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Tokers FCOctober 2004
We went. We scored. We conquered.
We went to Awajishima, the island just north-east of Tokushima. It's actually part of the next prefecture, but the narrow stretch of sea between Awajishima and Shikoku called the Naruto Strait is essentially associated with Tokushima and is famous for having the world's largest tidal whirlpools. Awaji itself is a very rural island of fishermen and farmers, but is famous in recent history for having hosted the England soccer team during the 2002 World Cup. It was to this same hallowed turf once graced by Beckham's feet that we were headed. Tokushima's very own motley team of English teachers masquerading as soccer players, Tokers FC, were off to compete in a weekend tournament for other such teams from all over western Japan.
We scored a goal, eventually, and then another. Then we outdid ourselves by winning, which wasn't quite part of the plan, since that meant our battered team had to back up for a fifth game. We only had 12 players with which to field a team, so all up it wasn't a bad effort.
We conquered the demons of 2003. We didn't put one in the back of the net at all last year, so scoring one this year was our major challenge. We ended up, therefore, not being last of the twenty teams that gathered in Awaji. It was a proud weekend for Tokers FC. Conquerers, indeed. :)
Now, as I type, I'm sure the rest of the team is in as much pain as I am, body sore in ways I haven't been since, well, since last year. With my bruised toes and grazes, I can't head into an onsen to soak it out, and I even had to show up and be genki for elementary school today. Still, we all had a good weekend. Once my body recovers, all that will be left are good memories.
A weekend of soccer proves to me that I'm cut out for something else, really, and I think I'll go back to the touch rugby I've been playing a lot of lately. There've been a couple of local tourneys on this past month, and now it's about time to start organising the big AJET tournament that we first held successfully last April. Having been in the city for more than two months now, I feel the need to get busy and do some regular exercise. Awa Odori will end up being good for that, too, but now is sort of the off-season, and I still haven't joined a new group. I thought it would be easy to find stuff to do in town, but in fact, the size of the community means you have to work harder!
One thing you don't have to work harder for, however, is finding a place to drink and people to drink with, as I found not long after my birthday last month. On the day itself, I had curry with the JETs who I live next door to here in Kimura Mansion, and got to speak to my family on the phone. I ended up going out on the town the next week. Being 26 has the benefit of having to pay less for your car insurance. Being 26 meant that I had the chance to alter my self-introduction speech for my new schools, too - a good thing when I had to do pretty much the same lesson 31 times! But I don't feel much different for having entered my 27th year. Being 26 is all right!
Speaking of my new schools and life in the city, I have two Junior High Schools at which I spend most of my time, and three elementary schools, each of which I visit about once a month. The high schools are big, 450 and 650 students each, but sort of on the fringes of the city. This means that I have a long commute (in my new Honda Civic) but it also means that the kids are generally more "inaka" or "country" than the inner city students. They're good schools anyway. Two of my elementary schools are quite small, one even smaller than my biggest Iya school, and that's nice. The remaining elementary school at Tsuda is just about the biggest in Tokushima-ken! I'll slowly get to know a few people here and there, I hope. That's the biggest problem I have - not knowing ANYONE's names. Sure, my co-workers are familiar enough, and a couple of odd bodies stand out in the crowd, but it's quite discomforting to be unable to name people. To not know that they're your student if you were to meet them in the street. I often can't read the Chinese characters on their name badges anyway. It's a little impersonal. I guess that's life in the city all over.
As I said before, I live in an apartment block with other JETs close by, and naturally I spend a lot more time with JETs than I used to. 30 seconds distant instead of 30 minutes, if you know what I mean. It's not a bad thing, but I'm conscious of wanting to spend more time with Japanese people, of doing something local. Otherwise, I guess I'm settling in reasonably well. The apartment is nice enough, my bank account is recovering from the beating it copped when I bought the Civic, work is treating me well, though it's quite busy, and I'm looking forward to going home for 3 weeks at Christmas. Oh, and there's AJET of course, which keeps me busy, too, and is next on today's to do list. :)
For those of you who like to plan ahead, I'll be in Australia from December 17 to about January 3. I intend to spend the whole time on the Gold Coast with maybe a trip to Brisbane or the Sunshine Coast thrown in. As always, it'll be wonderful to catch up with anyone who's around and has the time. Of course, you'll hear from me again before then, but for now, take care. Wherever you are, I hope the changing season is treating you well. :)
Lots of love,
Dave