Chili & 合気道

I had school on Thursday and Friday but only testing. Math proved to be almost impossible but English and Chemistry were much better. I answered every question on the English test, which is a first. Or, at least, I attempted every question. I don't think you could actually count my translations as answers. This weekend was very busy and very fun though. Saturday, no track, so I slept in till 11:30. I missed a call from my parents, but, alas, that’s life. Then we went shopping for ingredients for chili. Earlier this week we had Onabe, which is a basic winter meal here. It’s a lot of vegetables and a little bit of meat boiled in a pot and served with rice. Extremely healthy, delicious, and it warms you right up in the winter. Over dinner we were talking about foods commonly eaten in different seasons. I mentioned we had chili at my house often in the winter. My host mother perked right up, “I looooove chili.” So I offered to make it for her. She jumped at the chance, “How about this weekend?” Who can refuse an offer like that? So we shopped for chili stuff on Saturday. Surprisingly enough, the grocery store carried kidney beans and chili powder, although no Worchester sauce. And the bean came in cans about the size of a racquetball. I bought a lot them. We got back home; I made the chili and then let it sit overnight while we went to dinner at Sha’s apartment. Sha is an exchange student from Taiwan who stayed with the Ibarakis for a few days in the summer. He made us Taiwanese food. I wouldn’t have been able to tell it was not Japanese food. They both use chopsticks, both serve with rice, both use hot noodle soup… It was very good. Then we played Blockus, the five of us, for a few hours. I say five even though Blockus is only for four players because of Momiji. Sha’s house, like lots of Japanese apartments and even houses, has no real table. Just a little one on the floor that you kneel around. So keeping Momiji away from the brightly colored pieces is a real challenge. More than one game has ended when, unnoticed, she moved with surprising speed for a 14-month-old, ducked under the arm holding her back, and scattered tiny plastic pieces everywhere. You can’t get mad though. Her laugh is infectious.

Sunday we all went to church. I’m surprised my parents went with me. They found me a Catholic church in Kashiwa, which is a few cities over from Abiko. They've bent over backwards to find me a place that I like. It’s really nice of them. They don’t stay in the service though. They played with Momiji outside. She was terribly excited because it was a place she’d never been to before. So, of course, she had to at least try to run over every patch of grass in the courtyard. After church, quickly off to Aikido to see the class and decide if I want to join.

Aikido （合気道ーthe way of the meeting spirits）was just about the coolest thing I’ve seen here so far. The class was at a middle school so I was initially afraid that it would be all middle schoolers. I kept picturing the Seinfeld when Kramer goes to karate class with a bunch of 10-year-olds. I didn't want to get mugged in an alley by angry children. Luckily it was not full of middle-schoolers but people of all ages. There were a few younger than me, most were older, and one man that looked about 90. It was pretty diverse; there were some girls, even another white dude. Gasp! I was pretty nervous going in because everyone was dressed in these white yukata thingies and I was in jeans and a track jacket. At first I thought I was only going to watch but the sensei insisted that I participate. I’m glad he did. The sensei was, I though, pretty hilarious. Picture Mr. Miyagi from the karate kid. This guy could be his brother. His teaching method went like this. He’d call up a member of the class so the middle of the gym while the rest of us sat seiza-style (on our knees with the lower legs tucked underneath) around him. Then he’d mumble in incomprehensible Japanese while flipping the student over his shoulder or twisting his arm into a painful looking position. He did it casually, as if throwing people to the ground and controlling their body by holding their wrist is a daily phenomenon. Then everyone would get up, bow to their partner, and try to copy what he said. I was paired off with another high-ranking member. My language has improved a great deal, but it felt like the first day again when he started teaching me. I realized I need a whole new vocabulary for Aikido. I don’t know the words for fall, grab, throw, twist, slide, shake, bend, or a whole host of other words. I know the word for pain though and I used that a lot. I started out learning how to fall. This is an important skill because doing it wrong can hurt a lot. You fall often in Aikido as a way to get out of your attacker’s grip and back into control. It’s an escape method, when done properly. After I demonstrated I could fall correctly, I started learning some cool stuff. It being the first day, I didn’t think I’d get to learn moves, but I did. Now if someone grabs my wrist I know how to flip them over my shoulder. Granted, I have to do it slowly and they have to follow along, but still. And I get a monogrammed uniform in Japanese characters.

We got home from Aikido, picking up Sha along the way. My host parents thought it was equally cool. My host mom said she like how graceful it looked, and how useful. My dad’s going to do it with me. My mom said she wants to but she’s going to wait till Momiji is older to get a babysitter. I demonstrated some of the stuff I learned at the house. Everyone was impressed. I felt like a rock star, except my wrists really hurt. Then chili for dinner. It was good. I was proud of it even if I didn’t taste quite like the stuff at home. No one had crumbled crackers before. My mother really liked it and immediately started grilling me on what else I could make. “I like hamburgers, nachos, tacos…” It’s going to be really easy to please this family. After dinner, more Blockus. That game rocks so hard. We’ve discovered that games are a lot harder with 4 people, but take longer with 3. Interesting. Today is a holiday so no school. Yippee. I helped out in the morning at a 10/5k in Ushiku and now I think I’ll start on my Physics book. Or take a nap. I haven’t decided yet.