Day at the Park

On my last Saturday in Japan I took a trip with the Lighthouse up to a park in Tokyo. This park was super cool. Japan doesn't have a whole lot of parks and in there is a part it’s about a 75% chance that it won't have grass. This park had it all though. You could rent rowboats, ride bikes, play a bunch of different sports, run on the grass and much much more. If I had known about the park earlier than I definitely would have gone back again.
Anyways, my friends and I all decided to rent row boats first. We spent an hour on the little pond rowing around and trying to run away from the giant fish that lived in the pond. After that, we all rented bikes and rode around the whole park. (I think it had like 14 kilometers of bike path.) Everyone in our group got their own bike, but two people decided to get a tandem bike together. We all passed the bike around, but after a while the bike got kind of tired. My buddy Derek and I were just pushing off to get started and the bike feel apart. Literally, the spokes on the back wheel all came out and the bike was finished. It was kind of an old bike and both Derek and I probably were over the weight limit, but we didn't think this would happen. We spent some time trying to figure out how to get the bike back to the rent station and what to say to the workers there. However, we ended up talking to some of the park security and they told us to leave the bike where it was and not worry about it.
After that, our time at the park was pretty much over and so we all walked back to the entrance and took naps on the grass.

My Last Night at Youth Group

Wednesday and Thursday nights for the last year have always been youth group nights. On Wednesday nights we have middle school youth group from 4-5:30 and high school youth group from 6:30-8:00. Then on Thursday nights from 6:30-8:00 was what we called Q2, which is high school and middle school together. Throughout my time in Yokosuka, all of the groups changed and grew in some really cool ways. This particular Wednesday night, we had the biggest group ever. I think total for middle school was 32 and total for high school was 35. Now, the numbers aren't a big deal and that was definitely not what Nate and I were after, but it was exciting to have so many students show up because it meant that students were excited about youth group and inviting their friends.
On both youth group nights (wed. and thurs.) we played my favorite games with each group and I had the opportunity to share my heart with each group. The students also had the opportunity to share with me about how I had impacted them in one way or another. Overall both of the nights were a lot of fun, but it was difficult to believe that my time with them was over. The whole last week was a big blur for me as I said goodbye to students and their families.

Sumo Wrestling

One of the last things on my list of things to do while I was in Japan was to go and watch sumo wrestling. After being in Japan for about 8 months I decided that if I didn't buy tickets soon that it probably wouldn't happen. After some research I bought tickets and Nate and I had a great time at day #10 of the sumo tournament in Tokyo. Each tournament is 15 days long and each wrestler wrestles once a day. The day starts at 8:30 a.m. and runs till 6:00 p.m. Nate and I were warned not to go too early because it becomes quite boring after you watch the wrestlers throw salt for a couple of hours. We went at about 3 and left at 6 and honestly I thought it was a lot of fun. I left wanting to watch more and that is probably a better place to be than wanting to leave after a little while.
The actual sumo wrestling in each match last about 10 seconds. The other 5 minutes or so that the guys have in the wrestling ring, which is called the dohyo, is them showing off. Each wrestler's name is announced by the announcer in his super, poetic, sumo name that I could never understand. Then they enter the ring and do ceremonial stuff that includes: leg-raising and stomping (Each guy would almost do the splits vertically and then all the crowd would cheer.), slapping themselves, stretching, and other stuff. When they decide that it is time to wrestler they get into their squat position as if they are going to wrestle, but then one of the guys decides that he is not ready and so he gets up and walks to his corner. At this point he grabs a towel and wipes down his face, grabs some salt and throws it on the mat. Both wrestlers do this about 3 or 4 times and then they finally wrestle.
Overall, the whole day was a lot of fun. I would definitely go back and watch some sumo wrestling and would even consider going into the sport. (Yeah right!!) All of the common beliefs that sumo wrestlers are huge guys and wear this tiny loincloth to wrestle in are correct. I would definitely recommend this if you ever have the chance to go to Japan.