STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 27

MARCH 2

No dance due to “rain”, or rather a lack thereof. Then again, everyone was tired from practicing so much recently that I think we all just needed a break. We’re going to try again tomorrow.

In other news, Joy and the others are back from Korea! I think… I haven’t heard or seen them yet. They weren’t in their rooms, and they haven’t replied to my messages yet, so maybe they’re out somewhere, or in a coma from the trip. Mark was still around, and it had been a long time since we have had the chance to hang out. He didn’t go to Korea, so he came to dance practice a couple times, but mostly he was traveling and hanging out with the other exchange students.

We tried to go eat at the Ramen place near our apartment, but it was closed! It was a huge disappointment. We didn’t want to walk to the station to find a place to eat either, so we just grabbed some food from the convenience store and watched TV in Mark’s room as we caught up with our recent adventures. Even when our conversation ended I stayed to watch TV— the TV in my room has been unplugged for months, one to save energy, and to because I have had no time to watch it. I even missed the overly dramatic commercials. The show that I was watching was called “Homecoming”, and I learned an interesting fact that one in every twenty-eight Japanese people are married to a foreigner. That seems like a lot, but when you consider big cities like Nagoya, or even the heavy Brazilian population around Toyohashi, I guess it makes sense.

MARCH 3

Dance practice today was strangely lonely. For a while it was only me because I showed up a little early. Then Ken and the others were coming late, so it was a solo practice for most of the time. In the end, only three people including myself showed up, and we all seemed kind of drained. After only a couple hours I decided to head home and rest up. Tomorrow I can still practice at AIDAI. The looming battle is also starting to weigh on my mind— I don’t feel like I have accomplished any new moves, my body still feels heavy, and I can’t dance as fluidly as I want to. I don’t want to let Yusei down… I’m all out of ideas at the moment though.

MARCH 4

I almost injured my arm today at practice. Though, I say ‘almost’ injured, but it was more of a scare than anything. I was practicing a freeze on my right arm, without going into a full cartwheel. In order to perform the move, you have to put your body weight over your left side. I have no problem going into the move, but reaching the freeze point is a bit more difficult. After a few warm-ups I was able to reach the full extension of the move, however, I couldn’t hold it so I quickly set my legs back down. It was close, so I thought I’d give it another try and push a little more.

I threw my legs up, over my head and to my left side. Freeze. I held it, but suddenly my arm locked and I just collapsed. It didn’t hurt from the fall, and I didn’t break any bones. If anything it was a muscle spasm in my arm. I couldn’t really lift it right away. It was as if all the strength had left it. Mentally I was panicking a little: if it did turn into an injury, I didn’t want to explain it happened while dancing. I also didn’t want to bother with going to a doctor. We have a very good health insurance plan, which costs us less than 2000 yen a month, and if I did go to the doctor the insurance would cover 80% of the costs. So, no, money wasn’t a problem.

As I walked around the practice area, I checked to see if anyone had noticed my fall. They seemed preoccupied in their own practice, which was both a relief and small disappointment. A few minutes passed and I was able to quite literally shake it off. The feeling was back in my arm, and I could return to normal practice. I just won’t be practicing that move for a while.

Practice ended early for me anyway. Totoro is heading home to Thailand on Thursday, so tonight we’re going to Yamachan for some of its famous tebasaki, chicken wings, for the last time. Junko also came; we haven’t seen her since December, but as it turns out she just started her training session at work this week. Soon, she and the upperclassmen will officially graduate from the university. The German students, Totoro and the Chinese and Taiwanese students who started their program last March will soon be returning to their countries as well. I can’t say I’m looking forward to this change.

MARCH 5

We spent another day out with Totoro and the gang. Of course, we had to eat Naan Curry for lunch. It’s all smiles and joking around the table, as if nothing has or will change. Tomorrow morning I’m going to wake up early to take Totoro to the station before she heads to the airport.

(Our last lunch together: curry and naan bread.)

MARCH 6

I woke up at 6am to help Totoro take all her bags from our apartment to Nagoya station. Yesterday, she had the final check for her room, so she stayed with us in Chambre 72 for the night. I woke up only with the intentions to go to the station, but as we were crossing the subway station with her luggage I just decided to join Joy and go all the way to the airport with her as well. Three other students from AIDAI who are also studying Thai came to see her off as well. Up until it was time for her to go through the security check we hung out in the airport lobby, joking around and taking pictures. She kept on smiling that wide grin, similar to the character she’s nicknamed after. We didn’t see tears from her until she was passing through security and saying her final goodbyes. It was hard to watch her go; slowly, the realization was setting in that we wouldn’t see her around anymore.

The five of us that saw her off grabbed a quick snack and drink from the Starbuck’s in the airport. We talked casually about our studies, and our study abroad programs. It was nice to have the distraction, but at the same time, I wasn’t in a mood to make new friends.

Regardless, we hung out for some time, and then we all started to head back to Nagoya on the same train. Joy and I actually got off a few stops later at Tokoname; since we had traveled all that way, we decided to take the opportunity to try and visit the Costco. Once we got off at the tiny station, we followed the map on Joy’s phone for a few blocks, before arriving at the said location and finding nothing… The map was no help, but we knew beyond a doubt that Costco was there, somewhere. It was a gigantic warehouse store, how could we miss it?

We back-tracked and headed down the main road towards the highway. I remember seeing that Costco was very close to the highway back when Akane’s mother picked me up from the airport. We drove right past it, so I was confident that if we headed toward the highway overpass, we would find Costco. My internal GPS didn’t let us down. Soon we came upon the large parking lot packed with cars outside of the Costco building. All we wanted was a slice of pizza. Now, it’s common knowledge that places like Costco and Sam’s only allow members to enter. However, according to Joy, the Costco in Hawaii has their food court outside, so anyone can by their snacks. We hoped it was the same at this Costco, but it wasn’t so. After trying twice to enter, just to get to the food court, we had no choice but to relinquish our quest and return to Nagoya.

It was hardly past noon when we reached Nagoya station, but by then any motivation was evaporated. Initially, I planned to head down to Toyohashi for the buropa, BPM’s party/event, but it wasn’t going to happen. We ate McDonald’s “crack fries” fur lunch (they’re really called ‘classic fries’, but the first time I read the sign in Japanese I misread it as ‘crack’— the name stuck). Then we spent the rest of the day lazing around Rachael’s room, munching on all kinds of snacks left over from past parties. Then, we ordered pizza from Dominos. That was my first time ordering pizza in Japan, which we did on the Internet. It was really good pizza, but the size was smaller than expected and it was a bit more expensive than in the States.

None of that really mattered. I didn’t care what I ate, or about doing anything. Maybe that was my subconscious way of dealing with Totoro’s absence. It’ only going to happen again, and again, so I need to spend as much time as I can with my friends before we are all pulled back to the reality that exists after this study abroad is over.

MARCH 7

I still don’t have much motivation to do anything, but the show must go on. I actually didn’t make many plans today except for one; dinner at SUSHI-RO. I set up the “event” so that everyone would have a chance to hang out together, catch up and kick back. That was the plan. Are you shaking your head yet? Do you know what’s coming? Yeah, things didn’t go as planned.

What could have been a big gathering withered down to a whopping four people Mark, myself, and two Japanese students, both of whom wanted to practice speaking English. Actually, one of the students has been… very interesting, to put it politely. When he sees either Mark or I on campus he has a tendency to interrupt whatever we are doing, even during conversations, just to say ‘Hi’. He also tends to start conversations, but not finish them and walk away. We receive messages from him in the same manner. I can’t really understand what he’s up to. It was actually more natural speaking to him in Japanese for some reason, so the evening wasn’t completely awkward.

(At 105 yen per plate, it’s easy to go overboard. One of us ate 20 plates!)

MARCH 8

Practice! Gotta practice!! It’s my last chance to accomplish something before the battle tomorrow!

Mark actually joined me at the park for practice. Even though he hasn’t been practicing lately, he, like the other dancers, was quickly able to slip into moves and do hand stands and what not. My only consolation is that he, like the others, has been dancing for years. It’s natural to them. I try to remember that, but I’m still jealous.

My arm/shoulder/upper back is feeling a bit strained. I suspect the muscle is really tight from all the hand stands and shoulder freezes I have been practicing lately. It doesn’t just while I’m actually doing the moves, only when I’m resting… or trying to sleep. I hope it’s gone before the battle tomorrow.