime I went down to the yakitori, and waited around there for the master. I sat around with a couple of the regulars, two of the female volleyball players. One of the ladies had brought her young son in, just a year and a month old. Strangely enough this was one of the ladies that was flirting with me big time before she found out I was dating Kuniko. Seeing her with a baby was put her in a whole new light for me.
The master was busy making bento lunches for his parents and brothers and sisters, and then some customers came in and wanted lunch. The original plan was for him to drive me over to the softball game in south Futami, but he was so busy that he called some friends who drove me over. The friends were pretty surprised to see a foreigner jump into their car, but we had a nice conversation and they seemed really nice. The softball field was actually inside the big Mitsubishi plant on the ocean, so these guys played softball underneath a giant Mitsubishi logo – it was an interesting sight.
The ladies that I had hung out with earlier in the yakitori came by to watch for a while, and we all sat back on the bench and watched the guys play. They did a pretty good job – they were definitely the bad boys of the softball league. As soon as they got off the field and were batting everyone would light up cigarettes and sit around heckling the other team. Then they’d go back out in the field and run around. The opposing team was definitely more serious, but they only won by one point.
I left the game and one the guys gave me a ride home. Once I got back I ironed shirts and wrote some e-mails, and then watched a couple of Penn and Teller episodes that I downloaded off the ‘net. For dinner I tried a fried rice recipe that I found on the web, and it turned out pretty good. A little more oil than I normally put in, but it turned out pretty good. I also drank a bottle of Rabbit Ridge Zinfandel that Ms. Yamamoto gave me a while back. It was really good – much better than the French stuff that is everywhere around here.
I’m off to bed – back to work tomorrow, but it’s an abbreviated week – I’ve got Thursday off for “Green Day”. Whatever that is.
