Back in Japan.
Okay, so it turns out there was something of a mis-communication. I'm not competing in the competition. On the one hand, this came as quite a relief, since I never really *wanted* to compete in the first place. Although over time the idea had grown on me and it was a bit disappointing to find out I wasn't doing so. More troublesome, however, was that I misunderstood a thing so big. I mean, when you cut your Israel trip short and fly hurriedly to Tokyo for a competition, finding out the night before that you're not competing is, well, bad.
I know for sure, when Maki-sensei first started talking about this competition he talked about me competing in it. But we never worked on fighting at all until the last two months or so I was in Otaru. His opinion (which I agree with) is that you can learn fighting anywhere and it's important to work on Wado-Kai techniques first. So my fighting training was crammed into April and May. Unfortunately by the end of two months, I still wasn't very good at it. So Maki-sensei said that when I came to Tokyo, I wouldn't fight. That was quite a relief. But I thought that meant that I would be competing in Kata (forms) and Kihon Kumite, etc. Apparently not. Perhaps the competition is only fighting-based. I'll find out when I go to watch it tomorrow. I have an opportunity to take a level exam on Monday to try to get a higher degree black belt. I'll probably do that simply because it would seem a shame to come here and do nothing.
The good news is that my parents have taken it rather well. They didn't really come for the comp anyway, they came to see Tokyo. And this way I get more time with them. But between this and the fact that I left them stranded in the airport for two hours yesterday (I flew a different airline, didn't have their flight number, and was waiting at the wrong terminal) I was almost expecting them to disown me. Suppose I should be glad they have no other means of getting around than me. :)
In semi-related news... I'm back in Japan. I'm surprisingly excited to be here. At least I was yesterday, before all the bad stuff happened. I enjoy speaking Japanese, and being able to use all the things I learned over the last two years. It is good to be here. It's so much of a less stressful atmosphere than Israel was. Or Pittsburgh, really, though that's more because of being constantly busy at gov school than anything else.
So... it's good to be here. It'll be even better when I head up north, back to Hokkaido, after my parents leave. :)
I know for sure, when Maki-sensei first started talking about this competition he talked about me competing in it. But we never worked on fighting at all until the last two months or so I was in Otaru. His opinion (which I agree with) is that you can learn fighting anywhere and it's important to work on Wado-Kai techniques first. So my fighting training was crammed into April and May. Unfortunately by the end of two months, I still wasn't very good at it. So Maki-sensei said that when I came to Tokyo, I wouldn't fight. That was quite a relief. But I thought that meant that I would be competing in Kata (forms) and Kihon Kumite, etc. Apparently not. Perhaps the competition is only fighting-based. I'll find out when I go to watch it tomorrow. I have an opportunity to take a level exam on Monday to try to get a higher degree black belt. I'll probably do that simply because it would seem a shame to come here and do nothing.
The good news is that my parents have taken it rather well. They didn't really come for the comp anyway, they came to see Tokyo. And this way I get more time with them. But between this and the fact that I left them stranded in the airport for two hours yesterday (I flew a different airline, didn't have their flight number, and was waiting at the wrong terminal) I was almost expecting them to disown me. Suppose I should be glad they have no other means of getting around than me. :)
In semi-related news... I'm back in Japan. I'm surprisingly excited to be here. At least I was yesterday, before all the bad stuff happened. I enjoy speaking Japanese, and being able to use all the things I learned over the last two years. It is good to be here. It's so much of a less stressful atmosphere than Israel was. Or Pittsburgh, really, though that's more because of being constantly busy at gov school than anything else.
So... it's good to be here. It'll be even better when I head up north, back to Hokkaido, after my parents leave. :)