Lunch Club

So, after rent etc, my biggest expense is food. (I have this terrible habit of eating several times a day - so expensive! I should try to kick the habit one of these days!) I used to buy my lunch every day, and this adds up after a while. So, Katie and I started something new...

lunch club!!!

We take turns buying bread and sandwich fillings, and coffee and snacks, and eat at the office each day instead of going out! It is much cheaper! So, this week, one of the things I spent my saved money on was a parasol! Isn't it pretty? I can blend in with all the Japanese women this summer! They are paranoid about the sun.

And we're through!

Yay Aussies!! We've made it through to the next round!!

I was going to get up at 3am to walk into town (no buses at that hour!) to watch the 3rd Aussie match at the sports bar with Brendan and Trevor. However, when my alarm went off after just 3 hours of sleep, and I heard the rain bucketing down, I decided to just roll back over and sleep more! I got up at half time to watch the Japan vs Brazil second half, and followed the play-by-play commentary on the net of the Australia game (it wasn't showing on any TV channels I get).

'Twas an intense game! I was worried for a little while! But we're through, so I have some more excitement and sleepless nights to look forward to - yay!

World Cup fever part II

Well, I went back to the sports bar on Sunday night... Japan vs Croatia at 10pm, and Australia vs Brazil at 1am. Big night!!! (Monday was my day off, so it was okay!)

Japan vs Croatia - a thrilling game! It was so much fun to be able to cheer with everyone this time! There was one incredibly passionate fan, who started the crowd cheering and chanting 15 min before the game started, and I think he wanted everyone to continue yelling for the entire game! He started to become hoarse before even half time, but his sidekicks kept things going, while he thumped the little table near him so hard it eventually broke!!

I learnt a few of the chants and had fun clapping and singing and yelling along! "Nihon no goru ga mitai!" (We wanna see a Japanese goal!) At one point in the game, Croatia was awarded a free kick REALLY close to the goal - the worst part was that we all thought it was a bad call. But thankfully, Kawaguchi did an AMAZING save! He's my hero! It was the highlight of the game. Unfortunately, there were no goals scored by either team.

Australia vs Brazil - a tense and not quite so thrilling game! Of course, most people went home, and those remaining were more interested in their chit chat and drinks than the game. But Brendan and Trevor were with me this time (and 2 Japanese staff asleep in their chairs!), so I still had company. Although very sad to have lost 2-0, I was very proud of the Aussie boys - in my (expert!?) opinion, they played well against the world's top team.

Now, if we can just beat or tie Croatia, we can make it through to the next round!!

Aussie Aussie Aussie!

Oi Oi Oi!

Well, that was a very fun, but slightly awkward experience! I just spent the evening in a sports bar with 100 or so screaming Japanese soccer fans, while we beat them! Doh!

I went with 3 Japanese women, one British chic, and we sat next to and chatted with another Japanese woman and her Spanish friend. (We were the only 3 foreigners in the room, and they were both cheering for Japan, as any sensible person in that situation would do.) I had an awesome time, chatting away, watching the soccer on the big screen, clapping along to the Japanese cheers. It was all fun and games, until, suddenly, Australia started kicking goals!

Tell me, what are you supposed to do in such a situation? With the national broadcasting TV camera right in my face to catch my response, I bravely called out "Aussie Aussie Aussie!", and responded with my own "Oi Oi Oi!", repeating the process for each of the 3 goals. It just isn't the same with only one person doing it!! It seemed inappropriate not to cheer exuberantly when my country won, but at the same time, when you're the only one in a foreign country, you don't exactly want to rub their faces in it, eh? (And I did wanna make it out of there unscathed!)

After, of course, they wanted my response. My Japanese is so bad, I didn't know what to say. I was all prepared to lose, and only had my response of 'Omodetto Gozaimasu! Tanoshikata desu!' ready. (Congratulations! That was fun!) I sputtered out something like, 'I'm happy, it was fun, your goalie was really good.' I'll have to watch the news tomorrow to see if I made it on there, or if there were some more eloquent Aussies somewhere in the prefecture that will get the special spot.

But anyway, we won, and I had a great time. Sport is so much more fun if you watch it in a huge group with heaps of people who are really enthusiastic!

Great game, Japan, and awesome cheering, fans! Thanks for graciously allowing me to join you, and applauding my victory cheer rather than hurting me!

Some things never change

How is it that I'm 'brave' enough to move to another country on my own, and yet I still totally freak out about attending a combined churches service and BBQ on my own?!? It seems I will never get over my fear and dislike of parties and other social gatherings of size. Thankfully, Tab was online this morning, to give me a pep talk so I managed to leave the apartment, and as I neared the park and was about to turn back, I spotted someone, so thought they might have spotted me, so I had to keep moving forward. As I knew would happen, it was great, and in the end I was really glad I went.

It was a combined service - my church and the pentecostal Japanese congregation. The Japanese pastor speaks English really well, so Pastor Ryan spoke, and he translated. When we sang, we used the same tunes, but sang the words in our respective languages - it actually sounded pretty unreal!

One guy shared how his wife had given birth to a breach stillborn daughter on May 27 (baby was due in August). He ran into the room where the doctors were with the baby, and starting praying, and suddenly she opened her eyes! They said she was in really bad shape, and wouldn't be able to feed for at least a month, and all this other stuff, and yet she was breast feeding about 4 days later!! Praise God, eh!!

After the service, we had lunch. I wasn't gonna stay, but I was sitting next to this Japanese lady who had come for the first time, and she was gonna leave 'cuz she was embarrassed 'cuz she hadn't brought any food to share. So I told her I hadn't brought anything either, and that we should stay anyway, and so we did. I managed to socialise for a while, before sneaking off. It was cool to hear everyone mixing and chatting... mostly in English, but with some Japanese too. I like it how love and a sense of community can be shared among people even with a language barrier.