In Which You Learn More About My Current Weight

I am 84 kilograms now, which equals about 184-185 pounds.

I'm getting a little impatient. The rate is constant at about a kilogram (2.2 pounds) a month. This is both quick and slow. I wish it would go faster; it wears you down.

I exercised 24 of 30 days in September. The days I didn't go I can say I had a legitimate excuse: some event always interfered.

Bored enough? Time for karaoke pics and videos!

Take Two

A large part of Okinawan culture is eisa dancing. There are multiple dances, but the junior high students concentrate on a specific set of movements involving taikos (drums). I learned this dance over the summer--all twenty minutes of it.



Throughout the dance, several of the students in costumes and heavy makeup move throughout the dancers.



The drumming can be heard all over the island and you can feel it shake the ground.

Undoukai Week - Take One

All week I'll be showing pictures from the recent undoukai, or sports day. The students have been training for it and the upcoming October event where they take the day and spend it competing with other schools. Last year, Ie Junior High came in third, something we hope to repeat this year. Its a big event day where the entire island turns out to see just how hard the students and teachers have been working.



Sunday dawned clear and hot, but the weather proved to be a terror. A huge storm cloud rolled in from the north and drenched the field.





In America, it probably would have been an oh-shit-we're-screwed moment, and that thought did flash across my brain. But the raincloud departed after 20 minutes of constant downpour, everyone burst from their shelter and there appeared mounds of spongy material apparently used for such an occasion. I was a little amazed at everyone SPONGING UP THE WATER, but the entire island is built to drain away water quickly, so I shouldn't have been surprised.





After all that, we were off!

More Sports Day Prep

I always think about The Simpsons episode where Bart composes a birthday diddy for Lisa when I hear the tune that's playing in the background here.

BBQ

Mmm! Shrimp!