Sumo
March 24, 2008
One would think watching extremely overweight guys clad in nothing but diapers and shoving each other around would not be a very entertaining thing. Still, it was something I had to decide for myself. I’m glad to say, it was a lot more interesting than it sounds.
I have put off going to a sumo tournament for the last five years. I really didn’t think I would enjoy it. But last week at the behest of some classmates and not having done many Japanesey things in awhile, it was the perfect opportunity.
The place was packed but not in the beginning. I realized that most people didn’t bother watching the first half of the tournament. It seems that the lesser known sumo wrestlers are just not as crowd-pleasing as the well known wrestlers and the top-tiered wrestlers. We got there fairly early but had the chance to walk around the different stands and take pictures. There were some a few wrestlers who even let us pose for pictures with them.
The event really started picking up towards the latter half of the event. The stadium was finally packed and wrestlers who have appeared on television commercials started competing. It was interesting to see some of the idiosyncrasies that really got people roaring.
The highlights were certainly when the top ranked ozeki and yokozuna wrestlers did their thing. People were yelling and screaming!
Compared to other sporting events, sumo was “easy” to watch. In most other sports, you need to sit through the entire thing hoping to catch something amazing like a breakaway, a slam dunk, or a goal. With sumo, each match realistically lasts no more than 10 seconds and it’s preceded by a lot of traditional rituals. Although it was my first sumo tournament, I quickly learned to block out and ignore those boring rituals, instead enjoying my snacks and drinks and talking to my friends. Only when the action was about to begin when my attention refocussed on the fatties in the center of the room.
I don’t know if I will go again but I certainly enjoyed my first sumo tournament.
Oops
March 21, 2008
On my stroll to Umeda earlier this week I noticed a construction site and beside it, a half-torn down building. There’s usually nothing strange about this but I also noticed about half a dozen police officers and a couple of police cruisers in the area, lights on. I also notice one TV camera pointing at the busted up building. There were at least two dozen people around the area watching and taking pictures with their cell cameras along with a helicopter hovering above.
Hum… this isn’t your regular torn down building. Upon closer inspection, I realize that this half-torn down building still had a lot of stuff inside. I could see office furniture and some paperwork still inside. Furthermore, only the back was completely torn down – the front was kind of intact. Also, the whole thing was leaning dangerously towards the sidewalk and street.
Then I realized it. The construction site beside this building must’ve accidentally destroyed this building! Judging from the city workers that were just arriving at the scene, it probably happened not long before I happened to walk by. I wonder how it felt for the people in the building at the time to have a crane accidentally hit structure causing it to come crashing down. It reminded me of that crane accident in New York.
I forgot to catch the news later that day so I really have no idea how the accident went down, no pun intended.
Celebrations
March 16, 2008
Being unemployed is certainly not an indication of being free. I think I’ve been busier in this last little while than I have been in a very long time. Thankfully a couple of things keeping me busy were extremely fun and memorable things.
æ–°å¤§é˜ªäºˆå‚™æ ¡ Graduation Day
The school term ended on Friday with a Graduation Day for all the students who were moving on to new pursuits.
I look so lonely over there
Although I am continuing my studies and although I have only finished one term so far, a part of me felt like this was the Graduation Day that I would not be attending next year because I don’t intend to study for the whole school year.
My homeroom teacher – possibly the best teacher ever
It was one of the few chances I’ve had recently to put on a suit! And since I didn’t have to wear it, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The unanimously-decided most serious Shou-san
More pictures here.
2008 ELI Alumni Party – Osaka
Maki was in town! On official ELI business, she set up a most excellent party with many ELI alumni. I think at the peak, close to 30 people showed up. It has been years since I have been on an ELI event but last night reminded of all the fun I had when I was a Cultural Assistant.
Although I only knew a handful of the people, by the end of the night, we were all drinking and laughing as if we knew each other for a long while. Catching up with Maki about how everyone is doing made me really miss the ELI family as well. I think my time at the ELI gave me some of the best memories in my life.
More pictures here.
Classmates
March 10, 2008
Shin-Osaka Preparatory School
Intermediate Class (2)
2008-01-09 – 2008-03-14
EDIT(2009-03-22): the database didn’t save any of the Japanese. I’ve changed this post to English. Also, the Shin-Osaka Preparatory School is now known as the Shin-Osaka Foreign Language Institute and their website was moved as well.
Overheard
March 08, 2008
I went to a bar last night with Laura. It was my first bar visit in months. As much as I enjoyed catching up with Laura, I had the unfortunate luck of overhearing this rather inane conversation by some fellow gaijins. They were not young – they were at least in their mid twenties.
Gaijin A: I could kick his ass. (referring to Gaijin C)
Gaijin B: I don’t know about that.
Gaijin A: What? Really?
Gaijin B: Yeah, C has the training factor.
Gaijin C: Yeah I train a lot. … not that you don’t train at all.
Gaijin A: Oh come on…
Gaijin B: Yeah, C has the martial arts factor.
Gaijin C: Yeah I do.
Gaijin A: Well I have the marital arts factor.
Gaijin B and C: That’s true that’s true.
Gaijin A: I can handle crazy bitches.
I now remember why I don’t frequent bars anymore.
