Baseball and then some...

I went to a baseball game last Sunday, with my host brother and a couple of his co-workers. Let me preface this post by saying the men and women in the Japanese police...what a bunch of crazy characters!

The game was the Tokyo Giants vs I don't know where-Dragons. We sat in...on the right side of out-field? I am obviously not that into baseball, or else I would know the correct terms, sorry!

Before I went to a Japanese baseball game, I had heard that fans were crazy, that they had songs for players, and a billion different cheers. That is half-true. The majority of the stadium was orange (the fans have a dress-code of orange shirts, orange towel), but there was only one main cheering section, which I happened to be in. Every time the Tokyo Giants were batting, we would stand, shout cheers and occasionally sing songs (Yes, the songs were different for different players). There were hired men leading the cheers (the man in the red shirt). It was all very, very professional. Also, can you see the sumo wrestler? He has a blue kimono, and an orange towel!

The first thing we did when we sat down was order...a beer. I was out after one, but my brother and his co-workers each had four. In my opinion, they were each worth almost two beer cans. I have no idea how they drank all that, because after the game we went to a bar and drank even more! I was so glad that I didn't have Monday-morning classes, or else I would have never made it!!


So, this is us! The first one is my host-brother, me and my host-brother's 'superior'. The second one is me, the superior, and the other junior worker. We are wearing matching shirts from a Japanese bar that the superior frequents. It is actually a bar for Tokyo Giant's fans. Only. He had his own corner in the bar where we had dinner, and all of his fan paraphernalia was there. He had signed bats, noise makers, shirts, booze...he was a super-fan! We also have the orange towels that you can wave around to show your support, and I have a noise-maker that I would use to accompany my cheers. Unfortunately, we lost 8-0, so I have been invited to a 'revenge' match. I really, really want to go back!!

This is us with the police mascot. See the things in my hands? That is the third pair that the man gave me! I have now the shirt, the towel, three noise makers, baseball cards and a post card. To pay him back, I will memorize as many player's names, and learn some cheers. Also, I will buy him a few beers next time around.

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That's it for now.

I am going to Niigata Prefecture this weekend for a Kimono Festival! I will post pictures as soon as I get back! :)