So yesterday, we had another "dash" practice at the university with the team. If you recall, last time, I made quite an impression by being one of the first ones to finish the dashes. And apparently, that impression didn't fade.

This time, the sempai in charge took the four slowest runners out of us all and made them captains for the relay teams. I had never done this, but I could tell there was going to be a little bit of a competition. But what really took me off guard was that, when the time came for the first captain to make his choice, the first name called out was "Shiokawa!". I could tell that everyone else was as surprised as me by their "OOoooohhhhh....". Some even said things like "Saisho gaijin da ne!" which means that he picked the foreigner first.

It was really nothing serious but it really meant something big to me. Slowly, I'm starting to make an impression on the club. I'm making my way into being part of the team just as a normal teammate, which was one of my goals before coming here. This kind of thing helps me to keep my motivation and yeah, made me smile I guess.