A Taste of Home and a Bit of Rugby

I took advantage of three Japanese National holidays and trekked back to Colorado for 10 glorious days. I was at first worried about the transition back into the U.S. but after only a few minutes of getting my bearings straight in the Detroit airport it felt like I'd never left. I had an 8 hour layover in Michigan where I was luckily picked up by my Aunt Sue and we zoomed around the area where I briefly saw my Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, Uncle, and two cousins, it was great to see them and quite the added bonus to an otherwise long wait. My visit to Colorado was excellent, I got to see the whole family and see that all is well. I saw friends from home and from UPS and I also did some hiking, went to Colorado Springs to see my bro's living situation, and was conveniently in town for Kinetics where the John Butler Trio played. I also got a much-needed break from Japanese food and got to have a lot of my Mom's delicious home-cooking as well as food from a few of Boulder's yummiest restaurants. The trip was great and it made me excited to go back in August and live at home for awhile (to my parents' great surprise! :)) Until then, I am still very much enjoying Japan and I only have 11 more weeks in my city which are going to fly by since most of the weekends are already booked up. I am also doing another two-month long English class for 30 adults and a once-a-week Book Club for a group of advanced English speakers. It should be a fun last stretch!

Sunrise and landing during some very long flights

Colorado Springs
Garden of the Gods

Kinetics at the Boulder Resevoir







Pearl Street...busy and blooming


Just before flying home to the U.S., a group of JETs from my area headed to the other side of Shikoku to see what we were made of on the rugby field. It turns out that we weren't made of much. Although we had gathered for an hour long training session the week before to try and learn some of the rules, we didn't come close to measuring up against the twenty other teams from Western Japan who had months if not years of experience. We won one of six games on the first day which put us in contention for the loser's cup on the second day. That night, everyone gathered for a BBQ and party before retreating back to our luxurious cabins. A forfeit and another win the next day brought us to the semi-finals where we lost big time. We were told by several outside sources that our team looked like we were having the most fun with our outstanding cheering and pre-game song and dance in the style of the All Black's pre-game intimidating stomping and grunting. I'd choose spirit over victory any old day.