Oh gosh, it's been two weeks since I last wrote. Sorry! I've been busy, and also, haven't had many pictures to post. So... let's see. On October 12th I ran a 10k race (my first!) in Niigata as part of the Niigata marathon. I went with my friends Jon and Naomi, who both ran the half (along with Naomi's super-fit uncle). We carbo-loaded before hand at a kaiten sushi place the night before the race, which I had never been to before. Sushi goes around on a conveyer belt and you pick what you want!
Just before the race I got really nervous and my old habit of getting really tired when I get nervous kicked in. I was yawning at the start line and had to jump a little to get myself out of it. And my palms were sweaty! But it went fine. I had been told by Naomi and Jon to start out fast and just maintain it, which I later found out they were kind of kidding about. Anyway, I started running as fast as was comfortable, and just held it the whole time, which meant that by the end I wanted to die. I also had drank way too much water and got a cramp, and was really sore from soccer. But there were cheerleaders along the way, and lots of people cheering us on. Even if it wasn't completely enjoyable, I was really happy when I finished in 45:39! My goal had been between 45 and 50, so 45 was great. I had some free sugary drink and then quickly called mom and noodle (that's my sister, for those of you who don't know), then went to watch Jon and Naomi finish. I got pictures of both of them! They both did really well and met their goals. We proceeded to eat giant onigiri (I had two, mine and Jon's), then Jon and I went back to his apartment and fell asleep.
That night Jon, Mark and I went to Jonnobikan, an onsen near my house. We had dinner and relaxed and it was great, and then we went to meet some friends on the beach, where we set up a tent for the night. We even had a little fire, and smores! (well, kind of - we had no graham crackers, so we had marshmallows with chocolate - and nuts!)
The next weekend was musical practice on Sado, and we had an enkai the night before in Niigata city. The enkai was really fun, especially since I was seated next to a Japanese man whose only words seemed to be 'drink up' and 'eat up.' I was also invited to give a talk about my bioethics research, but who knows if that will happen?
Sado was good, although we didn't get too much practice done (a lot of work on props though). I used my log lunch skills to make a big soup and salad to feed everyone, and Natasha made a nice curry. That night we went over to Yuki's house (he used to be the ALT coordinator on Sado, and he now does tourism stuff) for a few beers, then fell asleep.
This week has been uneventful - going to work, Japanese class, and all that. I have two culture festivals this weekend so I'll be busier still, but next weekend is three-days so I'll be able to rest then!
