Jeez, it's been quite a while eh? Sorry about that everybody. Lately I've actually been busy.
Well you know that whole Swine Flu craze that has been going around in the USA and the world? It hit Japan about 2 weeks ago. And in a very Japanese way, an overreaction occurred.
Last Monday May 18, all public schools in Osaka, Hyogo and Nara were closed for an entire week. Some of my students said that even the karaoke shops weren't allowing high school students in because they were afraid of the swine flu. Everybody and their mom (literally) is wearing those white surgical masks like it's a fashion statement. All the drug stores have either a giant sign with "WE HAVE MASKS!!!" written on it, or "WE DON'T HAVE MASKS!!!". I'm sorry but those masks are completely useless. Needless to say, I didn't have any work last week. So on Tuesday I went to school, but only to play basketball. I played with the PE teachers(体育の先生) and it was quite fun. Afterwards, I went home and didn't go back to work until the following Monday (25th). What did I do with all that time? Well I exercised everyday, played video games, went shopping, ate dinner and cooked. It was an unexpected holiday! Unfortunately we will have to make up those days at the end of the term. But for what it's worth, it was fun.
As many of my friends and family know, I like basketball. Well finding someone to play basketball with in Japan is no easy task. I play futsal every week with a JET futsal team but I really want to play basketball too. Well, a few weeks ago I started to search for some basketball teams in Osaka. I found a team on Facebook, and I sent them an email. It took about 2 weeks for them to respond and finally last Friday I received a reply. The guy told me that he plays with some foreigners and Japanese people every Monday night. I asked them where? And he told me that they play in a middle school in Matsubara City. The funny thing is, I work in Matsubara City!! So all this time these guys have been playing and I had no clue. Anyway, he invited me to go play with them this past Monday (25th). I went last night and it was fun. I met 5 foreigner guys, all from America. They are not in the JET program though. They were really nice and made me feel welcomed into their group. We played from about 7:30pm to 10:00pm. I was dead tired afterwards, and I still had a 50 minute journey home. It was worth it though, because I made some new friends and now found some basketball people! I look forward to playing again next week. Tonight I'm playing futsal with the JET team and that is really fun as well.
Looks like I will be moving my apartment again. One of my roommates is moving back to America so that will raise my rent about $250! I want to find a smaller and cheaper place. Perhaps in a nicer area of the city. I found a nice place by Osaka's largest park Nagai Park, the rent suites my budget, however I would have to furnish the entire apartment myself. Which I think would be fun, but expensive. I will let you all know the details as the days progress.
Last night I called my grandfather in El Paso, for two reasons. One reason was to wish him a happy 89th birthday! Wow! The second was to wish him a happy Memorial Day. If you don't know what Memorial Day is in America, I'll explain a bit. It's a day to remember and honour the veterans of war. Well my grandfather is a World War 2 veteran. I asked him to tell me a couple of memories he had. For example a moment that he could never forget. He told me about his friend that was a bodybuilder Polish American, who taught him to weight lift while on the ship. He told me about when he was running away from Japanese snipers. He told me about a time while on a Navy ship and the attack alert sounded and all the soldiers had to run to the top deck with their safety vests (my grandfather had forgotten his!!). It was really nice to hear some of his stories about the war. He told me that he really didn't want to remember some things. It was a quick conversation but sometimes it's the content and feeling of the conversation that counts.
peace
vince
