My roomate is dying. When I first mentioned the curse that Japan has placed upon her I was kind of joking but now I’m convinced. She got a fever two days ago, in combination with some very worry some symptoms she has been having ever since she got here, so she went to the Isha (doctor) where she was told that her current diet (McDonalds food and kowala yummies) had somehow (too much salt?) caused her stomach to either swell or move, possibly both, she couldn’t remember exactly what the problem was. She should be fine, presuming she takes the medication they give her but her morale, which was already pitifully low, has even further plummeted.
Yesterday I went out to eat with Bochan and Ako and Engellsan. We had Okonomiyake (?) which is often likened to a pancake, I have no idea why. It was… strange. Then we karaoked all night!!(until10pm)!!! Tomorrow I don’t have classes. I’m going to finally see the Hikone castle with Bochan as well as go to Viva city for the first time (a nearish by mall) and then learn to make homestyle Japanese and Chinese food! Saturday is my date with Chosan in Kyoto. On Tuesday we had a short Aikido class. Aikido looks really awesome and I think I like it better than Taekwondo (although it would be practically less useful I think). Afterwards Melville sensei tried to get Engellsan and I to ask the club members to talk sometime and when we did not immediately act she did it for us. Of course these students can barely speak English at all, so we will see how this goes. :p ahh… Melville sensei: forcing students everywhere to study languages, even if they don’t want to.
My internet has been acting up ever since the rainy season started, so I don’t know how often I’ll be able to get on or to update this.
I discovered that the reason I’ve been drinking eight to ten cups of tea a day and still having trouble staying awake is that all Japanese green tea has no caffeine in it. yep. Sweeeet. And of course we don’t have a coffee maker and I don’t feel like buying one so I’m going mostly caffeine free this summer. Although today I’m going to hold up in cocos (restaurant attached to school) and get the drink bar (2 dollars unlimited drinkage) so I can coffee while I study. Sunday there is some sort of cultural festival I might go to, and I might go to Matsubara sometime this weekend as well.
We have finally gotten to the stuff I’m bad at in class so I finally feel like class isn’t a waste of my life anymore! This is truly good news because I’ve been seriously regretting coming here this week. The honeymoon stage is over and now I’ve hit the wall. At least I understand that this is all completely normal, that Yasuko felt the same way and so I can sort of see my situation the way I saw it when watching her. It helps a little. I don’t think I’ll come back though, not alone leastwise. At this point I’m just trying to not let it get the best of me.
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Aikido will probably be much more practical for you than Taekwondo if you get good at it. Taekwondo is a stand-up tournament style which rewards speed and strength. The downside is that, in a real world context, the quality of your technique is unlikely to make a big difference against an opponent who is physically stronger and faster than you, even if they are relatively untrained. Since most of the people who are likely to attack you in the Real world will be at least stronger than you, that limits the effectiveness of taekwondo as a self defense art.
ReplyDeleteAikido, on the other hand, is all about using your opponents weight and momentum against him, so technique is paramount. If you are good, no one will be able to simply muscle through your defense. I want to learn Aikido, but its hard to find a class in America that is actually about technique, rather than fitness and philosophy.