Pocky Day

Today is November the 11th, 11/11. My co-worker, 中田先生, was amazed that I didn't know today was 'poekey' day. I asked her to say it again, and she said it the exact same way - 'poekey'. I wasn't sure, but I thought maybe she was talking about poke, but to go so far as naming a day after it, I wasn't sure. I showed her the page and she laughed and told me that it wasn't poke, but Pocky, just with a Japanese accent. They look like 1's, and today there are a lot of 1's, so...we started talking about Hawaiian food. She started taking notes. Here's her page after we finished talking.

Hilarious.

Local Boy

Here's a pretty cool article from the advertiser about where Barack used to live in Hawaii. It's pretty cool to think the area that I think I know pretty well, he probably (definitely) knows better. The President!? What a crazy time to be an American.

Weekend Surf: Golden Balls, Good Waves

So, all last week, 山口 was telling me that there was supposed to be waves on the weekend, so I made sure I had nothing to do so I could surf for as long as possible. Seriously, when you want waves and there aren't any, you have to take advantage of when there are waves. So, schedule cleared, me and 山口 hit it on Saturday morning. After a long session of not very good waves, we went home. 山口 and 徳永 were gonna hit it again for an afternoon session, but I passed. I wanted to save my energy for the next day. It was a good thing I did, too, because...

Someone had an accident. The waves were pretty decent size, overhead and breaking in pretty shallow water. Apparently, 山口, on his 7'4, was trying to catch an inside set, and got thrown. The board went out first, hit the ground, and stood straight up. 山口 came right after, and got hit right in the 金玉. He was hurt by it, but he thought he had just knocked himself, and he had a wetsuit on, so there didn't seem to be a problem. He surfed for another hour, until the pain overwhelmed him and he went in. That's when he found that...his 金玉 had been...split. He's fine now, but...DAMN, just thinking about it give me the shivers.

The next day, minus 山口 and plus Keoki and 徳永, we went out and got a bunch of decent waves. Was a nice day, a little windy, but fun. Keoki caught me pigdogging a couple of times, which was embarrassing, but other than that, it was an excellent time.

That's it for now.

Nagoya: Part 2

The Nagoya crew.

Man, this was a crazy time. The pictures pretty much tell the whole story. Let's get into it.

Here's our raft, startin' out.

Check out this sequence:

These are scary man. A lot more powerful than you think.

At the end of the run, there was a nice cliff that you could jump off. We took the opportunity to do so.

AIt looks like a dive now, but it was a front flip.

Michelle with a more traditional approach.

Roy, spread out backflip.

Nick, with the sick form.

And that was it. We got some beers and hit an onsen once we got back. Awesome time. There were definitely some characters up in Nagoya to be sure, but it was a good listening to some of the stories. Here's a good example of one (don't kill me, Michelle), at a restaurant:

"Oh, did you order a cake? One time, me and my friends? We went to the store? And we bought a big cheesecake! And then? We ate it!"

Who I Want To Be When I Grow Up

(1:42) "Got me smilin', I don't smile; Got me changin' my expression, I don't express."

Big Karatsu Sunday

Morning

After the big Halloween night, I took a day off to recover from my wounds, because that following Sunday, me and a couple of friends, (山口, 徳永, and introducing 中村先生 - Nakamura Sensei), were headed off to Karatsu to look at some reefbreaks that 中村先生 had recommended. 中村先生 is the prototypical local Japanese surfer. Karatsu is about an hour away from our city, so on the ride down he told me a lot about what he had done as a surfer. Kyushuu is not a place that is surfed heavily...wait, let me rephrase that. It IS surfed heavily, but only at the same spots. Because of that, there are some really pristine spots that no one goes to, but you have to really work to find them. 中村先生 put in the work, driving by himself up and down the coast looking (and waiting) for waves to come through, how different swells affect different spots, all that kind of stuff. Here's a spot he showed us where you had to jump off a cliff to get to it.

There wasn't any waves, but the trip wasn't a total loss. He showed us some pretty ridiculous places, where you could just tell it would go off if waves came through. Here's another place, タテガミ (Tategami), which is the most famous break in Karatsu.

There was nothing to be had in Karatsu, so we went back to Maebaru. Me and 山口 weren't finished and decided to get in a quick session, hoping some waves would come up. They didn't.

Go home, shower, sleep and then...

Evening

Me and Lena headed back to Karatsu to check out the 唐津くんち, so I'll just let the pictures and video tell the story.

Me, lost.

Dude riding looks tired.

Japanese Wario.

It was kinda scary.



Yeeeeaaaahhh.

Lena catching me in a dumb moment.

Halloween: Hairnet Afros, Maids, and Olympic Gold Medalists

I was happy to get out of those pants.

Halloween, I have come to find, is not incredibly popular in Japan. Which is why, walking around the city dressed as a Studio 54 dancer, I attracted a lot of attention. Me and Lena got out of Maebaru to hook up with some friends and cruised around for a bit, all the while being ogled by the population at large. It was a fun night. Here's some of the crew:

Maids: Kira, Nancy, Megan, Lena, and Lauren
Pimp Ass Baller: Me

From right: Aya (puppy...those gloves were handmade), Mari (don't know), Alex (evil priest), Me (smooth muhfugga), and Lena (vampire/ho...she couldn't decide)

We got a couple of drinks at a bar, some more in a park, then ran to the club. It wasn't as packed as I was hoping it was gonna be, but there were some pretty interesting characters there (dancing monkey - dude was knocking into everyone, wannabe professional surfer - he said he was from a place that I have heard from my friends out here has no waves, and he tells me it has consistent triple overhead days...shieeet, super nervous japanese girl - wanted to show me a picture on her phone, but I couldn't see it because of the jitters...English is scary) . I had some pictures, but my phone is broken right now, so I can't get em up. But, the most interesting character I had yet to meet. Some dude came up to our table to try and hit on one of the maids, failed, and so I struck up a conversation. He said he was from Ethiopia, so I asked him if he ran. He said no, but his friend does. I didn't really think anything of it, until he told me his name...Samuel Wanjiru, yes, THAT Samuel Wanjiru. His friend had said he was here, but had left. Just to have been in the same club as the dude would have been enough for me, but when his friend asked if I wanted to meet him, I was beyond shocked. We go looking for his other friend, a short Kenyan guy, I didn't get his name, but he took us straight to Samuel, who had returned. He was talking to two pretty cute Japanese girls, so I felt pretty messed up just being introduced to him so suddenly, but he immediately made time to talk with me. It was crazy, me being from America, him from Kenya, talking in Japanese. He, by the way, is ridiculously nice, and his Japanese is fluent. I told him I was rooting for him in Beijing, when he ran one of the gutsiest races any one had ever seen, and that it was an honor to meet him. I thought that would be it, and I went to shake his hand and leave him alone, when he started ruffling through his pockets. Before I knew it, he said to me, "また遊ぼうよ" (Let's hang out again), and had his phone out to give me his number. I was...can't really even describe it. After I got his number, I suddenly realized that I needed photographic evidence of this, because no one would ever believe me. So, I got my friend Megan to take these shots.

I wasn't sure if the picture had been taken yet.

I totally forgot I was wearing the afro, and I look like a retard now with that lollipop in my mouth, but still, an awesome picture.

Still can't really believe it. I told him he should come surfing with me sometime, and he said he would love to try...and I really believe that he would. So, if that ever comes to fruition, add me to the incredibly short list of people who have had a surf session with an Olympic Gold Medalist. We'll see what happens...