This weekend was by far the most internationally oriented of all my weekends in Japan thus far. I feel great, well-rested, and have now started this week off on a very good foot.
Friday: Try telling a group of college students that Beer Pong is not a sport, see what happens.
On friday night a bunch of rowdy cats from the other dormitary came to my dormitory and organized a Beer Pong Tournament; I hate Beer Pong. Essentially, one team of two throws ping-pong balls at a pyramid of beer cups at the opposite at the end of table and vice versa. Yeah you guessed it, the beer gets stale and fools still get too drunk for their own good, but hey, if this type of event is capable of harnessing some healthy international camaraderie as it always does, I won't get in the way of its success. By the way if a tall Chinese man named Chou and small Chinese girl named Tsao Jin ask you to put money down on a Beer Pong game, refuse, becuase they will reduce you and your Beer Pong clout to nothing.
Saturday: Football players in Japan, still 195cm and 132kg (6 foot 6 inches, 290lbs).
Saturday was a glorious day in Kyoto, very warm, no clouds . . . no doubt, a perfect day for some American Football. Ritsumeikan Daigaka (daigaku means university) and Kyoto Daigaku faced off at Nishi Kyokugo Stadium under crystal clear skies and just in time too, cause boy was I fiending for some rough-neck-grid-iron action. After passing up the chicken karaage, yakisoba, and over priced beer at the entrance to the stadium, I found my seat among the other exchange students and witnessed one of the more depressing games of football I have ever seen, you know like Roosevelt High School football only with bigger, more Japanese looking guys (in this case Kyoto Daigaku was Rossevelt and Ritsumeikan was one of the many Catholic High Schools that consistantly demolished our team). Kyoto Daigaku had about three or four players hauled off of the field in stretchers, but they still fought it out until the end. In summary, our cheerleaders never stopped moving, the score was 51-0-an all out RItsumeikan victory-and Ritsumeikan still remains second in the nation for university level American Football.
After the game I was coerced into going to this international festival at Kyoto Daigaku, just past the west banks of the Kamo river that runs through the centre of the city. You sometimes coercion is the best thing that this small, hopeless planet can offer. I rolled into the back parking lot of a venue that pulsed with cuban music, the aromas foreign cuisines, and nothing but positive international vibrations. The first thing I layed my eyes on upon entering the main concourse of the festival grounds was a Falafel stand . . . yes F-A-L-A-F-E-L. I had been researching the only falafel restaurant in Kyoto on the web and they happened to have a stand at this very international festival (kokusai matsuri). I was delighted to spend far too many yen on the falafel frankly because that is all that I have been wanting to eat lately and more importantly they had a huge bowl of schug (hot herb paste) just waiting for me. The night proceeded with an amazing Samba/Bossanova group that provoked a massive group of dancing hooligans, me being one of them. The last group to perform was by far the most exciting. First was the Capoeira demonstration, which was simply amazing. The combination of Brazillian martial arts and the fluid, rhythmic movements of dance made for a spectacular showing. Next, and finally, came a group of about twenty percussionists who occupied the ground in front of the stage, pretty much where the majority of the crowd had previously been dancing and observing the Capoeira showcase. The rhythm was overwhelming, the beat was penetrating, and I didn't see a soul who wasn't moving. It was truly a magical night. Before departing on the fourty minute bike ride home I made acquaintances with a group of gentelmen, all from Brazil, one from Sri Lanka, our common language was Japanese, this was magical for me. To be able to communicate with a community of avid Japanese enthusiasts has been a highlight of this year so far and it has happened on more than one occasion.
Shout Out:
This weeks shout out goes to Jody Granitor. A teacher who's class I never had the pleasure of taking, but who's cabin in Hood Canal, Seder table, and company has acted as an ongoing and ever-changing classroom in which I have gained an unspeakable amount of knowledge. I want to thank Jody especially, for getting me back into reading books after he recommended Takashi Matuoka's "Cloud of Sparrows" to me at the beginning of this past summer. Reading and Jody rule, respectively.
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