Ouendan!!!!!!!

Hey guys!

Hope everyone had a great Canada Day! We had a pretty good (by my account) BBQ on the roof of our building despite the inclement weather. It was all set up ghetto styles with a tarp as our roof. I think I took one or two pictures, but I'll have to dig em up from the depths of my monster hard drive. It eats photos.

Our summer vacation is starting soon and Val and I could not be more stoked. We're flying to Hong Kong on August 2nd and we'll be there shopping, eating, sightseeing and visiting my relatives for a week. Oh, my cousin's getting "married" too. Long story. I have no idea what kind of gift to get him though. Dangit.
Val's parents are coming into Osaka the day after we get back and my parents will be arriving a few days after that, so the next two weeks should be stressful, interesting or fun, or a mix of all three. I'll let you know how it goes.

We got some new neighbours! Mike and Melissa from Canada! They're just one apartment down from us and we've already done some hanging out and traveling together. They're pretty rad folks. Just thought I'd mention that.

Also, news break, it's hot as HELL up in this mother. Every day it's a good 30 degrees plus humidity. Thankfully in our apartment, we have sectioned off rooms so if need be, we can go into lockdown and keep ourselves cool. In the bedroom and living room, it's a nice 22 degrees. Going into the kitchen out of our "safety zone" is something like 28 degrees. When you talk to Japanese people who know it's your first summer in Osaka, they usually gleefully tell you that it's only going to get hotter as the summer wears on. It's also prime cicada right now. Every morning up until noon they're chirping/squeaking or whatever the hell it is they're doing. It's flippin' annoying. It sounds like a high pitched whine/hum. God I hope they die soon.

I've been incredibly lazy with my posts despite my constant self-criticism (is that a real term?).
Honestly, it's not that I have a lack of material, it's just that I'm hardly in the mood. TO construct a lengthy blog post I have to hand pick and scrutinize each picture and craft each witty caption and description. All in all, it usually takes about 2 hours or so. However, I'm finding that some of you out there actually read this, so I should just suck it up and be more consistent. For that faithful reader, I apologize.



You may ask, why did I just read all that? I dunno, you're the one that clicked on some link. Ha. Just kiddin. This little ditty of a post is about our second Hanshin Tigers game. It was a lot like the last one, except this one was ridiculously hot. However, that didn't stop the fans from cheering their arses off. These are deidcated folks I tell ya.

Here's the gentleman who was leading the cheers in our section. In some parts of the world, they are also referred to as "cheerleaders". In Japan, they're better known as "Ouendan". There were other guys on the team who would rotate with him, but he was clearly the best. It's really hard not to like a guy who's screaming his lungs out and asking you to do the same. He looks kinda serious but when he gets going it's all good times in Koshien. Please see below for photographic awesomeness proof.













You want more proof you say? Peep this.



They're so organized that they have signs to signal to the other Ouendan what cheers to do next. Most of the time, the transition from cheer to cheer was pretty seamless. The crowd was right in step and didn't miss a beat. Again, way hardcore.



It was the top of the 7th inning, so you know what that means...balloons!!! I might add I nearly passed out from trying to inflate these damn things. So you could say, I was quite flaccid for a while. Nonetheless, perseverance and lots of deep breathing later, we were all good to go. Thanks to Daisuke (on the left) for getting the balloons.













And they're off!














Here's the gang in intense and pose mode. It's Val, Daisuke, Taka, Aidan and Aki (Becky). Thanks again to Daisuke for getting some sweet seats for us. Out of our little posse, he is definitely the most hardcore. He even comes after work sometimes. He was so helpful he even printed out the lyrics for the cheers. Alas, my Japanese skills am suck. :(

The Tigers had lost the night before, so this was the night to redeem themselves. How'd they do? It was an epic ass beating of 9-2. We all felt bad for the tiny cheering contingent in the nosebleeds for the other team. Better luck next time bitches!


I couldn't have said it better myself. Despite the heat, it was an awesome game and I'm thinking I'll have to go back at least one more time.

That's all for now! I've got some other posts in the hatch so expect at least two more to pop up tonight.

Hanshiiiiiin Tiiiiiigers!!!!!!!!!!