Kendo

Since the trip I haven't actually been doing too much. However the cherry blossoms are in bloom now. Apparently I picked the perfect place to stay in Japan for viewing cherry blossoms. The school that I go to is pretty much surrounded by cherry trees. And now they're blowing away, so the sidewalks and streets are littered with petals.

Kendo started up again as well. But now I'm wearing armor! One of the girls asked me if it was my armor "debut," which is pretty much true. And the first time I wore the armor it took me half of the practice to suit up properly and I worked up a sweat for the first time! In fact my skin turned blue because of the dye on my keikogi. And today I turned even bluer because I practiced almost the whole time! It's quite different with the armor on. It gets quite heavy when you're tired and really hot. And your depth perception kind of goes out of the window with the grill in front of your face.

But the teacher actually GAVE me a pair of wrist guards, for free! I was so surprised! Especially since he had called me "ano gaijin" (that foreigner over there) only a couple of months ago. And he told my tutor (Haruka) that my kendo had become "kirei" (pretty/clean). All in all, it was a very rewarding day and I was ridiculously happy.

And this past Tuesday the club went out for blossom viewing. Really, though, it's just an excuse to drink alcohol. They had set up tarps on the ground underneath some cherry trees near our school and we were provided with beer, cocktails, sports drinks, tea, water, and various snacks. After the toasts (the teachers were there, too) the girls got on one tarp, the boys on another, and the freshmen and teachers in the middle. We girls played a couple of drinking games, where if you messed up you had to (quickly) drink a cup of beer. Thankfully I was pretty good at the games (even though they were in Japanese) and I wasn't forced to drink anything.

And some of the guys in the club actually talked to me. But, of course, it was because they were drunk. But I was so surprised! The next day one of them actually smiled and waved at me, in the DOJO no less! Where there were other kendo people to see! I was so surprised. And, when I'd managed to get my helmet on, another guy gave me a few light taps on the head.

But today was the second day of practice for me in the armor. And I got really tired really quickly, much to my embarrassment. And I fell as well. My big toe caught on the hem of my hakama and so, I fell. I think I bent the toe backwards, though, because it's a bit painful to walk. And I also had my first fighting practice! Before I'd only done drills, but during the jigeiko part of the practice you actually have mini-matches with people. I'd never done it before, so it was quite an experience. I got a lot of hits in, but I suspect my opponent (Haruka) was giving them to me.

I'll have to post pictures of my in half armor another time. My host-parents only allow me to use the internet for one hour, and loading images takes a while.