Tennis Match!

Today I had to wake up at 5:30 in the freakin morning to get ready to go to a tennis match. Since I'm not a regular, my sole purpose is to be like the energizer bunny. I cheer and clap ALL day. In order to not fall asleep on the train, my soundtrack was as loud and crazy as possible. Example:

This is a current favorite ^__^ Great for all you joggers out there. I am so exhausted... luckily I got to watch an amazing tennis match! Unfortunately, that comes with a price. The captain has asked all the freshman/ newbies to write a reaction paper regarding the match today. Basically I have to write about any mistakes I saw, any positive aspects, and also improvements. Blah. Talk about strict right? If I can't make a practice, or if I will be coming late, I have to report to my captain ahead of time to let her know.

I am getting better at remembering the names of my team members.. and I think they are starting to understand that they can speak to me in Japanese. They are even trying to improve it when I speak!! I'm so happy!

The club is insanely time consuming... but it's also awesome. They really do form a tight knit bond... even with the courts too. I never knew just how lucky we had it back home... with all of our courts being all-weather courts. In Sophia, the official tennis club uses courts made out of clay. A good hour and a half of our 5 hr practice is dedicated to 'bonding with the court'. Since it is clay, if it is too dry it will crack so we have to water it at the end of every practice. It's just like crafts class... while making your clay pot you cover it with a wet cloth to prevent cracks from forming. Same deal.

So anyways, if it rained one day, the next day we go around poking the ground to see where it is the mushiest. Also the rain usually means that some of the clay/ sand got washed to one side... so us being the dutiful freshman, we have to fill in those gaps to make sure it doesn't get worse. Then if the court is a little mushy in areas you must put sand on top. Afterward there is this mini truck/ car thing that acts as a rolling pin that you must drive around the court and flatten it. The final step is to clear up the white line markers on the court.

As you can see, we take care of our baby. If some idiot does shit to it, you bet we'll get pissed off.... especially after we slaved away at it for so long. It really really makes me appreciate the courts back home.

Today I almost died laughing when a girl on the team pointed to my eyes and said you have such long eyebrows... she meant eyelashes :P She was so cute and got so embarrassed afterward. Oh man...

I do kind of miss the way we talk in the states. I don't think I could get away with dirty sarcasm here at all. Or just even sarcasm in general... I feel like a bit of me died a little..

So today overall was a beautiful and productive day! It was sunny and I even got a nice rosy glow to my face. Tomorrow is going to be another awesome day, but after that... rain :'(