Downtime

Late July and the August month constitutes as what one may call "downtime" for JETs. Old faces leave, new ones show up, the kids are on break and the JET (in my case, anyway) is largely left to their own devices. Many return home to visit family, other JETs take trips. My main outlet has been the computer, indulging in Monk episodes and rereading Sandman comics.

For students technically on break, my junior high kids are constantly at the junior high anyway, training for September sports festivals and events. Tennis, volleyball, basketball, baseball, track. They're doing it all. So I decided, instead of sitting at the office and playing on the computer, reading news and blogs of friends (albeit quietly, never commenting), that I would connect with the students more. This meant, of course, exercising with them.

I'm introverted and self-concious, so naturally it was difficult to begin. When I showed up for the first activity of the day in the last week of July, it was with the baseball team, and naturally they seemed a bit incredulous that I wanted to exercise with them. These kids are lean and wiry, and when the big gaijin shows up, wanting to run with them, disbelief isn't unwarranted.

There's a triptych of students that give me the most trouble, inside and outside of class: Toshiki, Kowa and Keisuke. They also happen to be on the baseball team and met my joining with a combination of amusement and sneers. Toshiki in particular had a stunned lip curl that gave the strong impression that he wished I wasn't there.

But I ran with them and miraculously kept up with them for the two laps they went around the school courtyard. I did sit-ups and push-ups and belly undulations--pushing with your stomach muscles against the ground--with them. Most of them looked on at me with smiles when I did this. Who can blame them? A fat man doing the exercises that rightfully belong to the thin and better coordinated is comedy gold anyway you slice it.

And then we did sprints.

"ジョシュアー先生　早いね。" (Joshua-sensei is quick, isn't he?) One said, as he watched me keep up with the team of four I was sprinting with. My heart was beating fast, as it would for weeks after in the Okinawan sun. My legs hurt and I was tired. But someone said I was quick, and I knew instantly I would be back the next day.

I showed up at practice 3-4 times a week, usually at 8 a.m. to run with the track team. We'd start with an opening run, then do other exercises, then sprints, and sometimes more running, training for the 100-meter dash or relay. I exhausted myself; my stamina was nothing great. Short bursts of energy followed by a long recovery and much water drinking.

I liken it to boot camp. When I ran cross-country in high school, our practices were never this intense. My students did everything together, the running, the sprinting, the exercises. They did it as a team, and there was a definite sense of comraderie. I imagine it would have exhausted students I knew back in high school. But maybe not. Maybe I wasn't as involved with it as I could have been, back then. I didn't want to learn how to train my body. This, in a sense, was what was happening at present: my students were being taught to train themselves.

The weeks went on and my body began to change. I could feel myself recovering faster after runs. My leg muscles were hardening. I was keeping up. And all around me, there often came shouts of "Joshua! Fighto!"

Morning track practice ended last week. They switched to a 5-6:30 p.m. time, which is difficult for me, since I need that time to run errands. So last week, I started my own exercise regime. 7:00-8:30 p.m. is the time I set aside. I went three times, and to my amazement, I actually knew how to work out and push my body.

Current progress then: 3 kilograms lost in one month (which I'm told is healthy), and a ton of muscle tone gained.

And I have the students of Ie-Jima to thank.