Tokyo Marathon

Today (Sunday Feb 28) was the Tokyo Marathon! My dad was running in it, and we were all very excited. This is the second time my dad has run in the Tokyo Marathon. On his first run, he was planning for 4:00 (4 hours) but ended up with 4:23. This time though, he was shooting for 4:15 and was so close with 4:19.This was his best marathon time yet - his first as 5:31. That is such a big increase.

My dad left at 7:00 in the morning. My mom and I went to see him run near Shibakouen. We used an online app to track him. The app is very accurate but a little laggy because people use it a lot. We couldn't see him at first, so my mom said really loudly, "He must be really close." So, after five seconds, my dad behind us said, "Yeah, he probably is." That was really funny and all the people around us were laughing really hard.

After that, my mom and I went to get pancakes. There was about a thirty minute gap before he looped back, so we got a snack. The pancakes were really good. After we got a snack, the tracker said we still had a few minutes, but we missed him! But instead, while we were looking for him, a friend of mine's dad saw us, cut across the runners and waved.

The Tokyo Marathon is a good place to attract attention. Lots of people wear funny costumes. And not only the runners! Some are just Picchu hats, or something like that but some are full body. My dad saw this guy that was dressed up like the ghost buster logo. It looked like this... (sorry about the bad picture)

We also watched the start and end on TV. At first, we saw all the pro's going really fast, almost sprinting. At the start, there was this one guy who tripped, in like the first ten seconds of the race. It would have been so sad if he got injured and had to drop out. He didn't, but others did. At every ten kilometres or so, helpers had to close the gate off if the time passed and if anyone was behind it, they got DQ'd. I really feel bad for the people who got cut off because they trained for months and then get cut off. There was this one guy we saw that was sprinting because he wanted to pass. The people started closing it, and when it was half closed, he ran through the other half. I am happy that he got through, but if he was that far behind, he might not make it through the next one.

I think that the Tokyo Marathon is a very, very big thing for Tokyo. Also, I think it is a big chance for Japan to earn a lot of money. I heard that they let foreigners in more then Japanese people. I wonder if this is to get money from other countries other then Japan. I think this because Japan is currently under a lot of debt. So, maybe, Tokyo Marathon is for Japan to get more money from outsiders.

For me, the Tokyo Marathon was really fun. It was nice to see my dad do really well. I do feel sad for the people that dot disqualified. If you haven't already, put your e-mail at the top of the page to get an alert whenever a post is posted.

Strawberry picking

On Thursday (it was a national holiday so we had no school) I went to Chiba prefecture to pick strawberries. The funny thing was that although the main point of going to Chiba was to pick strawberries, it took the least amount of time of the day. The drive to Chiba took around two hours (and we went under an ocean)! The ride was fun and the old saying "the journey is half the fun" came true. Except, if the journey and the return are the same, they are both equally fun, right? And that is 100% of all the fun, so the actual activity is not fun, right?

Well, that was not true for us. The strawberry picking was really fun. The farm was kind of in the middle of nowhere. There were a bunch of greenhouses lined up together with a road in-between. Each greenhouse had about six or seven rows of strawberry bushes and a path between each. There were a variety of strawberries from tiny green ones to huge red ones. It was 30 minutes all you can pick/all you can eat. This is different then America because in America, it is you pick to take home whereas Japan is pick and eat there. That actually isn't as good a deal as it sounds because after about 10 minutes of speed eating, you get pretty much full.

I think it's funny that in the first five minutes, everyone was rushing to see who can find the biggest strawberry. But after the initial rush, everyone was kind of full, so I mostly got small, ripe ones instead. Really, I couldn't taste the difference between big and small. Man-chan actually ate a green strawberry. I tried one after that and it was actually not bad. It was crunchy, not as juicy, but if you don't like sweet, it would be better. The strawberry farm people also gave us condensed milk to dip the strawberries in. I think it was really good, but also really sweet.

After the strawberries, we went to get lunch. We went to a fish restaurant. I had deep fried salmon and it was really good! I think the lunch was fun because there was a kids table and an adults table. The food was really good. The fish that the adults ate was still moving! There was fish that had all the edible parts cut off into sashimi or raw fish. Then, the head and tail and the thin middle were skewered and the fish was still breathing! It looked like this...

After lunch, we went to a boat museum. It had a lot of old boats. We were looking, and then this old guy came up to us and started talking about the boats. Apparently, one really small boat (without a roof)  went from Chiba to Korea. And if thats not enough, Chiba is on the opposite side of Japan than Korea. Like this...

The guy that talked to us was really weird. I don't understand why he talked to us. At first I thought he was a volunteer at the museum but no.  It's just freaky.

After we looked at the museum, we played outside while the moms got tea. We were running around and playing tag and all that. When we were playing, the freaky guy from the earlier paragraph came back. I think this actually made it freaky because it seemed like he was following us. Also, he told us about a tree (a fake tree) and how it was an olive tree. Then he started talking about (American Popeye go strong when he eat this" and stuff like that. Which was not even true! Popeye gets strong when he eats spinach, not olives. Then we got bored and were sitting in the outside part off the café. Some of us were sitting on the picnic table and Man-chan was standing on the bench. Then, some random lady came up to us,well, not came up to us but shouted from a distance, "(Random Japanese stuff)" We pretended not to understand Japanese but then she spoke english. "Why you sit on where people eat? Why you stand on where people sit? Not good!" Then the moms came outside because they saw her yelling at us. Now the lady says (as she backs away from the parents) "Are they Chinese?" Which is a weird question. The moms reply no, we aren't. Then the women says "Well, NO MANNER!!!!!" and storms off. 

I think the day as a whole was a good experience. And yummy too. I kind of want to go back except I don't want to meet that no manner lady or the freaky guys again. If you didn't already, put your e-mail at the top of the page to get an alert when a new post is posted. Happy Valentines Day people!

Fencing tournament

Last week, I went with my friends from school to watch a fencing tournament. We were going to watch Davide, Yujin (L), Riki and Emily fence. This is the first time I have seen actual fencing and so I learned a lot from it. I am also very proud of Nishimachi because we did really good. Even though they were not representing NIS, Davide (a very serious fencer) got first place in elementary school boys, and Emily got third in elementary school girls.

The fencing was very interesting. The room was like a gym, and had about 15 long mats rolled out that the fencers fenced on.  I noticed that they had on a lot of electrical stuff, I guess to count the points. All the spectators were outside of the area, so it got a bit crowded. Also, it was very loud. A lot of the parents were very passionate about their kids winning, so a lot of yelling and encouragement went on. When a fencer won point, they would yell out to make the other player feel bad. I think this was kind of mean but I can see why they do it. When the announcer announced the final four from each group, each person did a salute with their sword.

I learned a lot about fencing but still want to know more. I had thought there was only one basic style but there are a lot of different styles that people use.  For example, the left hand I always thought went in the air, but some people went behind the back or at the waist. Also, the initial guard was different. Some people held their swords down, ready to parry up, but others held their sword up, ready to swing down. Davide once did this cool move where he stabbed behind the back and actually got a point!

I also thought that it was interesting that some fencers tried to bend their swords to give it a curved shape. I don't know why they would want to do this as a strait sword would probably give you a longer reach. (If you know, please comment at the bottom of the page.) Also, even if it looks like someone gets a point, sometimes it does not count and the fencers start again from the same spot. I thought it might be an illegal attack, but if it's illegal, then wouldn't the other player get an advantage?

Each match had different feelings. Davide's matches were very quick, rapid attacks. This was more like watch for 20 seconds and then look away. Yujin, was a slow and steady kind of guy, retreating, then an attack, then advancing, then and attack. This was very suspenseful and I think it was kind of nerve racking.

I think I would be an okay fencer. I have a lot of practice sword fighting at home. I think I might be the kind of person that does defence until the right moment. My reflexes are okay but I have bad form. And people can only get better by practice. Yujin actually practices fencing three times a week.  I think the most exiting part of the tournament was when Davide won.

I think this was a great experience and I might want to try fencing (maybe). I am glad that I went because I learned a lot. If you haven't put your e-mail at the top of the page, please do it so you will get a notice whenever a post is posted.