A soccer filled weekend

I got up around 8:30 on Saturday, June 21, and found myself with a good bit of free time before the plans I had that afternoon. So, after breakfast, I decided to go for a walk. I had no particular destination in mind, so I just went where my feet took me. Walking in Japan can be kind of harrowing, because even some of the busier streets don't have sidewalks. This entails cars/bikes/buses passing you at an uncomfortably close distance. This picture doesn't show it too well, but...

I kept walking down the street I had taken the time I rode my bike downtown with my host dad. Eventually, I found myself near Sendai station in the heart of downtown. This meant I had covered quite a distance, and I wasn't wearing the right kind of shoes for the job. I decided to turn back when I realized they were starting to rub against my skin in a quite painful way. Had I been thinking, I would have taken the subway home, but walking back didn't end up being all that terrible. Overall, it was a really great way to see some of the city on my own. I ended up walking for about 3 straight hours.

After lunch, I got ready headed over to my host grandpa's house to head out for the afternoon. Ah, I haven't even mentioned my him yet, have I? Well, he lives about a 3 minute walk from my host family's house and comes by decently often. When my host mom told him I spoke Japanese, he simply accepted it as fact and talked as he would normally, with dialect and all. This makes him kind of difficult to understand sometimes, but most of the time it's no problem. He's really into soccer and even plays on a 70-plus team. This is one of the most hardcore things I had heard in a while. Anyway, that day he and I were going to help at a U12 soccer team's practice. He had helped out before, and he wanted to take me along.

Japanese youth teams all practice on surfaces like the one you see above, which is basically just compacted sand. I introduced myself to the team, leading them to all just kind of stand there with their mouths open in bewilderment. Practice started, and it was my turn to be surprised. These kids were 4th-6th graders, and they were better than at least half of my high school soccer team. No lie. I was really impressed with the skill that some of them displayed.

The last part of practice was a scrimmage with three teams that would change out as one of the other teams lost. I was on the team with all the adults at the practice, and it was a lot of fun playing. I managed to avoid getting burned by any of the kids, thankfully. Overall, a great experience.

The next day, my host parents and I went to a professional soccer game! The home team, Vegalta Sendai, vs. Tokyo Vindi. Why both teams' names start with "v", a sound that doesn't exist in Japanese, is a mystery to me. But a game between Begaruta and Bindii is something you don't want to pass up. There are actually two soccer stadiums in town. One is in Izumi-ku, pretty close to Itoyokado, and the other is a bit more on the outskirts of town. This game was at the second stadium, which is quite huge. It was one of the venues of the 2002 World Cup. Look at my host dad rock that USC shirt.

There were about 12,000 people at the game. At one end of the stadium were the hardcore Vegalta fans, who kept chanting and waving flags the entire game. At the other end were the Tokyo Vindi fans who had come up all the way from Tokyo to cheer on their team. These fans' dedication rivals that of those of Toronto FC. It was really great.

It rained a bit at the end of the game, but nothing unbearable. Despite a scoreless first half, the second half saw 4 goals, with the game ending in a 2-2 tie.

While waiting in the long line of cars to get out the stadium, I found out that the screen in the car is not only a CD player and GPS system, but also a functioning television.

After the game, we stopped by Coop and I got an Engrish shirt. Then, we went home and had a delicious meal of homemade ramen. I was, as my mother would say, one happy camper.