Okay, a Little Bit o’ Lebron
The last two days have been great – happy as could be. I’ve had a wonderful time at school. Classes have gone smoothly and have been fun. Yesterday, I stayed after school and took photos of the kids in wood shop. Today, I was just going to watch the kids play volleyball when they asked me to join. Then, their teacher asked me to join for a later class in the day. I had lunch with one of the third grade classes and we actually communicated. I’ve had good conversations with other teachers and when I wasn’t doing any of that or marking homework, I have been processing photos. Not a bad time at all.
Not to mention last night’s basketball game. Yeah, we lost, but I learned that I’m capable of summoning up a bit of fire when my will so dictates. We were down by a lot after the first half and it was pissing me off a bit. In the third quarter, I lifted my game and managed to get a bunch of baskets, steals and so on. Just to be a full on nerd, let’s take my stat line and double it to get the equivalent of 40 minutes of playing time. So, in 40 minutes, I would have had 24 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks. Pretty good. I’m pretty sure I had 12 points, anyway. It was 10 or 12, so maybe I should say I would have had 22). The rest seems about right (I wasn’t sure about 2 or three assists, so I split the difference there). And I should have had another block, but the ref called a foul on a play that was all ball. Hell, it was all ball twice. I got ball on the way up, then again at the top.
Anyway, I had fun challenging myself to play better. One of my elementary students from Yamanome was there with his dad who was playing on my team. I gave him five for good luck. He didn’t get it until I gave him ten. He was pretty cute and so was his dad who complained of not having played in 15 years – golf was his game now. He played just fine though.
Lebron I Ain’t
Yesterday was another BOE day. I spent most of the morning looking up things to do in Tokyo when my sister arrives. I’m worried about her knee and how mobile she’ll be. We may have to take it pretty slow sometimes. I’m sure we’ll still have a great time though. As long as she doesn’t slip on any chum at the fish market.
I talked to Thanet after work and we determined her plans for the weekend were just too unaccommodating for Sarah and I to join her and Grainne and Erin. I would love to do something more with my extra time this weekend, but the weather is determined in its efforts to keep humans indoors.
I did a little cheering up of a sad Sarah then headed off to basketball. On this night, the Forties were playing’ well, the twenties. We just couldn’t really keep up. My long-range shot was off and my body wouldn’t do what I wanted it to do. I need to do some more running or something. But I think next game, if it plays out in a similar fashion, I’m going to just start driving the lane like Iverson. Throw my body into the fray and create some opportunities by going to the hole. My shot was such crap last night I should have just kept going at their defense. I need to be a bit more confident with my ball handling though too. If only I could actually practice somewhere.
I may have to start going to gym class at my schools.
Today was a day in Sendai with Jo, Brent and Sarah. A fairly uneventful time spent shopping in the rain. I did, however, make a couple large purchases worth noting: new speakers for my computer and a new, enormous hard drive.
Darby Sawchuk is a Canadian-born photographer who currently resides in Manchester, England. He has travelled to over 40 countries and is always adding more to the list. He creates stock for multiple agencies and is available for assignments.
+44 0790 992 8932
