Yesterday, after having packed everything up, I left my dorm, headed towards the station.

On my way there, I passed one of the judo guys from the club, and he invited me to come say hi to a few of the member who were eating in a restaurant nearby. I walked in and sure enough they were there. I congratulated them on the tournament, which they had just won and told them I was off to the hospital. They wished me good luck, and I left. After getting the last little things I needed, I walked up the stairs to the station and onto the train. Two stations later I walked off, and met my aunt who was waiting for me at the taxi stop. We rode the next taxi to the hospital and headed to the short term hospital stay part of the hospital, as I had been indicated.

About a month ago, my grandmother and I started to plan a visit with my uncle's family. Up until now they had been too busy, but they apparently had one day they could see me, which was the 30th of August. After exchanging a few emails in every directions, we settled for a meeting time & place, and soon came the day.

I made my way to Tokyo, Ueno Station, probably one of my first times there. Once I got there, I surprised them all by coming from the opposite direction they were expecting me from. It had been a while since I had seen my uncle (3 years ago) but even then, it wasn't too hard to recognize him. My aunt and grandmother as well as my uncle's family were all there. I smiled to them, and we said hello, then went to ride another train together.

My uncle Shoji spoke to me a lot that day. He does work a lot in English, so he could speak it fairly well. I guess to make me feel comfortable he spoke with me mostly in English which made it actually harder to understand because I was switching from Japanese to English with everyone and didn't know if I should answer in English or Japanese to him. But it was nice of him, and we had a few good conversations.

My grandmother and aunt are just awesome, as always. They just spoke to me about anything, and I told them little things here and there to make them smile. I always enjoy their company.

Noriko, my uncle's wife, was nice and polite, and the whole time asked me many questions. She tried as much as possible to keep me involved in the conversation and when she spoke, she spoke purposely clearly and slightly slowly so that I would understand.

My two cousins were still a little shy I think. I had met my cousin Mayu three years ago when I came to visit my sister, but Hayato had not been free at that time, so today was my first time meeting him. I didn't speak to them much, but at the end I tried talking to Hayato about his ping-pong practices (he's part of a ping-pong club! How cool!). But I think they were not too sure how to react to me, since they don't know how much Japanese I can speak, and truly don't know me haha.
By train, we headed toward the Tokyo Sky Tree, and it was my first time getting this close to the Tower. There were many clouds, so we decided not to go up, since we wouldn't be able to see much.


Noriko had reserved a spot at a restaurant near the Sky Tree... which means expensive. It was a nice place. We had a great view of the city, and they started pointing out different parts of the city which we could see. The Sky Tree was right next to us, 634 meters tall.

Our meal was served in the traditional Japanese way. They served everyone small dishes, and before serving us the next one, they made sure they took our plates away. My grandmother told me that even my father hasn't eaten in such a manner. After, it became more and more rare, making it even more expensive.

Food --->
During the meal, my aunt and grandmother discussed with me when I should take my surgery, cause I will definitely have to take one, and most likely in Japan. Noriko would ask me questions, and Shoji would tell me things about Japan. Over all, it was nice, and I don't believe many people my age have had this kind of experience. 



Once the dinner was over, we headed to Asakusa, a place famous for the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple, as well as many souvenir shops. It was my first time there, and I must say it was quite a nice place to visit. We all walked along the middle of the VERY crowed street with our umbrellas out. Before entering the temple, Mayu showed me how to properly wash my hands (meant to represent washing one's soul before entering the temple.) Made a few good wishes that day.




On the way back, we stopped at a small café to get something to drink. After chatting a little bit, it was time to leave. We headed back to the Ueno station where my aunt and I split from the rest of the group. 

As we said our goodbyes, something caught me off guard. My grand mother for the first time came to give me a hug. Just one arm, but she had never done that before. I was very VERY happy, and I couldn't stop smiling for a while. I won't be seeing her for a while now, but I was glad she came all this way to come see us.

I headed back with my aunt on the train. She got off before me, made sure I knew where to go, and I said my goodbyes.

Since I've been in Japan, I haven't had many chances to see my family, but I must say it felt good.

We started the day with the weird morning stretching, a little early, and then off to breakfast.



After breakfast, we had to finish packing and get everything completely cleaned from our room before practice. Luckily, I had packed most of my stuff the night before. I finished up my stuff, packing everything so that I could just place my gi in my luggage and go.



At last, here came the last practice. Now by this time, everyone was tired, and you could feel it.

After the first fifteen minutes, I felt something weird with my shoulder, so I decided not to do much that last practice. I didn't want to get a stupid last-minute injury. Which is what Fubuki ended up doing. He pulled his right middle toe during the last 30 minutes of the practice, and will most likely not be able to practice for two-three days.

After practice, we took pictures with our same year students. I normally stand with the 2nd year students, but I talk mostly with those from the 3rd year, so I was told to go in with them for the picture!

We then took the next hour to pick up the mats and clean the gym.



Lunch time, then onto the bus.

As I walked up the hill near my residence in the unbearable heat, pulling my suitcase, I recalled where I was last week, and how far I had come. This week has taught me a lot. A lot about the members of the club. It has shown me how they think. I was able to participate in the training camp with the Tokai University Judo Team this summer. One more goal completed.

Sweat, blood, and fire is what I left back there. But what I brought back cannot be put into words.

Early wake up, morning streching, then breakfast.


Two hours later, practice. Fought lots this time, and soon time for lunch.


After lunch, we had plenty of time to sleep. I slept for two hours. Then time for practice. This time we did ground work again, and then another circuit training. Still with Fubuki, I pushed myself as hard as I could. By the end of it, I was tired, but satisfied. Yet, after bowing, I noticed Fubuki invite his friend for a running training. I asked if I could join, and it ended up just being the two of us. We ran up the hill just like we had the second day of the camp. Twice. It really killed me, right after practice, and I can't believe I did that. After that, we did five more dashes up the hill, and headed in to eat supper. Once we had finished, I headed off to the shower, and then soon came the time for reading.

Early wake up. Prep, and head out to the front of the gym, wearing my running outfit. Bow in, and we split into light, mid, and heavy weights. Our group went downhill and onto a path made within the small forest we had entered. Our coach told us five rounds, but we ended up taking a longer path, one round 1,700m, so were told to stop after three laps. This morning happened to be a good morning for me. I was 3rd coming in from that long run. Then we had to sprint once around a small path, and out of all the athletes in my category, I ended up being first to come in from that sprint. Now everyone is tired, but considering that so am I, I felt pretty good. That was our last running training. From now on, I believe we are going to walk in the mornings, or so it says on the schedule.

I stayed extra long to stretch my legs, got back, entered the shower, and raced to the food hall to eat my meal.

The mountains were gorgeous this morning.

The second practice was similar to yesterday's! We started with our gi tops on, doing some gripping exercises out in front of the gym. Then, we saluted a man that came and gave the team some money. After that, we headed into the dojo, and performed some exercises which were similar to what we did yesterday. Timed exercises with a partner. Again, I was with Fubuki, and we held through the whole way.

We finished, and off to lunch. I won the janken (rock-scissors-paper) game again! Yay! Two for me!




Today's judo practice was earlier, since we had a BBQ planned at night. It started well, but at one point I just couldn't move. I reached my limit. Of course it was hard, but that's not why. My gi was soo hard and everytime I moved or my opponent pulled my sleeve or even just standing there, the burns on my skin from the gi just made it impossible to use any of my strength. So I took a break during the practice, unable to move. I should probably buy a long sleeve under armour shirt or something...

After that, in and out of the bath, and off to the BBQ. I got stuck with all the first year students. Haha, they served us all rice, and we started cooking. I took the initiative, and placed the meat on the grill. We kept eating, and we kept adding meat onto the grill. But on top of all the meat we had, we kept receiving meat from our sempai (seniors), which made it impossible to finish our own. At one point during the meal, they started a weird competition of imitation where they took turns imitating funny things, or people they knew. I didn't quite understand it all but it was entertaining to see they had this ritual.




After having filled my stomach with more meat that I ate in the last week, I chatted with some friends, and walked back to my room.


After brushing my teeth, I watched some of the boys play a werewolf game that Japanese all seem to love.


One more day over.