This morning it was leftover pancakes (yum!) for breakfast, and then I got an early start to try to catch a game of the Takasago Minami handball club. On the way there people were lining up to visit Ito Yokado – I couldn’t believe how many people were there.
I had talked with the club’s teacher, Mr. Arai, and he had told me that they were having a game at the junior high school in Takasago at 9:00 a.m. Turns out the game was at my school, against the junior high school team. I’m getting used to these little quirks in communication.
After first going to the junior high school, I arrived at my school and sat down next to the court to watch the game.
Handball is a different game than what Americans think of – it’s a team sport played outside. Kind of a cross between hockey, soccer, and basketball. There is a goal keeper, five members who attack, and it’s also very fast moving.
Mr. Arai and another coach tried to explain the rules to me in English and Japanese, but I kind of picked them up as I watched. It was a really exciting game, despite the fact that one of the teams was much younger. Really just a scrimmage, but fun to watch anyway.
The team manager is one of my ESS students, so I chatted with her, and I was even served cold tea while I watched the game. It was a lot of fun. After the first game the players came and huddled around the bench where Mr. Arai and I were sitting, and Mr. Arai asked them to give me a greeting.
They hesitated – in English or Japanese, they wondered. Mr. Arai told them in English, and one smart kid said “Good Morning!” Then the others chimed in. It was a funny moment, but they clearly enjoyed the fact that I had taken an interest in their club.
After another game I said thanks and headed for the gates. There was another match going on in the gym, this one a women’s basketball match. I stopped in and saw some of my students getting ready to play, so I sat down in the gym to watch for a while.
I was content to sit on the sidelines, but some team members came over and ushered me to a chair courtside. I chatted with some of the students in English, and Mr. Kimura, the basketball coach, came over and chatted too. Once the game started it was exciting to watch. It’s one thing to watch a basketball game, but when you know most of the players you have something invested and it’s a lot more fun.
Two other teams were there, and all the teams were rotating. The team that wasn’t playing at any given time was helping with the refereeing duties, keeping score, and resting. The girls from the other schools took a big interest in me, and tried speaking some English. Mr. Kimura introduced me to some of them and said they should try speaking to me, but most just giggled and said “He’s so cute!” and “How handsome!” in Japanese. I just grinned and pretended that I couldn’t understand.
Our school’s team won the first game and got to sit out the next round, so I took it as a good time to leave. I said goodbye and headed home to Futami. On the way home I tried to shortcut through Ito Yokado without buying anything but I ended up getting some sushi and pot stickers for lunch. What a sucker.
The rest of the day was spent studying and cleaning. Dinner tonight was traditional Japanese – wakame rice (salted kelp mixed into rice) and koyadofu (slightly sweet rehydrated tofu).
Kuniko is planning on coming over late tonight and spending tomorrow in my neck of the woods. She’s going to be exhausted from working all weekend, but hopefully we’ll get out to do some fun stuff tomorrow.
