one great day...

Yesterday was just one of those great days... that becomes great through no prior planning of your owm. It just is.
I had a test first thing in the morning. BUT... I studied and actually think I did pretty good. Yay!! Then I had Sonoda-sensei's class... He is this really genki (energetic) Japanese guy who it just fun to have class with. Plus, it's a class about cultures in Asia, so I find the subject matter really fascinating. :-)
After class I headed out the door to watch hockey!! THAT was fun... I watched Gakushuin and Jindai (two universities in the Tokyo area). The game was really aggressive and highly charged. The end score, 4-0, didn't really reflect the entire game. It was an overall good game to watch, even though the team I was rooting for lost. During the game there was a hotly disputed goal... that dispute took about a half hour to resolve, thus the game ended a bit late. So, I ran out of the game because I needed to get home and get my kendo stuff.
I got on the train... and shortly thereafter two elementary school kids, a boy and girl, got on the train. I was plugged into my ipod, so was only half paying attention. Suddenly, I see the boy take his little hat off and gesture in my direction with it, saying to the little girl, "Gaikokujin da!" (Look, a foreigner.) To which I take off my headphones and ask him, "Really??" (in Japanese of course) When I realize I've embarrassed him, I instead ask the two kids what grade they are in... they're first graders. At this point the lady next to me joins in and we end up talking a bit... the little boy was SO embarrassed that he buried his head in his hat... and soon enough my station came. Little boy had removed his hat... and I wished he and the little girl good luck in their studies (benkyo ganbatte kudasai!) and walked off the train!! Too cute!!
Then I rushed home, got kendo stuff, and rushed out the door again.
Kendo was really good... I was totally knackered so was happy that all the people I worked with wanted to focus on fundamental skills instead of running me ragged. And the thing is... I felt like I got a lot out of it. Yay!!
My friend Shivani and I headed home from kendo, saying out otsukaresama's on the way out. We got in the elevator at the 4th floor and made a stop at the 3rd to pick up a group of high school boys (4). The first two that got in the elevator were kind of timid, the second two looked at us and yelled "hello!! how are you??" It was hilarious. And, in true form, I said, "Good, how are you??" Everyone was good... and the first boy says "My name is Sho." And I shook his hand... we went around to Yuya, Kota and the last boy says... "My name is Eminem." Quickly followed by "American joke, American joke!" (He was actually called Hide.) We parted with the boys at the front doors of the sports center with a "Bye bye" and a "ki o tsukete" and were off.
My friend Shivani then asked if I'd ever met those boys before. To which I replied, "no." She found the whole situation really amusing and was astounded at how I reacted to the whole thing... mainly, without skipping a beat. :-) All I could say is that it happens all the time and I don't mind, especially when it's students. :-)

Yesterday was an exhausting day... but it was SO much fun!! I would gladly relive it... minus the loss at hockey!! Hope these little stories make you smile. ;-)

ttfn,

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