The Ringo Stars
08 October 2005
Fantastic Fuji Feat & Footie Fun
Last weekend I took a mini-road trip with 4 JET mates! We jaunted southwest in G.M.'s lass *Shiela* on Thursday, stopping for respites at our favorite "Conbinis": Lawsons and Sunkus, and that night at an Indonesian restaurant to celebrate M.S.'s birthday! Just after midnight we made it to the base of Japan's tallest mountain and pondered the idea of initiating our trek with headlamps right then. Though, after a moment's consideration we all agreed that some shut eye was desperately needed (and desired) before our historic hike! In no more than 15 minutes we had our gigantic tent pitched, mattress pads inflated, and were snug and sound in our sleeping bags.
By 10 a.m. the following day we were at Fuji's 5th station geared with *genki* gorp and full camelbacks. We took the "before" photo and set out on our strut to the summit. Along our climb we took tons of candid and posed pictures, and 4.5 hrs. later we touched the top and simultaneously started singing "We are the champions..." There, we randomly met two gregarious Germans who offered us a celebratory sip of some authentic brew. We shot raw footage on my digi-Canon Ixy, selected souvenir stones (which we later "re-gave" to the mountain when we learned it was the ultimate Japanese faux pas), and began our stuttering zig zag gallop down the mountain. At sundown we returned to the car park were M.S. was awaiting us with hot basil and veggie pizza! We crammed into the car, sped to the nearest hot spa, and relaxed in the warm waters.
Saturday took us to Nagano for a soccer tourney! This year we had enough female athletes from Aomori-ken for our own team: The Ringo Stars (note: "ringo" means apple in Japanese which is what Aomori is famous for!) Our ragamuffin rockstars lost the 1st game against Tochigi in PKs, won the 2nd (2-0), and narrowly missed the 3rd (1-0)! The next day we were placed at the top of the 2nd division. We no longer looked like hooligans, but almost like a real team! We won our 1st two games: 2-1 and 4-2, but lost in the championship match to Chiba 2-1. We all were incredibly impressed with our hard work, and happy to still have 3 players injury free! Of the 7 injured we had a twisted ankle, hurt toe, pulled groin, strained/possibly torn ACL, swollen lip, stitched up cheek, and I escaped with a scratched eye.
I've no travels in the near future, but am planning a 3.5 week trip to Australia and Vietnam with M.S. in December and January! Stay tuned for an untimely update.
By 10 a.m. the following day we were at Fuji's 5th station geared with *genki* gorp and full camelbacks. We took the "before" photo and set out on our strut to the summit. Along our climb we took tons of candid and posed pictures, and 4.5 hrs. later we touched the top and simultaneously started singing "We are the champions..." There, we randomly met two gregarious Germans who offered us a celebratory sip of some authentic brew. We shot raw footage on my digi-Canon Ixy, selected souvenir stones (which we later "re-gave" to the mountain when we learned it was the ultimate Japanese faux pas), and began our stuttering zig zag gallop down the mountain. At sundown we returned to the car park were M.S. was awaiting us with hot basil and veggie pizza! We crammed into the car, sped to the nearest hot spa, and relaxed in the warm waters.
Saturday took us to Nagano for a soccer tourney! This year we had enough female athletes from Aomori-ken for our own team: The Ringo Stars (note: "ringo" means apple in Japanese which is what Aomori is famous for!) Our ragamuffin rockstars lost the 1st game against Tochigi in PKs, won the 2nd (2-0), and narrowly missed the 3rd (1-0)! The next day we were placed at the top of the 2nd division. We no longer looked like hooligans, but almost like a real team! We won our 1st two games: 2-1 and 4-2, but lost in the championship match to Chiba 2-1. We all were incredibly impressed with our hard work, and happy to still have 3 players injury free! Of the 7 injured we had a twisted ankle, hurt toe, pulled groin, strained/possibly torn ACL, swollen lip, stitched up cheek, and I escaped with a scratched eye.
I've no travels in the near future, but am planning a 3.5 week trip to Australia and Vietnam with M.S. in December and January! Stay tuned for an untimely update.
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