The workouts have been going well too. I'm feeling really lucky with the lack of injuries. A sore back and a sore knee, and a cold way back in October, and that's it. I've only missed a couple of days at the most in more than eight months (touch wood). This morning was Legs & Back, which is the one I hurt my knee doing a month or so ago, but I felt really strong this morning. I have decided to concentrate in particular on my form, especially with the pull-ups, which means the numbers aren't as high as they were last week. Before I was tapping the ground with my foot after each pull-up to stop my body from swaying. It's kind of cheating. This week I've stayed off the ground, and trying to keep my body still and not swaying around. It's really hard, but when I eventually find the right positions, I'll be increasing my reps quicker than if I was touching the ground. It just means that compared to last week, I can't do as many because a lot of my energy is going to keeping my legs still or my back arched or my elbows in the correct positions. I didn't do the Abs this morning, same as last week. I just wanted to finish up and have a big relaxing breakfast. I might do them tonight, or after Kenpo tomorrow.
Tomorrow is the last workout of Phase 2, and then there is a Recovery week. I'm more than half way through already! I reckon there will be some noticeable differences in the before photos and the 60 day photos I'll be taking in a couple of weeks. I just feel bigger and stronger, but it's such a subjective thing I'll need the photos to confirm.
Will and I had a great day at the indoor pool yesterday. He's jumping in from the side into my arms which is a big step. Next is going underwater. When we got there it was "Rest Time," which occurs ten minutes every hour. A whistle blows, and everybody gets out of the pool, and waits for ten minutes. That's it. Everybody just stands around an empty pool, waiting. Then after ten minutes the whistle blows again, and everybody jumps in. I hate it because it is an in-your-face example of the docility of the Japanese and their slavish adherence to stupid rules.
Extreme example of "Rest Time"
Another odd thing. I was in the kid's pool with Will, and there was another man with his son. He called over one of the staff and asked him something, and the staff went off and came back a minute later and said "It is possible to rent them." I didn't think anything of it, until a couple of minutes later when he approached me. "You can rent the goggles if you need," he said in English. For a moment I thought, it is compulsory to wear goggles too? I'm already wearing the compulsory swimming cap, and so is Will. I looked around. Most people had goggles, but some didn't. Then I understood. He thinks because everyone has goggles that I might want to have some too, so I don't feel uncomfortable or stand out (!). "I'm fine, thanks" I said in Japanese. But then I thought, maybe I should get some goggles, if everybody else is... Argggh! No, that's how they think. Buddy, I appreciate the fact that you think you are trying to provide me assistance, but could you leave me alone!
It is a revelation that many foreigners have after a certain amount of time here that all day they are being told what to do and how to do it by Japanese people. When you first get here it is helpful, sure, but after a while it just gets old. Once I was waiting for a train, and when it arrived, a guy grabbed my shirt sleeve and helped me onto the train. He looked shocked when I asked him in Japanese "What the fuck are you doing?" If I make the slightest hesitation at an ATM or ticket machine, an assistant rushes over to help. It can get really annoying.
Once, I was at a train station (I spend a lot of time on trains and in train stations if you hadn't noticed), and I saw a Down's Syndrome kid, maybe 20 years old. I watched him look at the map, get some money out of his wallet, and buy a ticket at the machine. Then he went through the turnstiles and went to the platform to catch his train. Wow, I thought. He's retarded, but he doesn't need anybody's help. He can buy his own ticket and catch a train all by himself. Isn't that wonderful. Good on him. So then I bought my ticket and went through the turnstiles, and just before I got on the escalator to go down to my platform, I happened to look behind me. And I swear, I saw a middle-aged man watching me with the same condescending grin that I must have had a minute earlier when I was watching the Down's Syndrome kid. That put things in perspective for me, I can tell you. I am retarded.
PS There's a guy on my floor whose laugh sounds exactly like Steve Carroll's laugh. It's uncanny. I'm always startled by it. "Steve's here!?"
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