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Monday 21 April 2014

A tired week

Man I am buggered. I was writing last weeks blog at one in the morning so that sort of made the start of my week a bit sluggish. So I slept on the train to school and hobbled in to class where I slept at my desk for the first period.

I had a small bit of charge that lasted until about 5th period where I had to take another nap. I had a speech that needed writing but I thought that would have to wait until the next day. I foot was still busted from the tournament so I couldn't go to kendo which was a bit disappointing. I instead limped about with my friends and went to have a look at teh Kyudo dojo.

This was pretty cool. Aside from the fact that the dojo was like, 30 minutes away and I was traveling at a whole one limp per second.
Saw some pretty trees on the way there. The weather was mint
So we get to this dojo and like many times, I had no idea what to expect. I knew that Kyudo was the Japanese archery but I wasn't sure how it was done. We entered the dojo and it was awesome.
The shooting range

The bow is bigger at the top

It was pretty damn cool
After a bit of a nosey we walked back to the train station and went home. I was pretty tired so I didn't do much at all. I just sort of went into a coma state and slept. 

But I still woke up tired. Very tired. I soaked in the shower for a wee bit before getting to the train so I could sleep. I got to school and hit the books. With my head and went to sleep.

I feel like an old cell phone, constantly  needing charging or else I just shut down during the day. It's quite annoying. That day was a bit of nothing much. Lunch was good though!
Yum!
You can see that I had already started eating the rice, but I thought I had best get a photo before it was all gone.
I limped past the kendo hall feeling guilty because I couldn't train. It made me feel a little bit down but I soon found friends to ride the train home with and all was well. I didn't get up to much that night. Just a bit more sleeping.

Thursday was a good day. School was just fine, I did my regular routine of sleeping in the first period and managed to be slightly productive throughout the rest of the day. I was pleased. After school I had about four hours to kill between school and karate. The night's karate was going to more of a hangout and recap of the tournament as opposed to an actual training so I was able to participate. But my leg was still a pain.

I was invited to the Rotary district governor's house because he lives nearby and his wife is my host Mum's best friend. So I went there and had a mean feed of home made yaki-soba.
You can't really get sick of this
I heard the words: "You can sleep if you want" so I did just that. I woke up a dribbling mess all ready for karate.

I got there and we all watched the videos from the tournament on a big screen tv. Then we just hung out and had a good time for a while before we had a small prize giving. Everyone got a participation certificate but us place getters got a really big and extravagant looking certificate. I don't have a picture now but I will get one up next week. It was a good night. 

I went back home to find a big bowl of cup ramen. (It's like 2 minute noodles but sooo much better.) My host brother had bought these for me and said they were the best. My host Mum warned me that they were quite spicy. I was feeling pretty cool because I had a big certificate. So I poured all of the spicy sauce into the noodles and quickly realised that this was gonna be quite hot.

So I scolded my tongue on the first bite which didn't do me any good. Soon enough I was sweating, my nose was running and my eyes watering. I had started eating so I couldn't stop. I had talked up my ability to eat spicy stuffs quite a lot so I definitely couldn't back out of this. They were delicious but every bite ripped up my throat. 

Of course I ate the whole lot and downed the stock. It was divine but painful. I then went to bed and slept. I get all this sleep throughout the day and then get a good amount at night but I still wake up as a zombie.

Surprise surprise. I was in no form to wake up at 6:00 am on Friday morning but there was school to go to and I'm not exempt from the rules. So I rolled out of bed and made my way downstairs. The train allowed me a small bit of respite before I had to go to class. 

I'd like to stay I studied hard and was attentive in class but nope. Sleep was too good. It's dangerous business though; I just about fell out of my seat which would have been a bit embarrassing. The day brought with it a bit more productivity and all was good. I got home with probably the lamest thing to look forward too. It was Friday which meant that tomorrow was Saturday.

And I could sleep! I could sleep in a bed! Not on a hard desk but on a soft mattress! Luxury! 

I slept until about 11:30 am when I had lunch. I had plans for the weekend and they promised to be quite fun. My karate Sensei was throwing a BBQ at his place on Sunday but some of us were invited to spend the night and have a small feast. 

I got to Sensei's house at about 3 o clock. Some other students and I cleaned up his house and helped prepare for the night. I was of course, only allowed to have one or two beers. So I enjoyed the ones I had.

I might have had a little bit more than the above mentioned one or two but that one be mentioned.
Most of the food was gone by the time I got a photo but I can promise that it was amazing
Plenty of food, many laughs and just a good time. My one or two beers had me quite sleepy so I literally just rolled over and slept on the floor. I woke up and the lights were out, a blanket over me and lots of snoring from everyone else who had gone to sleep. 

I woke up to the sound of talking and cooking. Must be about noon I thought with a heavy head. Nope, it's 7 am. What.
It was seven in the morning and I was in no state to do anything. I forced down breakfast which was quite nice but it wasn't really what I was looking for. No problem. We were soon outside preparing for the BBQ. 

The cool thing about being at a house full of karate people is that everyone loves fighting. The worst thing is that everyone loves fighting. I managed to bust up my hand again between play fighting and wood breaking. (We had to break up some kindling for the fire.)

Soon enough we were underway and the times were good.
Got some big fish

And some wee fish. (Called, Ayu)

Nice

Smelt amazing

Chef Sensei

Good times
The weather started to pack in though so that was the signal to call it a day. But what a day it was. I got to speak to a heap of people and learn a bit more Japanese so it was great. I got a ride home and was pretty exhausted. I slept before dinner and after which I went to bed because I just couldn't function. I had a good sleep though.

But then that thing came along and ruined my sleep. Oh, it was Monday. No worries, I get to do Kendo today so I was quite keen. I fell into a deep sleep on the train and would have missed my stop if it wasn't for my host sister. I was out to it.

I remembered about this speech I've got to have memorised by Saturday. Better start writing it. So I actually did some work today and by the time I got to Kendo I was a little bit tired. Training was tough but it was good to be back.

I feel like a bit of a bully though; There are a bunch of new kids who joined so there are a few new faces. Anyway, this one kid was really strong and gave me quite a fright when he really smashed me in the head. We were doing drills so I thought to myself: "I will get him back when it's my turn!" I was thinking it in a playful way but it seems as though I hit him too hard. 

I did, in truth use all my strength in bring the bamboo stick down on him. He didn't say anything but the look on his face said pain. Woops. I think we were friends by the end of the night so no worries.

At the end of class I was presented with a gift. Everyone at Kendo wears these belt like things. (Photo for reference)
The best example is the boy in the front right
On these belt like things, everyone has their name and school written on the front. It's actually like a big sock that you can take off the belt if you want to change them. I don't have my belt on in the above photo but when I do have it on, I'm the only one without my name on it.

I'm not too phased about it, being foreign and all but tonight my club gave me one. I will have to get a photo up of it some time but it essentially means that I am officially welcomed into the club. Everyone clapped for me and I was elated. I feel pretty damn cool.

I got home, had dinner and got stuck into the blog. I thought I better show you what I'm having for dinner on a regular basis because it's actually the best. 
Shrimps, fresh veggies, salad and a bowl of sushi. Everyday is something like this.
I love it
That's all I've got for now. I'm currently listening to music and looking forward to sleep. I still have half a speech to write and a fair bit of other paperwork to get through (Such a hard life----sarcasm) I've got it quite easy to be honest. I'm blessed, really. 

Cheers for reading! Until next time!
The book isn't even open. 

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