Two Funny things about today

It's kind of late so pardon the brevity.

1) So I was driving back from the sports center after my run and on the radio came a cover of Ozzy Osborn's "Crazy Train." What surprised me was the singer's ability to turn the song into a catchy big-band version of the original. I was stunned - stunned - after the song was finished to learn that my radio was tuned to the local corporate-commercial J-pop channel and not the off-beat national public broadcaster like I had assumed.

2) Pushing the admittedly headline grabbing story of a Hiroshima construction worker arrested in possession of 4000 pairs of women's socks and underwear off the front page today was extensive coverage of the Japanese Meteorological Agency's erroneous cherry blossom forecast. Because of a miscalculation in December temperature data, cherry blossoms had been mistakenly forecast anywhere from 3 to 8 days too early in many parts of Japan. It was the lead story. Heard on the national 7 o'clock news: "We now go live to the front of a store where a man is sweeping for comment."

New Badminton Racket

I have been adopted by two kindly badminton coaches and they were both stunned - stunned - to learn a couple of weeks ago that I only had one racket. To them, this was an untenable situation and they pleaded with me to buy another. I normally only catch about half of what they say because they aren't trained elementary school teachers - but former Japanese Self-Force members - and they have never slowed down enough for me to clearly hear what they are saying. In any case, I took their advice and bought a new racket a couple of weeks ago and have been waiting to post about it; I wanted to see if it would work out.

For those readers that are badminton aficionados - after much internet investigation - the racket I bought was a Yonex Nanospeed 8000. I got a great deal, saving around $60 by buying it here instead of Canada. The thing that always cracks me about my new racket is how much technology is crammed into the thing, especially, blatantly, nano-technology. The racket is carbon but by the addition of nano-particles in-between particles the frame has been strengthened though weighting less. The strings are also nano coated. Nano-tech allows designers to pick and choose what characteristics they want the string to have. With the Nanogy 95 string, it's thinner, giving the better rebound characteristics normally associated with thinner string, but it's just as durable as thicker string. Also, the exact texture of the string is finely honed to grab the birdie, much to my liking, but the reviews are right to note that net play is nearly futile with this string.

The racket has not dramatically improved my game. Because it's one of the higher-tier rackets, it's tuned for maximum control and power when contact is made in the sweet spot; contact made outside the sweetspot can be very unforgiving. This racket will force me to use good technique thereby creating good habits. I have never thought of my smashes as particularly powerful but lately when I cleanly hit a shuttle with this racket I have been very happy with the results; laying the bird inches from the side lines.

Where is my Sun on Sunday?

In a sure sign from the Gods I should stay indoors and cosy today , I opened the curtians early this morning to find that it had snowed overnight. It now being March in Shikaoi, that stuff is heeeeaaaavvvyyy. I don't mind the overcast day because overall it has been an exceptionally sunny spring, and I expect it to continue come Monday. After taking these pictures I had to run out to Sasagawa later, but other than that I have stayed warm indoors reading and writing. The dishes are done and the house is clean but I am not expecting anyone. I hope for an easy Sunday because I have a long run planned this afternon, however, the white slush will eventually have to be removed, even though leaving it on the driveway through sheary laziness would have the same effect (being spring). It was easy to keep the house toasty (with minimal use of my heater) because it's really very warm outside.

Friday Again

A nice sunny Friday is all that it takes to put me in a good mood. Everything for the week is done - behind me - and I can update guilt free. This is made especially easy because everyone appears to be out of the on business. It's nice to catch this quiet moment because looking back on this week, I did a ton of stuff for work. The only thing that could possibly overcome this week is looking forward to next week. But this slows down after Wednesday as the school year winds down.

My good mood was quite infectious to the people around me and I found myself smiling a lot. In the morning I had a senior citizens English class. I love a small change in my schedule like this and I applied a lot from what I learned doing it last year. I was most surprised at the great reception of my last game. The game involved spelling Japanese words in romaji. 70 year olds were on their feet, pointing, scrambling to find the pieces for the word. It worked far better than I expected and we ended up playing it longer than schedule. I will certianly make a note of it for future classes.

In the afternoon I had an open class at school that went as well as can be expected. The teacher always plans too much and then goes through the material very slow, thus we didn't get to finish today's lesson plan. No one seemed to mind however, least of all the grade 3s and 4s, who were in very high spirits. Tonite: A salad, yaki-tofu, and sweet potatoes for dinner and then badminton. I get to play singles tonite, correction - I get to lose at badminton tonite. Haha! Hope everyone has a good weekend!

A little bit of a rest

I have some rice cooking now for dinner and seeing as there are no dishes to do I thought I would update my blog (even though the blogging community at large these days seems to have lost interest in updating their's). My excuse for not update is; for me, the end of March signals the end of the school year and brings many open classes that require more preparation. This means more running around for me than usual. Things will drop to less-than-busy-than-usual next week when school is out for spring vaction and I'm trapped in the office.

I was set to update about something else but I feel like ranting about not being able to go for a run today. It's all self imposed I assure you. I'm fighting a pain in my hamstring and while I am fairly confident it's nothing, it still requires rest. I find the situation maddening; I just want to run, or scream if I can't. The only thing that settles me down is reading the internet running forums where people discuss their injuries from "running through the pain." Real nightmarish, life changing stuff all because they didn't rest when their bodies told them. Taking solace in other's pain probably isn't what the Buddha would do but it keeps me sane. I find it interesting that my problem is not finding the motovation to go running but the motovation to stay home when that's the smart thing to do. Hopefully if I rest from any hard running and stick with just badminton I will be ready for a long run Sunday after a light run Saturday.

Passport Finished

Being the bucket of fun I am, a normal Saturday morning includes cleaning, but not last weekend, because I switched it up and went ice skating instead. Obihiro was running an international free-skate event for foreigners living in Japan. You can be proud that the Canadians in attendance represented Canada well. But it should be noted the majority of people were from countries where winter is mythical occurrence that happens during Christmas specials on TV. I haven't been on skates since high school but it felt really good to zip around the rink. I did feel a bit unstable throughout the morning however. I was very happy to find a pair of sharp ice hockey skates that fit.

I also added the below glam shot of my new passport (which includes my long-term stay work visa and multiple re-entry permit). After being shuffled between Canada and Japan, two trips to Sapporo and various fees, I am ready to declare it one of the most expensive passports ever issued. It's done now and I'm good for five years.

Pictures from Churui Yesterday

These are some pictures from Churui Elementary School about 1 and 3/4 hours south-east of Shikaoi. Great drive back on the back roads. Curvy and hilly and very picturesque through a birch tree forest in winter. No traffic either and no rush to get home. Roll down the windows because of the spring weather and just cruise. How would you like a school where if you turn 100 degrees from the school entrance you can see a ski hill within walking distance?

Pictures from Sapporo Yesterday

Sapporo and Churui

So many blogs haven't been updated recently; including mine. Anyways, I will try to get some pictures up as soon as possible.