Choice Quotes From America

If you're still looking at this blog you've noted how difficult it's been for me to post without the use of my own computer. I should be back on track after this weekend.

Here are a few quotes taken from conversations with very conservative people during my time in America last fall:

Referring to me and Japanese women:
'You're not going to marry one of them are you?'


'Do you have muslims in Japan?'
No.
'Oh, consider yourself lucky.'


Referencing my sister moving to Georgia (the country):
'I don't think they even let you carry [concealed weapons] over there.'

Blood, Sweat, and.. Waking Up Early

I woke up at 3:30am this morning in order to get my 26km of running in before the Seahawks playoff game began at 6:30am local time.  It was quite lonely during those hours, except when I passed the same car in the same location (on a dark corner in the forest), separated by 1hour and 10 minutes.  That guy must have thought he was losing his marbles when we passed the second time (at 5:50am).  Anyway, I got a little souvenir from my right nipple:

Update

Computer's down again, after being up for just three days.  I've regrettably ordered a new one - a year earlier than I'd been hoping.  The upside is that I will be able to edit my 20mb photo files much more efficiently.  Should have the computer around January 29th.

A few tidbits that don't require pictures:

* The first two weeks without a computer were nice, being forced to appreciate the quietness around my apartment.  But now, about a month in, it's just lonely.

* I finally took on two projects that are hard for me to work on while a computer is present: reading Anna Karenina (880 pages!) and hand-sewing a quilt.  I'm only 50% through the latter, but should be done with the top soon so I'll try to get a picture up.

* I'm doing the Tokyo Marathon again this year.  I'm not sure why.  February 28th.

* My website, Zamami English Guide, has been making some bounds lately by getting links off the Zamami homepage and also wikitravel.  Some visitors are even mentioning having seen the site before visiting (and noting that it was helpful!).

Run A Marathon, Die

I opened up one of my marathon packets, which includes a paper I have to trade for my tshirt/number on race day, directions to parking, and race day instructions.  I was surprised to also find this advertisement for burial plots:

[Those prices are roughly $10,000 and $4,000]

Exiting a Moving Car

[Computer's down again, this time for at least two weeks.  Posts will be spotty, there will be no pictures.]

Today while waiting for a light to change at a major intersection in Naha, I happened to be looking in the right direction at the right time to see a woman jump out of a car that was speeding (15-20mph?) through the intersection. She was opposite me so I saw the door open and then saw her legs and body tumbling under the car.  I don't think the car ran over her, but she also didn't do very well at landing on her feet.  The driver stopped, as did all the other cars while she slowly picked herself up and began walking in the opposite direction from the car she escaped from (which had a male driver and a small boy sitting between the man and where the woman used to be).  The man, realizing the woman clearly wanted nothing more to do with him, closed her door and drove off to get traffic going again.  The woman stumbled to a crosswalk then walked over to a convenience store.  She looked sorta rough - like maybe this wasn't the first time she'd jumped out of a car.

Zamami Fishing Tournament

We had a Zamami fishing tournament on Saturday which nearly every fisherman participated in. Ordinarily, with the type of fishing I do, I'd have a crack at taking the whole tournament (the fish I go after tend to be big, but are also hard to catch), but yesterday the weather didn't work for my non-boat-owning self.  I took out my kayak at daybreak to check out the waves out west, but I got sucked into an outgoing tide and out to sea into the huge rollers.  But they weren't just rolling, they were swirling and breaking and chopping and nearly shredding.  My tippy kayak was dipping and diving and I got really nervous, especially because I was without my life jacket (it disappeared while I was in America).  Fortunately I was able to turn around and ride the waves back into protected waters.  But it spooked [and soaked] me so I went back into port and took a nap.  Then I decided to go up north and check out my shore-fishing spot.  The rocks that the water is crashing over is where I would stand were I to fish from here:

(it's all in the first 20 seconds)

Dejected, I went home at 1pm.  The lone bright spot of the day was finding a small glass fishing float on a beach - oh, and I found another life jacket!

[The fish I fish for eats these fish for breakfast]

Bummed at having spent ~$30 to enter a fishing tournament yet get no fishing in, I moped around in the afternoon.  But my spirits were flipped at the party when I was refunded $10 because I couldn't fish from a boat (I was charged the 'boat' fee since I was going out in my kayak).  Then we had a pretty great dinner and all sorts of expensive prizes (flat screen tv, bikes, coolers, fishing poles) were given out.  I won a space heater for being the first person to show up in the morning!

The Last Dance

Saturday marked the final night of the Zamami Fan (Tourist) Appreciation parties, held every weekend in November.