Running in the inaka

So as pretty much anyone anywhere north of the equator can attest to, it's been way too hot to run during the day for the past several months.  Recently, it cooled down enough for me to run in the afternoon on Wednesday, my half day from work.

Me and my cast, circa summer 2009.

I should preface this by saying that as many of you know, I've been sidelined from running for quite some time.  After breaking my foot 4 months before my first marathon in 2009, I came back too quickly and caused some problems with my left knee and IT band.  Without physical therapy, long runs cause my left knee to swell up, resulting in excruciating pain.  Without the ability to run competitively, what's the point of spending up to 10 hours every week running?  I switched to yoga, spinning and kickboxing and considered that chapter of my life closed.

Then I moved to Nagano, where it seems like everyone is a runner (and a snowboarder, but that's a different blog post).  I loved being a part of the running community, and I found myself slowly being sucked back in.  Before I knew it, I had signed up for an October half marathon, and then... the November marathon.  I rationalized my insanity by saying I really wanted to say I'd run a marathon overseas... how many people can say that? (Actually, you'd be surprised.)

Running the Chicago marathon
with a broken foot in 2009.

Thankfully for my November marathon, I've discovered that running during the day in my small inaka village is a lot like running the Chicago marathon.  Just when  you think you're ready to die and go stuff your face with the bagels you've been smelling for the last 5 miles, someone comes along to give you a reason to keep
going.

I could have used some support
during the 2010 Phoenix/Mesa
marathon through the ghetto of both cities.
This race put me in physical therapy.

Due to rain and a crazy busy schedule, I'd been unable to get a long run in for several weeks.  Though a little toasty for my liking, I decided Wednesday afternoon was my best bet to get in any sort of distance.  I set off with some tunes and crossed fingers to run along route 19 and up the mountain road that avoids the scary long tunnel.  I had a goal of 10 miles in mind, but as I had to get to iaido later that night, I wasn't married to that idea.

Running in my town makes you a celebrity.  Seriously, it does.  I passed the caretaker at the elementary school, half the old people in my village, and a fair score of strangers out working in the fields.  Every one of them waved, laughed, and shouted "Ganbare!"

I hate the scary tunnel at the edge of my village, so recently I've been running up the mountain road and taking my chances with bears instead.  This time, I wanted to see how far I could get before the road turned sketchy. All was well, until I turned a corner along the edge of a mountain stream and heard a "MOOOOOOOOO!" Now I had some loud, pounding running tunes turned up alarmingly loud, and still I heard, "MOOOOOOOO!".  God only knows how loud that moo was if you had been listening with actual ears, instead of ears muffled by and filled with obnoxious music.  I think you could probably here it in Matsumoto.

So I realized that "MOOO!"  is not a part of Lady Gaga's music, despite the fact she wears meat dresses, and jumped so high, I literally almost jumped off the mountain and into the creek.  I turn my head frantically, thinking this unseen cow must surely be immediately in front of me and possibly trying to gore me with it's horns.

The first thing I see is a stooped old Japanese man made even more stooped by the fact that he is doubled over laughing.  What the?  He is still in the same position when I finally spot the bloody cow in what I thought was an abandoned barn off to the left.  The old man stops laughing long enough to breathe a mocking "Konnichiwa" and I say the same and sprint away.

You shall not pass, you cow hater.

Traumatized by my cow experience, it takes me a few minutes to realize that the road I was running on has now ended.  I am running in a dark, wooded mountain pass that has become eerily quiet.  Realizing it is coming on twilight, and bears are actually a real danger in this uninhabited area, I turn around and run back down the mountain.

Approaching the cow man's house, I almost step on a black and white cat lying in the middle of the road.  Most cats have the sense to move when a strange gaijin comes pounding down the pavement towards them, but this cat looked at me like *I* was the crazy one.  I think the old man sent it out there to trip and kill me, because I was scared of his cow.

Finally, I make it back to the relative safety of route 19, and continue up the giant hill (well, not really giant, but after 7-8 miles, it seems that way) past the Ikusaka damn dam.  Again, I am in my zone, trying to convince myself it's really fun to run up this neverending hill at the end of my run, when through the haze of my pounding music, I hear "Oy!  Sarah sensei!"  I look around like an idiot trying to figure out where this is coming from, and there are two men sticking their heads out of the trash sorter next to the dam.  They yell "Ganbare sensei!" then say "Oh, eigo de... ah.. hawhito! Fight!"  I smile, trip again, and continue up the hill.

I ran in this outfit the other day,
and my students gave me a play by play
of every piece I was wearing.  

After I arrive home, I realize all these distractions have actually been very helpful to keeping my mind off the task at hand... running for a long time.  I think I will run more often during the day, as it's like having my own personal cheering section... albeit not in the most dignified way at times (i.e. being scared by a freaking cow and almost stepping on a cat).

Of course, when I come back to school the next day I get a report from at least half the students and staff about my run.  No joke.  Where were you going, I saw you, why were so you so far away, etc. etc.  One student even had an entire conversation *in English*.

Besides the fact I've committed myself to these races, whether or not I'm appropriately trained, I love getting the interaction with my community that's so hard to find.  Half the time I feel like I live in a ghost town, never seeing or talking to anyone.  For some reason, when I'm panting and sweating away, people seem to think I'm more approachable... so if it takes running a marathon to become a part of my community, so be it.

Movie theatres in Japan

In keeping with my second year resolution to share everything that to me is new, exciting, different, and/or strange, we went to our first Japanese movie theatre yesterday (well, actually that was a couple weeks ago now, as I waited to post this) to watch the premiere of Star Trek: Into Darkness.  (Which, while googling pictures to put here, I noticed was voted the worse movie of all time by Trekkies.  Interesting, as I didn't particularly like it myself, but it had some moments.  I think Star Trek 5 was much worse. Also, J.J. Abrams is not a Star Trek fan.  Sacrilege.:)

In Japan, you have assigned seats, and can choose them when you buy your tickets.  I think this is brilliant, and alleviates having to stand in line for a good seat for forever.  Everyone gets let into the theatre when the attendant announces your movie, so you can come early to claim your seat, then relax in the lobby eating snacks, drinks, what have you.  So typical Japan--organized and orderly.

A was sad because he couldn't figure out how to get a refill on his soda.  But really, if you order a large soda (which is at least 2/3 of a 2 L bottle), do you really need a refill?  Snacks are comparable to American prices, but tickets are a whopping $18 a piece--which is why we haven't been to a movie before now. 

Ouch.

We chose the Japanese subtitled 2D version, as we would have been out of luck with the Japanese dubbed version, which was also in 3D--leading me to believe the dubbed movies are more popular.  I am curious to hear the voices they chose, and I plan to google the Japanese trailer and see if it has the dubbed voices.  Just like America, they have cheesy advertisements and warnings, but unlike America, the volume is deafening.  I literally had to cover my ears multiple times during the movie because it hurt my head.  It may just have been this particular movie.  We will go again when the new Hunger Games is released after Christmas (Japan has the very last release date, just like with Star Trek) and I can compare the two.

Perhaps the strangest thing about our first movie in Japan was that *everyone* stayed until the end---through every last credit and company picture.  Maybe 6 people left before the credits finished rolling.  We had people on both sides of our row, so we had to stay as well.  At first, we thought maybe they knew something we didn't--there was secret extra footage or more previews at the end or something.  Nope.  Just an endless parade of credits and company logos, and thank goodness they didn't do the whole thing in Japanese as well. 

In other firsts, we had our first American style pizza from Pizza Hut in over a year.  In America, I can't remember the last time I actually ate Pizza Hut pizza... but compared to the crap pizza they have on hand here, it was one of the most glorious things I've eaten to date in Japan.

Hawaiian for Alan only, Cheese for both of us.  Yumilicious.

Japanese seem to have a fascination with mayonnaise, not the least of which is demonstrated through the many kinds of pizza on the menu containing mayonnaise.  They even have a mayonnaise special (I'm really not kidding). One of my students recently wrote in his homework about how he hates natto, claiming it is "not a food".  I make the same claim about mayonnaise.

The Hellman's website lists the following ingredients in its original mayonnaise: SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, WHOLE EGGS AND EGG YOLKS, VINEGAR, SALT, SUGAR, LEMON JUICE, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (USED TO PROTECT QUALITY), NATURAL FLAVORS. So, based on this analysis, mayonnaise is basically soybean oil and water.  This is a beverage, not a food.  Case closed.:)

Truly though, the main thing I miss about America is the wide variety of food.  I miss eating Ethiopian food one night, Mexican the next, and topping it all off with a Mediterranean feast.  And it's so *easy* to make healthy, multi-cultural food at home in America, as opposed to here, which requires advance ordering of rare ingredients on the internet and hours slaving over making things from scratch.  I took the convenience of American healthy eating for granted.  In Japan, if you are craving any of the *unhealthy* tastes like cardboard fast food you should never eat--it's all yours.  Good luck finding spinach. 

My new all time favorite quote is from 30 Rock, the first episode of Season 4.  Jack takes the actors and Liz out to a hot new Asian restaurant, and Jenna and Tracey are shocked by what they are served. This is so true, I rolled out of my chair laughing... you can find cheesy blaster type things in any grocery or conbini.  Ew.  Check out the clip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1W8R5TSNNk

At any rate, I love Japan, but I just can't get on board with the food. Sorry guys.  But for now, I think the awesome mountains, crystal clear rivers and peace and quiet make up for it.:)