Fights, X-rays and Ice-cream Soda beer

It's been a good week starting with speeches and ending in X-rays. (My hand is still being a  pain.) All is good though, a plaster and some tape should see this hand right.

No worries!

So last week I was writing the blog and a speech and as per normal, I was pretty nervous. But unlike normal, this time I can't say: "All went fine!" Firstly, I don't eat well in front of an event so I was disappointed when lunch was served before my speech.

I couldn't even eat half of it, damn nerves.

So I had a few shaky mouthfuls and decided to be done with it. We were supposed to give our speeches soon and I was keen to get it all over and done with.

But to my horror (and horrified I truly am.) 

I have developed a stutter.

I got through my speech, not too bad until the very end when I was to give a cool wee joke but it fell so very flat because my voice failed and I literally couldn't speak. It wasn't just repetition of a word but I literally made odd choking sounds into the microphone for like, five whole seconds. 

I managed to force some words out and I finished my speech and sat down. Well, it's over now and I can relax but I've got this new problem and it's not cool. More on this later.

The rest of the day went well though.

Serious meetings

The waitress looks fed up

Good times !

So I put the speech behind me and the rest of the day was filled with laughs and sushi!

It's just the best

You think you can never get sick of this amazing sushi but you can after you've eaten your own weight's worth. Always keen to go back the next day though, it's just too good!

Well I got home and felt stoked to have the speech over but in all honesty I felt severely embarrassed. My host Mum had filmed my speech and when we watched it and my stutter came up I actually had to leave the room because I felt so dumb. I'll have to get on top of this problem, I wont let it bring me down.

That was my Sunday, the week to come was a good one. It brought with it a holiday and another big fight. I was pretty excited.\\

Monday was your standard school day. I had class and this time I could focus on my own studies instead of silly speeches. I did have conversation practice with one of the teachers though and she asked me to repeat the speech to her. So I did with absolutely no problem. Then when I was going through other conversations it came back. Not pleased.

Luckily lunch was great.

This is another thing you can never get sick of

There wasn't any kendo on Monday so I got to relax a bit and it was nice! I got home via the train and didn't do too much but enjoyed the weather! (It's starting to get quite warm here, it's great!)

Tuesday was a holiday! So of course I had a sleep in. I got up and had lunch then went swimming with my host Dad. I haven't been swimming for quite a while but it was good to get back in the water. We did a bunch of lengths and what not, it was good fun. 

We got home and I was buggered. I got a good sleep and woke up with a quite a few sore muscles. I picked the best day to be sore too; we had a running test today.

We were supposed to do a bunch of shuttle runs and it was killer. It's pretty much the same as the beep test but conducted a wee bit differently than what I was used to.

We would run between two cones, 20 metres apart. You had to make it to the other side before a certain time elapsed. It started off real slow and then gradually got faster and faster. Every time you completed a run you would go up a level. Obviously starting at 0 and to my horror it ended at 300. 

It was one of those: "Go until failure" tests and I managed to make it to 106. At first I was stoked but then I realised that I had dropped out before the majority of everyone. I probably should have pushed it a bit further but I was well exhausted.

So we all hobbled back to class, sweaty and puffing. I realised that I had to go to kendo later on that day. It was going to be brutal. I was sore from swimming, running and soon to be sore from the kendo. And sure enough, head aches ensued. It was great fun but damn, my body's starting to rattle. I should probably rest it some time.

Rest can wait, I had karate on Thursday! 

School was as good as always but I had only karate on my mind.

Last week's training was at the different dojo and just as class finished, this guy turned up. He was the same age as me and was a competitor in the all Japan tournament. This means he was strong. So we promised we would fight the next week.

If that wasn't exciting enough; his Mum knows my host Mum and the two ladies spent the whole week hyping the fight up.

When I got to the dojo I met him and it was awkward. We were shaking hands but we knew we were about to smash each other. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. We had the first few preliminary fights where we tested each other before we actually got to the real business. He had a killer punch but I was able to land quite a few kicks in his mid region. I would have to be careful because he could quite easily slip me an uppercut that would drop me if I wasn't ready.

I was so excited.

Long story short:

He was pretty damn strong. We were about even. I kicked the snot out him. He punched the snot out of me. He busted my chest up real good. Feel like I broke my thumb. I hope he's hurting too. (Didn't break my thumb, it just hurts a lot.)

The dojo

The competition

 Of course we became good friends straight after the bouts. I can't wait to go back!

Crooked nose

The photo doesn't show it so well. His fist left a big indentation on my chest and it's still there now (Tuesday) It hurts pretty bad. I don't believe it is a sign of weakness though, I reckon it's a trophy to be displayed proudly. It hurts but it's cool.

So my hand still hurt from the tournament and to no one's surprise, it swelled up something wicked after that night. We booked X-rays for the next day. I'm not gonna lie, I was hoping for something cool like a broken hand or at least a fracture, that would be pretty metal.

I got home and was starving. I had forgotten to take my wallet to training so I couldn't buy any cold drinks on the way home and my throat felt like the Sahara desert. To my delight ~sarcasm~ at home we only had room temperature tea. I asked if there were any cold liquids about. Not even cold water. But pretty close to it. I had:

Alcohol free beer. It was pretty bad but it was cold and did the job. The first can was average, kind of like beer but not. I sculled it because I was so parched. The second "beer" however was different. It tasted like ice cream soda and that is no joke. I'm not even exaggerating. It was the weirdest thing.

I went to bed and slept like a baby, I was just so exhausted!

Friday was a good day too! School went well and there was another day off of kendo. I wouldn't have been able to go anyway because of my X-ray appointment. I limped everywhere and had trouble writing anything with my hopefully broken hand. School finished and I got the train home with my mates, it's always cool fun to talk.

We got to the clinic and had the photos taken. Basically, nothing cool like anything broken. Instead: "Probably a torn ligament. You can still train." Sweet as, I guess. I'm pretty happy that I can still train and that no serious damage is done but...

It would have been so cool to say that I broke my hand cos I punched too hard.

That's pretty pathetic actually, I don't know why I'm thinking like that.

The doctor was a cool guy but he insisted on speaking English to me. He had great knowledge of vocabulary and was easy to understand but he was so slow. He would painstakingly think a whole sentence through and then say it ever so slowly. I would reply in Japanese but he still spoke this turtle pace English.

Good on him for doing it though, it just would have been easier in Japanese because there were a heap of people waiting. Dinner that night was great!

We had homemade gyoza. They are like steamed dumplings served with a vinegar like dressing.

before they were cooked
That was one set, we had a whole other plate's worth

They were divine! 

Saturday of course meant a big sleep in. I got up, had lunch and then helped my host Mum, sister and Grandma run errands around town. It was fun to get out and about. The weather was great and we had plenty of laughs.

But dinner was what made the day. 

Because the weather was still superb, we went outside and had a bbq. I got to have a real beer and it was just like home. Except instead of sausages and meat patties we had tori-niku and sushi.

I didn't get a photo of the food but I got the view.

It doesn't get too much better than this

It was an awesome night. We talked until late even though we had plans to get up early. I really feel like I've connected with this family and I don't want to move at all. It's quite tough but it's all part of it. I know that I'm going to have an awesome time at my next family ( I move on the 20 something-th) but I still don't want to leave these guys. 

This weeks blog is so late because I literally haven't had the time to write it. I'm going to leave the stuff I did from Sunday till now for the next blog else this one will be too big and the next too short. 

That's all for now, my hand still hurts, I'm still as happy as can be and all is well!

Until next time!

Got him