Day 3 - Bowlarama!!

This morning we went to Pasco World, a cross between a bowling alley and Dave & Busters, but louder and more exuberant. We spent the first 1/2 hour plugging coins into the video games, with the kids having a blast and the adults trying to get used to the noise but having fun nonetheless. We then moved over to the bowling side of place, which was very much like any other bowling alley except for the bowling shoe dispensing machine, which resembled a gigantic vending machine but with shoe sizes...you push a button and out came your shoes. Though there was confusion at first, the girls figured out to look inside their shoes and find the Japanese shoe size (one benefit of globalization!). Fortunately, sizes went up to 28 cm, so even the adults were able to fit comfortably in the stylish shoes.

We were preassigned to teams (excellent idea!), with adults and kids, Japanese and Americans mixed up. It was a blast! Oscar had the high score of the day, with Danelle second. We played two games and then returned to the arcade for more coin plugging and fun. Haley won a fish - live fish in a small bowl - and being the smart young woman that she is, promptly sold it to big brother Dylan, who presented it to the grandmother in his host family!!! Hooray for Dylan!!! Several of our girls won prizes using the free coupons we were all given (Kayla dragged me over to a machine that was set to win, and I did - a piece of something like salt water taffy). Claire, Chase and Katie pooled their coins (also free) and were making a killing at the coin-shuffle game- you put a coin in and it lands on a platform loaded with coins, pushing them over a cliff into the payoff slot. Evidently, this was a very addicting game as we had a hard time getting them to leave for lunch (just one more, just one more...sound familiar?)

Lunch was in the gym at a nearby elementary school (school is now out for the summer) which happens to be where Sanvino holds practice. We had Japanese pizza - very yummy, especially the tariyaki pizza - and a roll that Shanlie accurately said was like a soft, fluffy sugar cookie. This roll is a local delicacy and I can understand why. It was really tasty, though not to everyone's taste. Before and after lunch, everyone shot baskets in the hot gym (think a hot Colorado day with 90% humidity). While most everyone is uncomfortable in this heat (I may be the exception), we're all bearing this "burden" with smiles and lots of water. One thing I've noticed is that the local residents all carry small towels with them that they use to mop the sweat from their faces.
"
After lunch, we split up again, with some of us returning to the hotel and most of the kids going back to their host families for a break. We'll get together again at 6:30 for a Japanese BBQ. Sand soccer tomorrow!

Some random thoughts:
Sanvino and Trebol are perfect matches - besides being similar type clubs, both teams are blessed with fantastic parents who knock themselves out as hosts. WOW!

Rice paddies are everywhere. I was told that many of them are on "open space," public land that is set aside for agriculture and protected from development, similar to some of the open space areas in Boulder county. Very cool!

Riding in a vehicle driving on the left side of the road is nerve wracking. Even though part of your brain gets it, the primitive part is still shocked.

Though American cultural influences are everywhere (7-11s, McDonalds, plenty of English signs), there's still plenty of Japan here in Japan - can you imagine roadside octopus stands in the U.S.?

The octopus stand


An order of baked octopus balls


Katie tries an octopus ball...she loved it