中学校全県大会始めます！

Finally, it's started! Don't know why I'm so excited...But here are some results!

Girls table tennis, Taiyu is first in block D, with 3 wins straight.
Track and Field: Omonogawa tied for 4th in boys' high jump and girls 3rd in long jump
Basketball: Omonogawa boys SQEAKED by Odate Ichi 54-52 (wish I could have seen that game!), but then lost their 2nd game to Igawa 52-47. The girls didn't make it this year, but it looks like Hiraka has a strong team again this year.
Judo: Girl's didn't do so well, dropping straight sets, and I guess the boys are tomorrow!

Going, going...gone....

Well, the last Yokote area high school has been eliminated from the baseball tournament. They put up a good fight, even though they were down by a huge margin. They scored a few runs in the 8th and 9th...unfortunately, the other team got 4 runs at the top of the 9th inning... Well, Best 8 is something to be proud of! Anyways, eagerly waiting the results for the junior high school prefectural tournament that takes place this weekend! I'm tempted to send an email to one of the teachers, but I'm afraid he might be busy with the tournament!

Maybe I miss the drive...

Alas, my OBs are wrapping up their regional (Tohoku) tournaments.
Looks like Omagari girls' (with a few Taiyu girls) lost one and won one (Not sure how the tournament structure is). And Noshiro's basketball team (with some of my Omonogawa boys) is doing well, winning 115-68 over Yamagata. I always watch this team with special interest. One of the players wrote on his English assignment that he would join this team, even though its basketball program is tough and the school is like a 3 hour drive. He made it though, so now I'm waiting to see if the last part of his dream will come true...Ganbatte Ito-kun. If they win their next match, it's off to 全国！
Some of my other boys at Seriyo made it as well, but they got knocked out yesterday.
One boy's handball team took 2nd. And of course there's volleyball. Omonogawa lost yesterday but Yokote won. I think they're still in round robin though.

北海道の思い出す

I'm reading an old manga series right now, called Hana Kimi. It's pretty funny, but the last chapter took me down memory lane. The characters go on a school trip to Hokkaido, and man the memories of my trips there with my students came flooding back. The places we visited, the food we ate, the pictures we took...even the hotels! It didn't help that I found an old video of my baseball boys last night too. I wonder if everyone is okay...that reminds me. I should check how Seriyo and Yokote did in the baseball tournament!

Jack...Superstar!!!

I got a very interesting email yesterday from my Youtube account. Someone was helping promote the RSPCA Australia's new fundraising campagin...sort of an American Idol for animals. They had seen Jack's video on YouTube and wanted to get permission to use it to help promote the campaign. I turned to Audrey (my other rabbit), who was next to me, and told him about the email. He stopped his foot and gave me a hard shove with his nose...a little jealous? (He has great comic timing)
I was a little bit worried though, because the contact information didn't seem to match the RSPCA's. So, I googled the address. Turns out, it was for an advertising company, who represents the RSPCA and IKEA! Animal charity and IKEA...how can I refuse? I just have to find Jack's video file to send. Oh, and I promised Audrey I'd mention him as well :P

Too cute..

And no, I'm not talking about my rabbits. I got an email over the weekend from one of my old students. She is one of the cutest things in Japan. Apparently, she has a boyfriend now, and emailed me about it *touched*. I was so happy when I read her email. I had no doubt that she would get one, because she is so cute. But, I'm also a little worried, we are dealing with a teen aged boy here. The other part, she wanted me to visit her at work...As much as I miss the ebi-burger, I don't know if I can pull that off...

最後の夏/残念無念また来年！

I was wondering when 全県大会 was, and maybe to see how my old students did. I couldn't find the dates (maybe it's too early), but I did see the news stories about the high school baseball tournaments. I was a bit sad to see that Yokote Jonan lost their first game and was eliminated from the tournament. I couldn't help but smile as my memories of my baseball boys came flooding back. Especially the ones who had gone to Jonan, so that they could start their own baseball club (Jonan was an all girls school until 2 years ago). I used to watch them training until they couldn't see the ball anymore from my tennis court, and wondered which shadow was one of my old students.

Then I saw that Seriyo had won and Yokote had a bye into the next round. Which made me start wondering about another group of boys. For at least 2 of them, this would be their last summer tournament before they graduate from high school...One of them was an amazing player in JHS, and got into that school because of his baseball (he was pretty smart too). 大丈夫、かな。。。
And I guess I miss watching their games...