I used to criticize the working Japanese's life style, where people work from early hours until crazy-late times at night. I've fallen into its alluring trap after all, being the workaholic that I am. On the train lines, there are two rush hours in the evening: one from about six to seven, and another around ten o'clock. The last train around midnight is often packed to the windows as well.

My English lessons have been both easy and difficult, smooth and stressful, but my days off, Tuesday and Thursday, have become the hardest days of the week for me. They involve me training stand-up with Dio for two hours in the afternoon, and then struggling to make it through the grappling/MMA Keishukai class from seven to about ten. When I leave, people are always still sparring, even that late at night.After my fight with Tara, I jumped right back onto the mat and continued my training with a vengeance. I wish I could become a Super-woman so I could train longer and harder, or have the legendary "senzu beans" that the fighters in the anime "Dragon Ball Z" use to recover from all hurts.

Myself, Takayo Hashi (Smack Girl veteran) and another Keishukai fighter.

Two days after I returned from Atlantic City, I started a new 'outservice' at work, which means instead of teaching at the regular Berlitz office, I traveled fifteen minutes to a company and taught at their location. Therefore, my black eyes and bruised cheeks wouldn't do as a first impression. This forced to seek out make-up for the first time since my high school prom, where I got one of the popular girls to put it on for me.

This time, my co-worker Wendy showed me the ropes, and I learned what a complicated art-form make-up application is. I wished I could quote the movie Fight Club and say, "Yes, these are bruises from fighting. Yes, I'm comfortable with that." Unfortunately, this wouldn't fly with my boss, and I actually like my job.
Shortly after my make-up lesson, I was riding the train and happened to notice a gorgeous Japanese lady hard at work beautifying herself. I watched intently, trying to identify the various steps I had just learned. "That must be foundation! That must be the cover! That goes on last." She continued, however, to reapply more foundation and then other things for the next fifteen minutes until I was utterly confused. Much to my amusement, by the time I stepped off the train, she was still at it.

The physical bruises healed, but the emotional ones remained. I had flashes of Tara and Laura (D'Auguste) hitting me when I was walking down the street. One thing that helps is the atmosphere of Keishukai. People are so friendly and supportive, even while they're relentlessly tapping me out with heel hooks or kimuras. Recently, I attended my first nomikai, or "drinking party" at the Keishukai dojo. It was actually, a going away party to celebrate one of the long time members joining the police force. But as for the drinking aspect of it, I can count on my fingers the number of parties I've participated in, since all I used to do was study (now work) and train to fight.

There was shochu, sake, beer, sushi, Japanese snack foods, pizza, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Having decided to never drink alcohol, I only drank tea, but I've come to several conclusions; drinking with friends is fun, drinking with Japanese friends is more fun, drinking with pro-fighter Japanese friends is extremely fun...and extremely dangerous.
I'm calmly munching down some raw squid on rice, and suddenly six fighters leap over liquor bottles to swarm around one of their comrades on the other side of the mat. In seconds, the unsuspecting fellow is being rear-naked choked, both ankles heel hooked, and both arms arm-locked or kimura's all at the same time. Then, some of them began grappling just like that, as if it were the most natural thing in the world- which it is to us. I wanted to join in too, but something told me that wasn't the best idea in the world.

Adrienna Jenkins and myself in front of the Udon shop.

Added to the rarity of Keishukai's social event, I made a new friend. Berlitz transferred a teacher named Neveen from its Egypt office to Hon Atsugi, where I work. Since she doesn't speak any Japanese, I met her when she first stepped off the bus from the airport, and helped set her up with an apartment, cell phone, bank account, etc. It was a lot of work, but now we have a bond that goes beyond just co-workers. I have almost no time to socialize, but she lives less than a minute from me, so I look forward to hanging out and showing her all the fun Japan has to offer.
I also got to meet Adrienna Jenkins when she came to Japan with her boyfriend Jens Pulver who fought in PRIDE Bushido vol. 10, on April 2nd. We had lunch together at an Udon Noodle shop in Tokyo.

In early April, I embarked on a one hour journey to Odawara castle for "O-hana-mi." Literally meaning "looking at flowers," it refers to the Japanese tradition for families to go on a picnic lunch. They sit around under the cherry blossom trees socializing and drinking sake, Japanese alcohol. I shall hereby refer to the cherry blossoms by their Japanese name, "sakura." At first I found it strange how the Japanese people are obsessed with this dainty pink flower. Come spring time, everything seems to turn pink, and all foods flavored sakura - sakura bread, sakura mochi (rice cakes), sakura an (bean paste). They even have sakura flavored fish cakes and KitKat bars, not to mention sakura tea. I learned in college how sakura blossoms don't last very long, so they represent an ephemeral beauty, and the transience of life. Sakura was represented in classical Japanese poetry as sadness and feelings of longing after a love one could not have.

Myself and Neveen in front of her new apartment.

Back to Odawara castle, my Berlitz students told me about this castle by the sea, and I should visit before the sakura blossoms all fell. It was then I truly understood the appeal. Pink exploded among the usual shades of green and brown of the trees and nature. As I wandered awestruck under trees which were wearing nothing but pink blossoms, I could see them fluttering slowly, dare I say mournfully, down all around me. If not sad, they seemed to be making some kind of statement. The experience was all in all very inspiring.

Now I'm just trying to find some time to relax- and sleep! I successfully worked myself sick, which hasn't happened since college. I've been watching the American television series "24" with Keifer Sutherland, and find it to be the best-made series I've ever seen in my entire life. I'm faced with the possibility of another fight either this month or the next, so it appears that sleeping and the occasional 24 episode is the only down time I'm going to get for a while.

Sakura!

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