Soft What Now?

Today I was introduced to the Japanese sport of "soft volleyball." Its a wonderful little athletic aberation like Park Golf (something not quite golf and not quite croquet), and apparently it is very popular in Hokkaido. I was told it was a favourite sport of obachans and ojisans (grandmas and grandpas), so, of course I laughed the game off as I had previously tried to do with ultimate frisbee and badminton (both of which have since kicked my ass).

But I should have thought back to our Rishiri climb on the Two Points tour; I should have remembered that on that hike we only saw 'bachans and ojisans. The old fogeys of Japan have previously shown themselves to be made of sterner stuff than the soft little nannas and pop-pops back in North America. And, of course, it was no different in soft volleyball.

In terms of rules, soft volleyball is almost identical to 'hard' volleyball. However, you play with four on a side, and the ball you're playing with has more in common with those big, red dodgeballs of old than it does with a traditional volleyball.

Also, there is absolutely nothing soft about that ball when you get cracked in the face with it, as me and my Junior High JTE discovered today (though she has a good deal more to lose in the face category than I do). For a sport that's played with a glorified dodgeball, the players are surprisingly ruthless, and me and my Sensei weren't the last to get cracked in the face.

It was all fully worth it, though, as we were rewarded with CURRY for losing all our games. The first place teams won beer and nihoshyu (sake), while the second place teams won a box of ramen noodles and garbage bags. I have never seen someone throw such a substantial freak-out over garbage bags. You'd have thought they were stuffed with 1-man bills or something. They even displayed the garbage bags prominently when taking their victory picture!

I guess it should be noted that you pay for your waste collection when you buy garbage bags over here, and for the prices they charge, the bags might as well be stuffed with 1-man bills. But more on that in my next posting which will deal with the very exciting topic of WASTE DISPOSAL! (I can sense you salivating already, Thede)

However, I've got some Junior High students who have to rock an English Speech contest tommorrow, and I have to get up at the ungodly hour of 5am to escort them to it, so time for sleep.

P.S.: HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!