On Saturday I traveled to Sendai in the Miyagi prefecture for my first Japanese baseball game, with a bus full of other (mainly international) students from Akita International University. We left AIU at about 10 am, and arrived in Sendai around 1:30 pm. Before the 6 o'clock game, we participated in a small field day event with other college students from Japan and were also given free shirts and towels. Our field day activity had three different events. In the first, everyone ran around with a ribbon hanging out of their back pocket while trying to snatch up someone else's ribbon. The second event required one guy and gal from each team to hit a ball off a tee for points. The girls on my team were too shy about being sent up so I volunteered and got our team some points. Last, we did this jump roping competition with the longest jump ropes I've ever seen, and aside from the two people swinging the rope, our entire team had to be jumping at the same time. Needless to say it wasn't easy. In the end, the winning team received hats signed by one of the Rakuten players and got to take a group photo with him. After the field day was finished we had about an hour and a half before game time. So we were showed to our section, and then scattered to find food. I don't remember seeing peanuts, and I haven't really seen pretzels at all in Japan, but there was a variety of Japanese foods as well as some of the same foods you'd find at an American game - such as fries, beer, soda, and hot dogs. As game time approached, I learned that Japanese baseball teams have cheerleaders. These people I am calling cheerleaders had pom poms, but perhaps it'd be more appropriate to call them a dance team? I only saw them a couple times before the game and between some innings. Something really interesting about Japanese baseball games (that I believe is nationwide) is the release of balloons. Very sadly, I MISSED THE BALLOON RELEASE. After the sixth inning, I got up to go buy something and when I returned, my friend Yecenia informed me that the crowd had blown up and released their balloons as soon as Ashley and I had left. Someday I really hope to see this in person. However, since we didn't release our balloons, we still have ours, and because of this - although it won't have the same effect - we might just release our balloons together on campus. Ashley and I both bought Rakuten Eagles blankets that have a little button, which allows us, if we so choose, to wear the blanket like poncho without fearing it will fall off. Pretty spectacular. At the team shop small towels were sold with the names and numbers of different players. I noticed that one of the players had the last name Mori - the kanji (Chinese character) for this name is made up of three trees and typically translated as "forest." So I thought, Oh, we have similar last names! and decided it would be a good souvenir. Telling my mom about this towel, she pointed out that the kanji for "Mori" not only has a similar meaning to our last name, but also sounds like her maiden name, Moore, when pronounced in Japanese. All in all, this was one of my favorite days so far! |