I am having a very Japanese moment here. I am watching Sumo on tv, I can hear the big bell down at Zenkoji Temple being rung, and to top it all off I am drinking Sapporo. Not bad, aye? This is about exactly where I wanted to be around a year ago.

Anyway, the basho (sumo tournament) is taking place down at Fukuoka city on the island of Kyushu. This is the next one after the one I went to back in September. Bashos happen every two months and last 15 days. Three of them (every other one) happen in Tokyo and the other three happen Fukuoka, Osaka, and one other city that I can't remember right now. Oh, and now there go the 5 o'clock bells. Every evening at 5pm here the bells from some loudspeakers sound, alerting everyone of the hour. Why? I'm not sure, but a few times I have been biking home wondering what time it was when the bells come on and my question has been answered. I think Amy said that in her town there are 6pm bells. So there you go. Sometimes life rolls on and you forget where you are and then bells sound, bashos happen, and the beer isn't quite as good as it could be and then you remember, "Ah yes. I'm in Japan. I had forgotten that."

This week was a pretty good one. Besides Monday at Minobusan all of my classes went amazingly well. Mondays are a bit of a challenge down there but I don't want to get into that. Today I went over to Yamanashi Gakuen and had a good time. It seems that the routine now (or at least it's been for the last few weeks) is that I get at least one class to myself. Today I didn't get a reason but Katsumura-sensei came to me just after the bell rang for my third class to start and said, "Can you teach this next class alone?" I told her I could and took off. Today I reviewed some of the haikus the students had written and then we played a Bingo game based on trivia. Easy trivia, but it was mostly geared towards the students being able to understand me. So we had fun and the kids proved to me that they understand more than they let on at times.
In my second class today we also played the Bingo game and the teacher, Koiishi-sensei asked if he could have a Bingo sheet and played along as I asked the questions. He is a great teacher as far as showing the kids that this is all fun and I truly appreciate him. Some of my teachers (all of whom are very nice) just sit back and let me act my part when the time comes, and I have no real problem with that, but this guy is great. He even asked a few of the questions during "20 questions" last week. Great guy.

I don't think I've mentioned this but I have to say that when schools decide to do "field-trips" in this country, they really go all out. I remember during my school days that a field-trip meant going to a museum or a park or something relatively close by. Once in a while you'd get to go somewhere that was a little over an hour away. But here they go all out. The high school students at Yamanashi Gakuen (I teach the junior high kids) recently went to Iowa for a couple weeks, and then another group of them just back from Australia a couple weeks ago. And over at Yuda (all-girls) one of my classes is going to Okinawa on Sunday and one of my other classes is going to Europe for a week. I don't know where they get the money for all this, but I think it's great that they go globetrotting all over the place. When Yazaki-sensei came to me about the Okinawa trip he said, "Next week there is no class. We are going to Okinawa." To which I replied, "Great! When do we leave." He laughed and then told me I'd have to pay my own way, so I told him to have a good time. Cool thing was that he said our little after school chat room thingy would not be happening either, but then he said to me, "But you can tell the Kencho that you have chat room and go home early." Another great guy.

There is a Sumo wrestler over here that causes quite a bit of controversy. Why? Because he shows his emotion. Before he fights he goes through all the pre-bout ceremony with a bit of gusto. He throws the salt into the ring with emotion, he pounds his chest and slaps his arms and face, and generally gears himself up for the fight. Well, as you might know, the Japanese people don't much take to outward emotion very well. They tend to wear stoic faces and take things silently. So it makes it all the more confusing that although he causes controversy, he seems to be much beloved by many Sumo fans. They clap and cheer when he goes through his pre-bout antics (side note to Ray, Judy and Matt--I have the basho on and I kid you not when I say that there is a Japanese older guy sitting near ring-side wearing a 49ers jacket--thought you'd appreciate that, but I say "BOOO!"). Anyway, I guess that Sumo fans either love him or hate him. I rather like him because although he does show emotion, he is still respectful of the sport, the refs and his opponents. He is not a showboat like those idiots in the NFL (Keyshawn Johnson, Tyrell Ownes, Randy Johnson or Jeremy Shocky--idiots all).

Last night was the rugby match between New Zealand and France. It was the battle for third place in the final results. New Zealand won. Tomorrow night is the big match between Australia and England. Lots of English friends here and we will all be at the Sports Bar to watch it. Should be a blast. I'm still undecided as to who I will root for. But I have to say that I have been turned on to rugby over the last month and a half and I learned quite e few things about the game, though, I still have a lot more to learn.
After that we are going to some restaurant for a double birthday party. Gary (I've mentioned him) and Rebecca (don't know her too well) are the guests of honor and I am sure there will be much alcohol coursing through everyone's veins by night's end. Should be fun.

Other than all that life moves ahead at a fast past (too fast sometimes) and I am still loving it here. I keep wondering when the culture shock I've heard so much about is going to set in. Perhaps it won't. If it doesn't I will simply chalk it up to the nomadic life I've lived and all the places I've been. Thanks to dad for that.

Back to Sumo.