Sumo Wrestling and Shinkansen Tickets
*crawls up from a deep pit* I'm still alive...despite my lack of updates. I'm so sorry to you guys who have been waiting oh-so-patiently for me to update. Forgive me!! That will change, thankfully enough, with the coming week. Yep! By the time Thursday rolls around, I will be officially done with school and my summer vacation will BEGIN!!!!! *does victory dance* I can't wait for all of my daily Japanese quizzes to end and for my long awaited trip to Tokyo to start. Anywho, on with the story telling!!!
Two weeks ago, the foreign exchange students got little memos in our mailboxes saying that there would be a sumo wrestler's practice two weeks from now on Wednesday morning. Most of the students, especially the American students, showed little interest in this event. I was originally not planning to go until my teacher for Wednesday's Japanese class told me that if I went I wouldn't have to go to my classes for that day. So....Who am I to turn down an offer like that!!!!!! The day came quickly enough and the meeting place was in front of an old-styled Japanese house that is on campus grounds.
Also I should tell you something else. About a month ago now, NGU got some guests from America. Students from a college called Bowling Green University in Ohio had come for a summer program that took them to Japan. There are about 12 students overall and have various reasons why they wanted to come to Japan. Some for the anime and manga, others because they had come to Japan before and wanted to come again. Sadly, they all take different classes than the rest of the foreign students here so, we hardly ever see them. They have also taken up residence in said old-styled Japanese house. They would be coming with us to see the sumo wrestler's practice.
Hardly anyone, except myself, was really awake at that hour and some had even made a quick run to go get some coffee. We would be taking the subway to go see the sumo practice and about 40 minutes later, we arrived a section of Nagoya called Kachikawa. The sumo wrestlers practiced near a shrine in this area and now the somewhat-awake students staggered off the subway into the city.
Now I will admit this, I really didn't enjoy the sumo wrestling practice. No one (in my opinion) needs to see obese Japanese men, pushing each other around with nothing on save a silk (yes, it's a silk wrapping, I asked.) wrap on them, sweating it out at 7 am in the morning. We stayed and watched for 3 hours! Dear sweet Gods, my legs and bottom were so sore afterwards!! I noticed that this sumo practice there were two other men that were not Japanese. They were Westerners. I would call them Americans, but for all I know they were probably from Australia. I had to admit they looked a bit odd, wearing the top knot of a sumor wrestler and the silk wrapping, but they seemed more comfy in their surroundings. I found out later that one of them (I don't know which one) was last year's champion for the Aichi state area. WOW!!!!
Another thing I REALLY did not like in the least was the damage that the sumo wrestlers take. I noticed that most of the wrestlers' ears was like closing up (on the inside) and only leaving a small hole for sound. It was disgusting!!!!>P There was also a lot, a lot, A LOT of ace bandaging, gauze and ....uh what are those "bandages" that one's wraps around one's knee when it starts to hurt??? I can't remember, but there were a couple of those, too. One of the newer sumo wrestlers (he didn't have a top knot yet) got slammed into a nearby metal pole and his nose started to bleed profusly>P Check please, I'm ready to go home now. So, what I have learned from all this? Kabuki theatre is far more entertaining that sumo any day of the week. Seriously. I'll put pictures of the practice up sometime this week.
Now for more interesting news. Today, I bought my Shinkansen (Bullet Train) tickets. I was told that I should at least get the tickets at least a week before you actually leave so, that way you can have a reserved seat. I will admit I was nervous about this, but I kept telling myself that I had survived Japan for 4 months now, I could buy one blasted ticket!!! It was a bit difficult but, the guy knew a little English so, I could at least understand the "Going" and "Returning Home" part. It was about $200 US dollars overall. Not bad, in my opinion.
I was going to buy the cheaper tickets, but I decided in the end to go with the Shinkansen. It's the fastest way to travel Japan, even if it is expensive. There are three types trains for travelling around Japan. The Shinkansen and the 2 "younger brothers", as I call them. The "younger brothers" are more slower and far cheaper than the Shinkansen. The "middle brother" is slightly faster and stops at some stations along the way. The "youngest brother" stops at every single station along the way and is considered, by the Japanese, as the commuting Shinkansen train. I think I got that last part right....!
I'll update again probably or during my stay in Tokyo. The hostel that I'm staying at has a computer room so I may be able to update then, but I'm not too sure.
Sayonara minna-san!!!!