Sakura and Sports and PB&J

I really should try to get my act together and update this a bit more regularly... I am terribly sorry about the wait. These pictures now, are a wee bit dated but they're still fun and beautiful none the less.

Sports!
During the last weekend of April, Takanosu High School held it's annual sports festival, which is basically just an opportunity for everyone to get outside and get active! This year was actually my first year to participate, seeing as last year I was on holiday during this time. What a show it was! Sometimes I think the Japanese have no boundaries when it comes to forcing others to perform humiliating tasks in front of a crowd! For the most part, however, it was pretty typical. Something you might see at a July 4th picnic in America, not so much an intra-high school event... relay races, regular races, obstical course races, tug-of-war's...

Here we see the students lining up at the very beginning of the day. It was kinda funny because they did a big group warm-up for about 5 minutes that I highly doubt warmed anything up (^-^) Anyway, because homeroom's in Japan are really the center of the system here, in a way, this whole day was set up as each homeroom competeing against each other, they even have matching shirts!

Here we have the 3A girls doing their introduction. These girls are so darn happy and energetic all the time; it's incredible!

Here's a nice (sober) shot of me! I know, my mother is shocked. Anyway, I'm chillin with the 3A girls as they scream into a microphone cheering for their classmates to do their best. The girl next to me is Midori and next to her is Chieri, I'm not actually sure who that is in the back... sorry!

Some of the students, tuggin away...

Some tug of war footage...

One of my favorite students, Takahiro, a favorite because he's always so cheery, always shouting hello to me from where ever he is when he sees me, no matter how far away

This was probably the funnest event to watch, and this only shows the last leg. The kids had to run all the way around the track doing silly obstacles. That last obstical you see is the kids biting a peice of candy out of a pan filled with flour. Yummy!

Sakura!
Well that event took place the last weekend of April the entire first week of May then was a holiday, in Japan it's called Golden Week. I had no special plans this year, no money to go traveling through Asia... so, I decided to do the next best thing. Watch as many of my students sporting events as possible, and hanami in my free time. Having lived in Japan for almost 3 years now, I have never actually been in the country while the sakura were in full bloom. This year was the first year I was around and able to enjoy it with my friends. Now, in case you're wondering, hanami (花見) literally means "flower watching" I mean, those are the two characters used. The idea it stands for is basically a picnic under the sakura trees, and often some drinking at said picnic (^-^) So, amid the baseball games, soccer games, basketball games and track meet I watched, I also did some hanami and had a mighty fine Golden Week.

So, technically Golden Week started from Wednesday, May 3rd and we had until Monday May 8th. The first day, Wednesday, I went hanami with Pav, Ashley, and Eriko. We took the train all the way down to the wonderful town of Kakunodate which is famous for it's sakura season. To be honest though, I wasn't too impressed; the town was completely over crowded and there was so much development that you really had to position the camera just right to get any nice shots. I mean, but the sakura were beautiful (^^) If you're interested about the town here are two links in English: Kakuno date

In case you were wondering what sakura look like...

Here is a nice shot of a Japanese style entryway, some sakura and some pretty trees. Unforutnately, I can't get more specific than that...

Well, Kakunodate is famous not only for it's sakura but also for it's samurai district. We walked through and saw all the neat old houses, mostly just the gates remain and the houses themselves have been restored... but it was nice. This here cool statue is a samurai, I'm guessing... Man, I really should have paid more attention to the signs

Here is a nice shot of some sakura and a samurai house. Apparently there are two kinds of sakura, the ones in the first picture, more white and these pink ones that sway in the wind, both equally beautiful in my eyes

This is a fabulous view from a bridge out over the river lined with sakura trees. You can see all the happy hanami-ers lining the shore of the river as well as the snow capped mountains in the back, so pretty!

When we reached Kakunodate we discovered that Eriko's parents had decided to go on the same day so we met with them for lunch on the river shore. From left her father Kazuyoshi, her mother Keiko and the fabulous Eriko herself (^-^)v

All in all it was a really nice day - though a bit blustery. I'd have to say though that starting drinking around noon and going all day is serious work and you should really prepare youself. I think the most valuable lesson I learned was you shouldn't take breaks. Once you start to lose your buzz it's all down hill... (^-^)

Sports!

The following day I was lucky enough to get more some nice weather and an opportunity to watch a baseball game as well as a soccer game. The baseball diamond looked especially beautiful since all it's lined with sakura trees which were all in bloom at the time. We played a high school from Ugo (all I know is it's in the south of Akita) and we won (^-^) I actually left part way through to watch the soccer game though so I didn't actually get to see the whole game... anyway...

This is actually a different game but if you ever wondered just how much fun can be had at a high school baseball game in Japan... hopefully this will give you some idea! (^-^) Taka-ko!!! (Means Takanosu (Taka) Highschool (Ko))

pretty self-explanatory... baseball (^-^)

Moving on to the soccer match. This was only a practice game but we actually lost 0 - 1, what can you do? The blue team is Takanosu and the other (red? orange?) is a high school from Odate, a neighboring town. The boy (in blue) on the far left is Takahiro, from above. The ref in black is actually the soccer club coach, Hideyuki Sensei, a real nice guy...



I also had the opportunity to watch some basketball. Noshiro is actually famous for their basketball, one of the high schools there, Kogyo (I think) are the national champions, something like 10 years running. Anyway, every spring they hold the Noshiro Cup basketball tournament. I was lucky this year, one of the girls I teach with had an extra ticket she gave me and I managed to show up on the day and at the time when the best team, Noshiro Kogyo, played the American team, Montrose Christian Academy, which happens to be the American high school basketball champions. It was a fun game and I cheered for the Americans, who happen to have won. Fun times (^-^)

It did get a bit cloudy for the track meet but it was still warm. Because there were so many events I'm not entirely sure how Takanosu faired. Although I do know that one of our boys, Koei (pronounced like Koh-ay) got second place in speed walking, which I had to try not to laugh at (^-^)

Here you can see the Takanosu tent with some of the kids cheering (we're in blue...)

Sakura!

Next I went up to Hirosaki to see the castle in full sakura bloomage. It was incredibly beautiful, but also incredibly crowded. I think I only stayed at the castle grounds for about 30 minutes because to me, there's nothing worse than being surrounded by Japanese tourists when you're in Japan!!!

What a nice bath all those petals would make!

The gate to the castle.

The castle in full sakura glory. Sorry I had to cut out the cute red bridge, there were just so many people...

I really like this shot, a beautiful sakura branch haning out over the river with the petals and the lily pads floating underneath...

Kiddies!

Finally we have some cultural exchange between the East and the West... While enjoying the sakura my students also experienced their first peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; which they later said were too sweet. Oops.

From left, Shota, Kazuki and Abe (pronounced Ah-Beh ?) making their sandwiches.

One more shot of Abe...

The boys enjoying the shade of the cherry trees, eating their sandwiches...