I know kung fu

Things picked up for me Sunday. Life is still mundane but at least it’s busy. Sunday I had practice out in Ishioka, which is relatively close to my school but very far from my house. Because I stayed home from school sick part of last week my running shoes were in the track room. So I got to complete a hard workout in my Converse All-Stars. They were not kind to my feet. I got home in time to have a quick lunch of doughnuts and orange juice before aikido practice. The weather was perfect. T-shirt and jeans weather. It would be ideal Frisbee weather if it weren’t for this eternal wind. The climate in Tokyo is consistent. There’s been a wind blowing from the north for two weeks now. I’m told this is normal for spring.

We had another newcomer at aikido practice. The place just keeps growing. It’s already rather large. Sundays are the biggest day by far with something like twenty-five people or so. I like large groups because then I can practice with lots of different people. Each teacher has a different style. I guess I should back up a bit and explain the structure of the class. There’s one main sensei, Suzuki sensei. He’s a very strong old man who speaks in incomprehensible Japanese. I hardly listen to him and instead just concentrate on what he’s doing. It's a much more effective approach. Then the students in the class are divided by skill level. There are five levels in aikido; five is the lowest and one is the highest. I’m not even a five yet. Once you’ve reached level one and demonstrated your ability to teach others, you can get a black belt. The black belt comes with a pair of very baggy aikido pants, which kind of looks like a skirt. Anyway, the people wearing black are the best in the room and I try to pair up with them as often as possible. Each one has a different approach to the sport, which can be annoying or helpful depending. Sometimes two people will give me opposite advice. But more often than not it’s helpful. Some will emphasize the movement of the feet, some the arms, some the body. Each one has something useful to share. The most interesting partner is the little old guy. I don’t know his name. He’s literally half my height and between three and four times my age. But when we pair up I end up on my back before I can blink. Like, here’s a man I’m pretty sure I could punt farther than a football, and he whoops me every time.

After aikido I made dinner for my family. Or really I made dinner with my host father but it was mostly me. Nothing special, just a stew, but I haven’t cooked in a while and it felt good. Monday I had school, what a drag. Class time is completely useless to me at this point. The only classes I like are those we go other places for, calligraphy, gym, etc. After spring break I’ll have a new schedule with new teachers. I’ll probably have to pretend to pay attention for a week or so before I can go back to ignoring them. Actually, that’s not fair. I still like listening to social studies and world history, at least part of the time. I had lunch with Ishy on Monday who told me he wants me in his American culture class. I’ll be somewhere between teacher and student. I’m looking forward to that. Ishy is the most un-Japanese Japanese person I’ve met. He’s very fun and it’s no wonder that the students love him. His class should be a riot.

Today track practice was especially hard. The Japanese seem to whine a lot more than Americans. The whole time it was, “I’m tired, I’m so tired. Today is so hard, I’m really tired.” I think it’s either a way of showing that you’re not better than anyone else, or that this is just a nation of whiners. I think in terms of overall complaint level Americans and Japanese might be even, but Japanese usually complain about themselves or the weather. I.e. things that don’t offend anyone. I think Americans like to complain more about other people and ignore fault within themselves. That is probably too broad of a statement. Chicagoans are champion complainers about snow.

Tomorrow is my last day of classes, and then Thursday is the school year closing ceremony. I think it’s an all-day event. Oh boy! From Friday onwards it’s spring break and I have a busy break to look forward to. Samma, a mutual acquaintance of Marianne and mine (Marianne’s good friend) from Evanston is arriving in Japan on Friday. Or Thursday. The plan is to hang out Friday. Perhaps Saturday depending. Then lots of stuff. Here’s the rough schedule:
F 3/20: Tokyo with Marianne and Samma
S 3/21: Tokyo again?
S 3/22: Skiing with Hazuki and co.
W 3/25: Niigata to visit old host families with Marianne
S 3/28-M 3/30: Traveling to Nikko with host family
W 4/1 Change host families

I also got information on my new family…finally. Once again there’s no email address listed. That bothers me but oh well. The Ueharas live in Toride. It’s not too far from Abiko so I should be able to come back here often. They have a 15-year-old daughter and someone listed kung fu for one of their hobbies. KUNG FU! I could be like Neo from the Matrix. I’m pretty excited about the move. I hope they’re not crazy.