April 20^th, 2015

On April 11^th, the staff from the international dorms along with the university hosted a Japanese food party at the Kaikan! Many students living in the international dorms joined in to help cook a traditional meal. It was quite fun actually, not to mention delicious.

(Katayama lost a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, and was forced to eat a HUGE onigiri, a Japanese rice snack. Man I have some really funny ideas sometimes... ;-))

After we were done, we also got to see a one hour show of ocarina (a type of vessel flute).

Once that was done, we were basically free to do what we wanted, but since everyone was here, many of us took advantage to play some games. I organized a soccer game, but not just a normal game. Our teams were made out of 6 countries (Italia, Nigeria, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Denmark). It was a really high-pace game, and we finished exhausted. 

But I wasn't just done yet. The Italians who were the new students here, happened to know the game "Ninja" which is a game I used to play often back in my high school during lunch time. I joined in and soon caught everybody's attention, since I won almost every game. After that, the Italians started another foot game, to which I lost very quickly, and then went off to play baseball with a few guys and the dorm dean! I missed playing catch with my dad, since he used to do it every year a little before his softball season started. It was funny because the dorm deans' throwing style was quite similar to my father's, and so it brought back the feeling of home. 

After that, I managed to convince others to come play soccer again. This time, we played much longer. But at this point, I realized how my training made a difference. Even though I had been running the whole afternoon, they were the first ones to fall down tired. I kept pushing them to play more, and we all encouraged each other on!

After that, me and Katayama, one of the new staff for this semester grabbed some badminton rackets, and had a go at it, despite the hard wind which had built up by then. After about 30 minutes of that, I decided it was time I go inside and finish up some studies and cleaning.

I really enjoyed this day since I got to play many sports. I really do miss getting to play a variety of sports like I did back in high school. This day really brought out a good vibe, and I hope I get some time during this next semester for more.