Nihongo for Dummies

Above: Teammates Sudo, Kinga, Becca, Jo, Chi, Iwashi, Shino, Toyoda. Below: Becca walking out of the Japanese train station hub, Shinjuku.

Above: Chi, Jo, Mai riding the train home from practice. Below: Jo and Becca being tourists in Tokyo's Time Square.

Sept. 10-12

Insights

Tokyo is full of new experiences. From making coffee in the morning to figuring out train routes mapped out in characters, from learning Japanese to teaching English, from sleeping on futons on the floor to ordering dinner with a ticket from a vending machine, everything is an adventure. We are still adjusting to the time difference, waking up at all hours of the night, getting hungry at all the wrong times (just when soccer practice is starting), and feeling absolutely exhausted when our ten hour days come to an end . Without reservation or hesitation we are LOVING it!

On Thursday we met Sawa at Shinjuku station. Together we walked to a massive department store to eat lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant. Upon resting our backpacks on the floor, a waitress hurriedly came over with a laundry bag apparatus to stow them in so they wouldn't get dirty. The service wasn't as impromptu when it was time to order, but it is clear where the Japanese priorities lie.

We are adjusting to the culture. We readily take our shoes off at the door. We eat all kinds of new foods, including, tofu burgers, 7-11 rice bowls and hot dog-shaped potato patties in accompanying bun, pork burgers, Asian pears, "peanut soft" butter with jelly, tofu with cereal puffs, duck curry, udon noodles, pickled radishes, and Japanese soups and teas of all kind. The streets are narrow. Public bathrooms are abundant. Public trash cans are scarce. There is little garbage on the streets, again testimony to the cleanliness of the Japanese people. People wear surgical masks in every day life. The toilets have 18 different buttons and hand sensors to accommodate whatever bodily functions and cleansing preferences you might have.

Soccer

Wow! If you could only see it ... Saturday was a light practice because the team was traveling to Chiba to play a game the following day. After practice we kicked around until the youth team coach invited us to train with her players. Height -wise, these kids came up to our waist. Skill-wise, some were better than us. If it wasn't for our physical presence we would be completely under water. Playing with young kids whose balance, awareness, and composure were so well developed, made us wonder, "what have we been doing all these years?" And, "have we been wasting our time?"

In Japan we are learning that there is another way to train besides endless fitness, and mindless drills. There are better ways to use one's physical gifts. There are moments when balance is more important than speed, control more important than strength, poise more important than snap decisions. They teach you to out-smart, not out-work. Words like out-maneuver and out-fox accompany drills that make you think while you train. Everyone is held to the highest standard. Skill and technique are flawlessly employed .

Yet, none of this is to say that effort here is anything but maximal. We are exhausted. Defensively, they pressure like mad-women when the ball is nearby, tackling at all cost. Offensively, when one player faces forward, 1, 2 , and 3 players fly by to join the attack. They relish 1 v. 1 battles, scoring goals, and keeping possession of the ball. No one is lazy. We have yet to see one player take a "day off" from practice. Everyone is accountable at all times. The kind of training environment created by this attitude and attention to detail is absolutely astounding. Together, we have been playing soccer for decades, and yet, we have NEVER seen anything like it. SUGOI!!!!