Saturday, November 7, 2009

Birthday Sumo!

As Jen puts it, this is the Rebuild. =D
Day One of it, really. Expect more to follow. =D

So anyway, remember way back when? I had a birthday! And we went to the final day of a massive sumo competition which was amazingly good fun!! I took a vid and lots of pictures. We spent the day there before going to an English-style pub. All the gang were there, a few of whom have since left Japan or are going to leave shortly. Ed, Chris R, Wendell, Rachel, Mike and Ayako, Cris C, and I had a blast before heading over to karaoke until 5am! All nighters happen a *lot* in Japan because the last train is at 10:30pm to come back to Hama or midnight for the locals. That's way too early to quit, lol, so if you want to stay out you have to really commit... or sleep in the karaoke rooms, which is actually surprisingly comfortable!! What follows are some pics and the info I could glean from the other, more knowledgable, foreigners out that day. =D




Cris didn't believe that I had found ice cream you don't have to keep in the fridge! It's freeze-dried really, like astronaut ice cream, and VERY yummy!! =D

Cris bought Ed and Chris some presents... You could change the angle of the eyes so good time naturally ensued!! =D

A few things about sumo. There's a ritual to it, and I only understand bits, so please forgive me if I miss something or it doesn't seem complete! First, the wrestlers throw salt to purify the ring. They raise and slam down one foot, then the other, to ward off evil spirits. You'll notice they crouch down right before they strike, and sometimes they crouch down and get back up again. They can do this as many times as they like. So how do they know when it's time to really lunge at each other? Easy. Both wrestlers must touch their fists to the ground before striking. When one is ready he'll put his hands down and the other will either do a false start (because it 'just didn't feel right') or or put his down and then leap into action.

As I said in one of the videos, it's amazing how different the fighters are! Some look to be holding each other everrrrr so gently, picking each other up in hugs, and placing their opponents outside the circle; while others go crazy and start slapping and head butting. It's very entertaining, though most of my students think it's silly and not fun to watch. =D



At the beginning of each new bracket(?) level(?) of wrestlers, they do what I call, "the parade of flags." Each person wears a hand made (and extremely valuable, in the range of several thousands of dollars) skirt-type flag around their waist that is their or their family's symbol. I said it reminded me of the turnstyle at sushi, where you just pick your favorite, LOL.

You can see in the stands that no one else is there, but when it got closer to the finals and the final match, that place filled up like you wouldn't believe!!

When the finals begin, a lot of times they stop for advertising between matches. A bunch of people parade around the ring with company flags including Softbank (my cell provider), a famous cookie company here, and (of course) McDonalds!



There was a sweet little old lady from England with fried egg earrings one row ahead of us, and she would turn around and explain lots of things to us, which was very nice and helpful, though I can't remember most of it now, lol. She's in one of my videos though I don't know if I'll upload it here because this website takes forever! :( But I know I got a picture of her! =D



There were apparently two wrestlers who weren't Japanese there, and that caused a big excitement! I got a picture of one, a huge guy from somewhere is Eastern Europe, I believe. He's the man two right of the official in the black jacket. I was rooting for him, but he didn't win. The boys and I were putting down bets left and right but we left there almost 50/50. Just goes to show you can't always choose the biggest guy, lol, like I was doing! =D

The winner(?) did a dance while spinning this long stick. I have a video of it but it's taking wayyyy too long to upload anything here! :( Still, pretty cool!! =D



Oh. My. Goodness!! The awards ceremony took foreverrrr! This guys got dozens of awards, medals, trophies, etc. from the government, businesses, etc. He even got a COW! I like this pic the best because the guy carrying the silver cup that's bigger than him almost dropped it, it was so heavy! Thousands of people gasped at the same time, lol.




At the pub! We always do these "surprise" photos to each other, and this one is by far and away my favorite!! We ask someone to take a picture, then have one or two people jump in on it and try to scare them. Ed's face is *priceless*!!! =D

Rachel studies the menu. Notice the Guinness? Good! How about the plate of toasted bread and these funny radish-type veggies that are everywhere in Japan?? Ohyeah, that's super English LOL!