Been awhile i know, sorry. turns out that not every post that i send from my phone gets to the blog for some reason. hmmm. i dont get it. so if three quick "message from skymails" pop up, you know why. they were actually typed several days ago.
so this week. Smo. yes, its true. if you call it sumo here you get strange looks from people, so you better pronounce it correctly. well i went with my friends chrissy and audrey to the new years sumo grand tournament. sumo is only held three times a year in tokyo and three other times around the country and each for two weeks, so i needed to see it now. the next time it will be around is at the end of may.
.....short break.... Thanks to laura for sending me a kick ars care package! full of chocolate, DEODORANT, and a rolling stone magazine (that thing is gold by the way) it was such a nice treat to read things in english and eat real candy. you rule! thanks also to rhiannon for stopping in. welcome to the party and i hope you stop in and post more often.
ok back to smo. we got there at 1130, it started at 9 but runs all day until 6, so we saw plenty (and too much of some, ekk!). turns out that if you buy the general admission ticket you can sit anywhere in the arena until you get kicked out. i sat in the front row for about an hour, then retreated back about 6 rows after almost getting steamrolled by a near naked 400 pound japanese man. gross. but honestly it was awesome! of all the traditional japanese things i have done up to this point, it has ben the best. loud cheering in japanese, a lot of beer, many manmy many bouts between smo wrestlers and friends. each bout really only lasts about 3-20 seconds, but its amazing to watch, and interesting to see the routine that must be followed before the match. i also got my picture taken with one of the wrestlers. wow. fat.
Photos will follow soon.
i found out last night that my messy slob of a roommate is moving out, which means i will be the head resident in about a month. maybe then the place willl stay clean. we shall see.
i also traveled to kamakura again last week. i love that place. this time i rented a bike for 15 bucks all day. i toured many of the temples that i had not seen, most of which were so so, but still very beautiful. i also visited the daibutsu again, the big budha. but this time i dug down deep in my pockets and paid the 20 yen to go inside. unimpressive, but worth the 20 cents. i also visited a bamboo forest in the area.
speaking of bikes, i think that friday is the day. i work on both of my days off this week due to shift swaps, but i have friday to 'enjoy' the area.
"Enjoy". i have not yet mentioned this but that word is overused here. it is one english word that ALL japanese understand, so they use it all the time. 'enjoy japan'. 'will you enjoy your trip?' 'do you enjoy?' 'i want to enjoy vacation in okinawa' UURRGGHHH!!!! stop using the word! as a joke, my cooworkers and i use it to fill out our requests for time off. "I want to enjoy time off when my friend comes to visit from america" heh. they dont get it.
did i mention that japanese people cant pronounce the TH sound either? I said 'theory' in a class today and i got three different spellings: silly, sheery, and shiori. hmmm. no. these were high level students also.
my hong kong adventure with my friend kiyoe will be february 15-17. airfare and 2 nights hotel: 400 bones. not bad. and i cant wait!
i dont know what else to say, im definitely settled in now. i eat the food, spend my hard earned cash at an alarming rate, travel all the time, miss homebut enjoy this place so much, which brings me to a harsh reality: The next time I see my family could very well be the last time i see my friends here. its different from my days in new york. those were in the states, and the workers traveled throughout the country constantly. but now its different. crap. we'll see how it goes.
take care
scotto
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