First of all, for my avid readers (Read: mom and dad) I apologize for not really blogging much lately. I think of random things I want to talk about but then get too lazy. Well last weekend we had two extra days off but it was super busy.
Sunday, I woke up at 6 AM to head down to Matsushima to run a 5K. To be honest, I trained about as much as the guy sitting on his couch with a box of donuts reading this right now. I was a little nervous that I'd just fall down and get trampled by thousands of athletic Japanese grandmas. There were about 10 or so other teachers that came out to race as well so I had a good support group if those grandmas got the best of me.
When we got there, there were thousands of runners all over the place. Of those thousands, probably 50 were American. You'd think we'd clearly stick out until you saw how people were dressed. There were costumes ranging from Mario and Luigi to an Eggplant.
We finally got to our turn at the race with several hundred people on the starting line. As you start running, it becomes more of please don't trip me than how fast can I go. I ended up turning it into more of a game of Frogger, hopping in and out around people.
I finished in just over 27 minutes which I felt pretty good about. I was just hoping to be under 30 minutes. Once the race was over, my legs felt like I was doing the "stanky leg" everywhere I walked (youtube it if you're brave). In the end, I was happy I raced and would do another in a heart beat.
DISNEY:
MeySen, where I work, has been doing lots of cool things for us foreign staff lately. Most recently, it was setting up a trip for us to go to Disney. So about 20 teachers and I headed to Tokyo on Monday afternoon. We then had the next day to spend at Disney.
Disney has always had this special grip on me since I was younger, just like most people. I never actually made it to Disney World in Florida until after I graduated college. Its still got that atmosphere that just makes you happy to spend $20 for a bucket of popcorn.
In Japan, Disney is broken down into Disney Land and Disney Sea. From what I hear, Disney Land is much like all the other Disney Lands but Disney Sea has better rides. All my students were telling me Disney Sea is much better than Disney Land so I chose it. At first, it looked like everyone else was choosing Disney Land. I was kind of nervous I would be wandering the park by myself. Luckily, a few great friends decided to join me at Disney Sea.
We got there 20 Minutes before the park opened and there were thousands of people waiting outside already. It was pretty crazy for a random Tuesday. Once we got in, everyone is racing all over the place to try to get fast pass tickets to rides. We were planning on booking it to the new Toy Story ride, unfortunately so was everyone else. Within 5 minutes of the park opening, there was a 2 hour wait there. Instead, we decided to wait for the Indiana Jones ride.
The interesting thing about the park is though it feels like Disney, most of the rides are in Japanese. I can now say I've heard Indiana Jones speaking Japanese. However, the actual Disney Character actors are usually American who only speak in English. They also love when Americans come. You get the celebrity treatment because you can actually hold a conversation with them.
The sad part of the day was that it had to end at 4:30 because we needed to get back to Sendai that night. I only got to ride a few rides but would definitely go back!
Next Adventure...AMERICA FOR CHRISTMAS??!!
Sunday, I woke up at 6 AM to head down to Matsushima to run a 5K. To be honest, I trained about as much as the guy sitting on his couch with a box of donuts reading this right now. I was a little nervous that I'd just fall down and get trampled by thousands of athletic Japanese grandmas. There were about 10 or so other teachers that came out to race as well so I had a good support group if those grandmas got the best of me.
When we got there, there were thousands of runners all over the place. Of those thousands, probably 50 were American. You'd think we'd clearly stick out until you saw how people were dressed. There were costumes ranging from Mario and Luigi to an Eggplant.We finally got to our turn at the race with several hundred people on the starting line. As you start running, it becomes more of please don't trip me than how fast can I go. I ended up turning it into more of a game of Frogger, hopping in and out around people.
I finished in just over 27 minutes which I felt pretty good about. I was just hoping to be under 30 minutes. Once the race was over, my legs felt like I was doing the "stanky leg" everywhere I walked (youtube it if you're brave). In the end, I was happy I raced and would do another in a heart beat.DISNEY:
MeySen, where I work, has been doing lots of cool things for us foreign staff lately. Most recently, it was setting up a trip for us to go to Disney. So about 20 teachers and I headed to Tokyo on Monday afternoon. We then had the next day to spend at Disney.
Disney has always had this special grip on me since I was younger, just like most people. I never actually made it to Disney World in Florida until after I graduated college. Its still got that atmosphere that just makes you happy to spend $20 for a bucket of popcorn.
In Japan, Disney is broken down into Disney Land and Disney Sea. From what I hear, Disney Land is much like all the other Disney Lands but Disney Sea has better rides. All my students were telling me Disney Sea is much better than Disney Land so I chose it. At first, it looked like everyone else was choosing Disney Land. I was kind of nervous I would be wandering the park by myself. Luckily, a few great friends decided to join me at Disney Sea.
We got there 20 Minutes before the park opened and there were thousands of people waiting outside already. It was pretty crazy for a random Tuesday. Once we got in, everyone is racing all over the place to try to get fast pass tickets to rides. We were planning on booking it to the new Toy Story ride, unfortunately so was everyone else. Within 5 minutes of the park opening, there was a 2 hour wait there. Instead, we decided to wait for the Indiana Jones ride.The interesting thing about the park is though it feels like Disney, most of the rides are in Japanese. I can now say I've heard Indiana Jones speaking Japanese. However, the actual Disney Character actors are usually American who only speak in English. They also love when Americans come. You get the celebrity treatment because you can actually hold a conversation with them.
The sad part of the day was that it had to end at 4:30 because we needed to get back to Sendai that night. I only got to ride a few rides but would definitely go back!
Next Adventure...AMERICA FOR CHRISTMAS??!!
