Tokyo Verdy vs. Tochigi Soccer Club

Kyou no Nihongo no Kotoba (今日の日本語の言葉): goro goro (ごろごろ) - purring/rustling/thunder (it's a sound effect)

This word has been brought to you by my effort to learn sound effects, which 

people use in everyday life as regular words... -_-"

This might have been one of the best days I've had in Japan, and it has definitely been the best weekend I've had in Japan so far. It's been full of such great experiences, and I wouldn't have missed any of it for the world. Oh, I am so glad to have made the decision to come to Japan for a gap year (people told me that it would be unforgettable, but it's only three weeks in, and look at all that's happened!). 

Anyways, I woke up this morning at 6:00, highly excited to begin my day with Skyping my friend Lissa, who currently goes to school at Macalester College. Yesterday night I had a wonderful time quick Skyping Moe, Gamble & Corbin, which was unexpected, since I hadn't planned for it to be then. But it was a wonderful way to end the night. And now, I get to wake up, have an "American" breakfast (eggs, toast, and bacon), and then Skype Lissa and watch Doctor Who. How much better could this day have gotten? (Apparently, much better).

I watched Doctor Who with Lissa as the family was out at church (Masahiro-san doesn't attend church, and spends that time driving around the city seeing the sights or sitting in the car watching the news (almost every car in Japan has satellite TV)). There were some freaky episodes, but we made it past them fine together (I wouldn't have lasted by myself). 

Then they came back and we had an Italian lunch of pasta, tomato sauce with a bunch of other vegetables, etc. We then promptly left for the game, taking a few drinks with us, one of which was a Salty Watermelon drink by Pepsi. I have never seen it before, and it doesn't quite taste like watermelon nor salt. It tastes like Kool-Aid, actually. Hm.

Gotta love the Tokyo graffiti 

Why don't American parking lots have this instead of a
guy sitting at the entrance and exit or something? 

When we got to Ajinomoto Stadium, it was about an hour and a half before the game (Ryosuke wanted to get there early because he wanted to see the players get on the field and warm up and stuff). The place was very big, like Fed-Ex Stadium big. I've never been to a professional soccer game before, so this was very exciting stuff!

When we got inside, the people were already cheering. They have a specific cheering section, which practically cheered the whole time. I'm not kidding. They did not stop. Not even during half time. It just kept going and going and going. Even after the game. I ended up cheering a lot with them, because it was so infectious. The Japanese have such a great spirit when it comes to baseball and soccer!

Such a small crowd for Tochigi 

Team coming onto the field! 

Dude, with the amount of cheering, this totally felt like what
I think a FIFA Cup match might feel like. 

And then the game starts! This game was amazing. I've watched a lot of soccer matches on TV (via the fact that dad won't watch anything else when the World Cup is around), and this one ranks at the top. The players were so good that it was impossible for me not to be right at the edge of my seat, biting my fingernails in anticipation. Their footwork was incredible, and just when I thought that the ball would get stolen, the player would somehow safely pass it off or do some fancy turn thing to get away himself. So good.

Though the game ended at 4-1 (pretty high scoring, by general standards), with the Tokyo Verdy team winning, there were so many more close calls that if every close call turned into a goal, I'm pretty sure the score would be something like 10-6. Like, damn. Balls bounced off goal posts at least five times. And two of the goals were rebound goals, which had us all crying at first, then gasping, then cheering, etc. The slew of emotions hurtling through me was something I didn't come ready for. I've never gotten that much into a soccer game in my life.

I think I might have a new favorite soccer player. This guy is just so good that it hurts. And he's so good natured that it's impossible not to root for him. His name is Nakajima Shoya, and he's eighteen. Just eighteen. At the game today, he set the J-League record by being the youngest in J-League history to score three goals in a game. And he's one of the youngest players in the whole league too. His footwork is some of the most mesmerizing to watch, and he always seems to know where to put himself to be in the right place at the right time.

Not to mention that throughout the whole time on the field, he had this intense look of concentration that was incredibly handsome. Oh my lord. That guy is so fast, and so... indescribable (yet I'm trying to anyways). 

Goal count. Those three so far are all Nakajima.

At the end, they interviewed Nakajima, and explained how what he just did at this game was indeed a record. He totally blushed, said that he didn't know that, and then replied that he still has a long way to go before he reaches the level of anyone else in the league. He says he was honored to be chosen for the team, or something like that, and will continue to work hard. Anything that was done today was because of his teammates and their support, and he just happened to give the ball the little nudge it needed (if a little nudge means a mean and fast ball hurtling at the goal from quite a ways away, then yes). This guy is so humble too, in the classically Japanese way.

After the game, we went home. Yoshiko-san was too lazy to cook, so we got food from a hoka-ben, I think it's called. It's short for "hoka hoka o-bento," which means a hot bento. We got salad, rice with seaweed, fried chicken and fish, and ate it all with some cucumbers at home. Ryosuke was feeling too tired to eat, so the table was a lot more spacious than usual.

I finished dinner quickly, chatted with them about the day for a while, and then came up here to write this post. I knew that this might have been a long one, and I didn't want to post it at some ridiculous hour over here (like yesterday night, when I went to bed at two in the morning because I was finishing up the post, and then I got pulled into something else I had to do... -_-").

Thanks again for reading!
Maggie