I have arrived in Japan! And today I was picked up from my dorm at 8:30am by two Japanese women (Shima, who drove, and Umi, who translated) to go play RUGBY.
We drove across the city (maneuvering streets that I didn't believe that cars could go down and still don't believe cars can go down, even though I was in a car at the time I was on them), ending up at what appeared to be a high school (Umi didn't know, because apparently they change fields every practice, with Shima sending out an email 2 or 3 days ahead of time with directions).
And I guess I shouldn't call it a "field" - it was a big area covered in... sand? I thought that was really, really strange, but when I pointed it out to Umi and said our fields back home were all grass, she looked impressed and explained that around here only the very good schools have grass fields.
Practice itself was a bit of an adventure. Umi and one other girl, Haruka, kind of spoke English, but no one else did, so I mostly hung back and watched to figure out what was going on. The team's ball handling is very good, and after we spent the whole first hour or so of practice doing purely ball handling drills, I figured out why.
We then did some contact drills, which were run very... interestingly. I somehow ended up in the group that didn't do more than very basic contact (just one-man rucking, no mauls, no going down, etc.), and the coaches apparently didn't care if people just stepped out of the drill to hang out for awhile. Because I was the foreigner and apparently very interesting, people kept stopping me and talking to me while I looked wistfully over their shoulders at the rucking going on the background. But it was pretty cool, and I definitely will be improving my Japanese with all that practice.
One interesting "oh hay gaijin!!!" moment was when one girl with kind of a rebel look introducing herself (forgot her name, though), declaring us friends ("Furendsu!"), and then standing up in my personal space to point out how long my legs were and how tall I was. Another was me explaining to two girls, Kira and Azu, that I had a girlfriend - no not a woman friend - no not a boyfriend - no not a girlfriend which is the same as a friend - hey what? Apparently rugby teams in Japan are NOT the same bastion of lesbianism as they are in the US.
Then we split into backs and forwards, and I was told to be a back. Furthermore, I was put into the position of fullback. For those of you following along at home, I haven't played as a back since last fall season, and even then I was primarily a wing and only occasionally subbed in as fullback. Add to that the fact that we were running multi-phase plays, when AUWRFC organizes only one-phase plays, and I was way confused. The coach kept explaining to me in Japanese, and even though the position names are the same and I understood words like "enter" and "right" and "left," it took a couple of tries and eventually the coach just running along after me and pushing me into place before I understood.
But, apparently the team has a game the last Sunday of April, and not enough of the team can make it - so I'll be playing in a game for them in just a month!!!
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Sunday, March 4, 2007
You know you're a rugger when...
I can't remember where I took these from, but they do sound awful familiar... :P
- You have gone home on a Saturday after a game, passed out, and then woken up and kept drinking.
- You can want to fucking kill someone from the other team during a game and then get shitfaced with them afterwards.
- When people walk slowly, you have to resist the urge to tackle them from behind.
- You frequently get the songs from the drink-ups stuck in your head
- You don't actually know the real names of your teammates, only their nicknames
- You know that Jesus can’t play rugby cause his dad would fix the game
- The number of gay people on your team outnumbers the number of straight people
- You have gotten the “what the fuck is that group of annoying girls doing” look in denny’s after a big game
- You steal beer after a drink-up so that you can keep drinking
- You learn about what happened Saturday night at brunch Sunday morning with your teammates
- You are trying to facebook people that you met after a game but can't because you can't remember if you ever actually learned their real name
- You know shooting the boot doesn’t have anything to do with a gun
- On the weekends you pee in the bushes more often than in the bathroom
- You’ve dreamt about sleeping with one your referees and commented on how good he looks in his short little rugby shorts
- Your excuse for everything is "I Play Rugby"
- You have gone home on a Saturday after a game, passed out, and then woken up and kept drinking.
- You can want to fucking kill someone from the other team during a game and then get shitfaced with them afterwards.
- When people walk slowly, you have to resist the urge to tackle them from behind.
- You frequently get the songs from the drink-ups stuck in your head
- You don't actually know the real names of your teammates, only their nicknames
- You know that Jesus can’t play rugby cause his dad would fix the game
- The number of gay people on your team outnumbers the number of straight people
- You have gotten the “what the fuck is that group of annoying girls doing” look in denny’s after a big game
- You steal beer after a drink-up so that you can keep drinking
- You learn about what happened Saturday night at brunch Sunday morning with your teammates
- You are trying to facebook people that you met after a game but can't because you can't remember if you ever actually learned their real name
- You know shooting the boot doesn’t have anything to do with a gun
- On the weekends you pee in the bushes more often than in the bathroom
- You’ve dreamt about sleeping with one your referees and commented on how good he looks in his short little rugby shorts
- Your excuse for everything is "I Play Rugby"
AU vs. VCU/Nova
This Saturday's rugby schedule was an A-side vs. VCU and a B-side vs. Nova (a very good women's team... better than our A-side and definitely better than our B-side. We'd understood the B-side game would be VCU/Nova motley). We kicked ass A-side 44-5. We lost B-side, but played well. One of the best things about both of our games so far is to see which mistakes we are and aren't making - we're still a little scattered and discombobulated, but we're supporting each other so well and making our tackles (our tackle rate against the huge Nova girls women was really good) that we're playing a very good game.
Personally, I'm at about the same place. I feel really good about my 8ing, and less good about my locking (I kept going to my knees in the scrum - very not good). My tackling continues to be good in the sense that I nearly always get my woman down, but I'm improving in the ability to do that with good form so I don't hurt myself. However, during Saturday's game I brought some girl down on her shoulder and injured her... oops.
After the game, we hung out and ate pizza with Nova (VCU had gone home), then headed over to the 42nd Street house for some socialling slash pregaming the social at the men's house. The night ended up being long, ridiculous, and fun - typical rugby Satruday!
Personally, I'm at about the same place. I feel really good about my 8ing, and less good about my locking (I kept going to my knees in the scrum - very not good). My tackling continues to be good in the sense that I nearly always get my woman down, but I'm improving in the ability to do that with good form so I don't hurt myself. However, during Saturday's game I brought some girl down on her shoulder and injured her... oops.
After the game, we hung out and ate pizza with Nova (VCU had gone home), then headed over to the 42nd Street house for some socialling slash pregaming the social at the men's house. The night ended up being long, ridiculous, and fun - typical rugby Satruday!
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Rugger family is international
Today I met up with some members of the Kyoto women's rugby team for what I thought was a morning of cherry blossom viewing, and what ended up being a whole day of chilling and awesomeness. I am very tired, have to get up in the morning to practice, and have to also shower/bath and write a nice long email to girlfriend before I sleep, so y'all get bullets:
- Eri, the girl who met me on the train (an 18-year-old who just graduated high school), is a sweetheart and I love her, but I wish she'd realize that I can do things like buy my own train ticket and put it in the machine.
- Aki is def. my favorite Kyotoruggergirl. This is largely because she's the one person who's had actual conversations with (she slogs through my terrible Japanese to discuss things like what kind of jobs she's done and how I feel about sports).
- Kumiko (34-year-old), who I just met today, is awesome, though I think she thinks of me as just another kid to take care of. Her kids (Mira [girl, 8] and Kaito [boy, 10]) are even awesomer. Mira especially spent the day trying to get me to understand her 8-year-old Japanese and taking pictures of me and marveling at my blue eyes and blond hair.
- When they say don't make eye contact with the monkeys? DON'T MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH THE MONKEYS. They will try to prove their dominance and chase you down and you will get teased about it for the rest of the day.
- Kitsune soba (fox soba, or soba with fried tofu in it) is delicious.
- It is apparently impressive that I not only know how to use chopsticks, but know to use the back end of them to pick food off of communal plates.
- Whichever Japanese soap opera was on the minivan TV while we drove all over whoknowswhere was HILARIOUS.
- Somehow I ended up in some hospital that was possibly halfway to Osaka to say hi to someone (I assume a rugger) with a leg wrapped and immobilized to the thigh. I also found out I apparently have high blood pressure, which has never been the case before.
- Fuku (pufferfish) can be poisonous if not prepared right. So if I drop dead in the next few hours, you can blame me breaking my vegetarianism to eat fuku just to have a story to tell.
- Sitting on tatami mats around low tables while Yuka's parents bring dish after dish of strange Japanese dishes and everyone is talking loudly in a language you barely understand and someone's kid is taking a million pictures of you because you look so damn funny and every so often the whole table tries to ask you a question in Japanese and draws on all their synonyms and body language and you end up with an 8 year old curled in your arms as she writes in your "memo" book while a 20-year-old sports addict corrects her kanji - somehow, it feels similar to bumming around a student rental at 6 pm on a Saturday. I guess rugger family is international, and I am +10 glad I found that out.
Plus? The beer totally tastes the same.
- Eri, the girl who met me on the train (an 18-year-old who just graduated high school), is a sweetheart and I love her, but I wish she'd realize that I can do things like buy my own train ticket and put it in the machine.
- Aki is def. my favorite Kyotoruggergirl. This is largely because she's the one person who's had actual conversations with (she slogs through my terrible Japanese to discuss things like what kind of jobs she's done and how I feel about sports).
- Kumiko (34-year-old), who I just met today, is awesome, though I think she thinks of me as just another kid to take care of. Her kids (Mira [girl, 8] and Kaito [boy, 10]) are even awesomer. Mira especially spent the day trying to get me to understand her 8-year-old Japanese and taking pictures of me and marveling at my blue eyes and blond hair.
- When they say don't make eye contact with the monkeys? DON'T MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH THE MONKEYS. They will try to prove their dominance and chase you down and you will get teased about it for the rest of the day.
- Kitsune soba (fox soba, or soba with fried tofu in it) is delicious.
- It is apparently impressive that I not only know how to use chopsticks, but know to use the back end of them to pick food off of communal plates.
- Whichever Japanese soap opera was on the minivan TV while we drove all over whoknowswhere was HILARIOUS.
- Somehow I ended up in some hospital that was possibly halfway to Osaka to say hi to someone (I assume a rugger) with a leg wrapped and immobilized to the thigh. I also found out I apparently have high blood pressure, which has never been the case before.
- Fuku (pufferfish) can be poisonous if not prepared right. So if I drop dead in the next few hours, you can blame me breaking my vegetarianism to eat fuku just to have a story to tell.
- Sitting on tatami mats around low tables while Yuka's parents bring dish after dish of strange Japanese dishes and everyone is talking loudly in a language you barely understand and someone's kid is taking a million pictures of you because you look so damn funny and every so often the whole table tries to ask you a question in Japanese and draws on all their synonyms and body language and you end up with an 8 year old curled in your arms as she writes in your "memo" book while a 20-year-old sports addict corrects her kanji - somehow, it feels similar to bumming around a student rental at 6 pm on a Saturday. I guess rugger family is international, and I am +10 glad I found that out.
Plus? The beer totally tastes the same.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
PRU Rugby All Stars '06
Today was one of the best rugby days of my life.
It wasn't quite as good as the day I played a game and a half after sitting on the sidelines with a broken wrist for a season... but it was DAMN close.
The day started off badly, when I either set no alarm or slept through it - anyways, Keen called me and was like, "Hey, we're here to pick you up!" and I was actually still asleep. BAD.
But we got to the pitch in Baltimore more or less on time, and everyone kit up for the MARFU All-Stars tournament consolation match: PRU Red vs. PRU Blue.
I was playing on the Red team which, of course, kicked ASS. Seriously, though, as a team we basically fixed all the problems we'd had the day before, and then fixed all the mistakes we were making during the game as well. Our scrums were amazing, our backs ran some terrific loops and switches, our defense was excellent, our rucks were hard and quick - it was a great game.
Not that the Blue team was doing shoddily at all - we weren't getting anywhere with our mauls, and we spent a lot of time inside their 22 with them holding us off - several times getting the ball and kicking it back across the 50 - Petrides did lots of good things on the Blue team. Also, neither team lost their mind up near the try zone, which is... well, very different from AU.
Personally, it was one of the best games I've ever played. Maybe because between waking up late and playing our own team, I wasn't thinking too much (something that always messes me up), but I was so proud of what I did in those 80 minutes. I even did okay with the captaining stuff - most of the time I looked to other people to try to figure out what to do, and Mel (the backs' coach) had to point out that I should probably stop my 8man picks near the try zone because they weren't working, but in the second half I decided to switch to Krysi throwing the lineouts instead of the hooker, and ended up doing (and calling) every offensive jump myself, and it was great to see how the choices I made change the effect of our play.
I love rugby. I love playing it, I love spending time with the girls who play it, and I don't know what I'll do with myself until next season starts.
It wasn't quite as good as the day I played a game and a half after sitting on the sidelines with a broken wrist for a season... but it was DAMN close.
The day started off badly, when I either set no alarm or slept through it - anyways, Keen called me and was like, "Hey, we're here to pick you up!" and I was actually still asleep. BAD.
But we got to the pitch in Baltimore more or less on time, and everyone kit up for the MARFU All-Stars tournament consolation match: PRU Red vs. PRU Blue.
I was playing on the Red team which, of course, kicked ASS. Seriously, though, as a team we basically fixed all the problems we'd had the day before, and then fixed all the mistakes we were making during the game as well. Our scrums were amazing, our backs ran some terrific loops and switches, our defense was excellent, our rucks were hard and quick - it was a great game.
Not that the Blue team was doing shoddily at all - we weren't getting anywhere with our mauls, and we spent a lot of time inside their 22 with them holding us off - several times getting the ball and kicking it back across the 50 - Petrides did lots of good things on the Blue team. Also, neither team lost their mind up near the try zone, which is... well, very different from AU.
Personally, it was one of the best games I've ever played. Maybe because between waking up late and playing our own team, I wasn't thinking too much (something that always messes me up), but I was so proud of what I did in those 80 minutes. I even did okay with the captaining stuff - most of the time I looked to other people to try to figure out what to do, and Mel (the backs' coach) had to point out that I should probably stop my 8man picks near the try zone because they weren't working, but in the second half I decided to switch to Krysi throwing the lineouts instead of the hooker, and ended up doing (and calling) every offensive jump myself, and it was great to see how the choices I made change the effect of our play.
I love rugby. I love playing it, I love spending time with the girls who play it, and I don't know what I'll do with myself until next season starts.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Who's big rugger on campus?
So our campus newspaper wrote up our home game... and check out the picture they used!!!!
A copy of the article and photo:
Media Credit: JACOB GOODMAN/The Eagle
The AU women's rugby team finished the season with a 3-5 record.
Women's rugby has rough-and-tumble 2006 season
Jessica Lee
Issue date: 11/16/06 Section: Sports
American University's women's rugby team had a losing season (3-5), but senior captain Colleen McHugh said this year wasn't a disappointment.
"I think this was an important building season," McHugh said. "A lot of young players gained experience, we got a group of great new players and we learned what skills we need to focus on for the playoffs in the spring."
McHugh said the women have built on their previous talent.
"The improvement from last season is incredible. Every girl on the team has improved her ball handling, tackling, field awareness," she said. "I've been really impressed with how much every player has stepped up their game individually and also as a team."
This club team is more than just a team. According to McHugh, the women on the team like to say that AU women's rugby is family.
"It's great to be part of a team with teammates who support you on and off the pitch. We are a close team and know we can all count on each other for anything," she said. "The team gets along really well and that's because we all have a lot of respect and care for each other."
McHugh said a lot of strong players graduated last year, leaving a very young team behind.
"It's been a tough season with people shifting positions and learning new positions; the dynamic of the team is very changed from last year," she said. "We did a great job recruiting a huge group of rookies who look really promising and are learning the game quickly."
Senior Kellie Cavalier, the other team captain, said she agreed.
"We have a great bunch of rookies who really added to the team and we have continued developing as a team," said Cavalier.
However, despite how easily the young team clicked, there were still problems with how well the women communicated on the field at the beginning of the season.
"With so many young players the team hasn't been playing together long enough to know how to play with one another," McHugh said. "But we've sorted it out, and the team improved a lot by the end of the season."
Despite some of the re-adjusting of the team, the women played some really great games this season, but they also had some tough losses, McHugh said. One of these losses was No. 2 Penn State. Nonetheless, McHugh said the women played to their potential.
"This year we played the best I've ever seen AU play against Penn State. While we lost the game, we made Penn State work for their win," McHugh said. "I think this game showed the team what we can do when we play our best."
"The [team] has begun to realize that we are unstoppable if we play together and play hard," Cavalier said.
A copy of the article and photo:
Media Credit: JACOB GOODMAN/The Eagle
The AU women's rugby team finished the season with a 3-5 record.
Women's rugby has rough-and-tumble 2006 season
Jessica Lee
Issue date: 11/16/06 Section: Sports
American University's women's rugby team had a losing season (3-5), but senior captain Colleen McHugh said this year wasn't a disappointment.
"I think this was an important building season," McHugh said. "A lot of young players gained experience, we got a group of great new players and we learned what skills we need to focus on for the playoffs in the spring."
McHugh said the women have built on their previous talent.
"The improvement from last season is incredible. Every girl on the team has improved her ball handling, tackling, field awareness," she said. "I've been really impressed with how much every player has stepped up their game individually and also as a team."
This club team is more than just a team. According to McHugh, the women on the team like to say that AU women's rugby is family.
"It's great to be part of a team with teammates who support you on and off the pitch. We are a close team and know we can all count on each other for anything," she said. "The team gets along really well and that's because we all have a lot of respect and care for each other."
McHugh said a lot of strong players graduated last year, leaving a very young team behind.
"It's been a tough season with people shifting positions and learning new positions; the dynamic of the team is very changed from last year," she said. "We did a great job recruiting a huge group of rookies who look really promising and are learning the game quickly."
Senior Kellie Cavalier, the other team captain, said she agreed.
"We have a great bunch of rookies who really added to the team and we have continued developing as a team," said Cavalier.
However, despite how easily the young team clicked, there were still problems with how well the women communicated on the field at the beginning of the season.
"With so many young players the team hasn't been playing together long enough to know how to play with one another," McHugh said. "But we've sorted it out, and the team improved a lot by the end of the season."
Despite some of the re-adjusting of the team, the women played some really great games this season, but they also had some tough losses, McHugh said. One of these losses was No. 2 Penn State. Nonetheless, McHugh said the women played to their potential.
"This year we played the best I've ever seen AU play against Penn State. While we lost the game, we made Penn State work for their win," McHugh said. "I think this game showed the team what we can do when we play our best."
"The [team] has begun to realize that we are unstoppable if we play together and play hard," Cavalier said.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
On Captaincy
I'm filling out the medical form for PRUs, and there's a few differences from the average health form. For example, after the typical "Are you currently taking any Prescriptions or Non-Prescription Medications?" questions, there's spaces specifically for anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, and pain medicaiton.
Rugby people are SO good to their bodies....
On a somewhat related note, I'm SO excited for this weekend. Playing rugby! In Baltimore! With a whole bunch of other ruggers, most of whom I haven't met before! What could be better?
I'm probably going to be 8ing, considering that's what I did during our scrimmage practice on Sunday (our cold, wet, muddy, miserable practice, which I wore shorts and socks to, which prompted my parents - who drove me from the Bungalow to campus - to rush-order me a pair of underarmour spandex pants. Go Mom and Dad!)
Considering Gabe had me captain my team both at the practice and the last tryouts, the other thing I might be doing next weekend is act as the on-pitch captain. I don't know why he had me captain - my personal guess is that with my hair, I'm easy to recognize and remember, which is an advantage in a select side team whose players don't know each other well - but it means that people tend to look to me to figure out what's going on.
Knowing what's going on is not my forte. To put it mildly.
I'm just to the point where I can kinda sort figure out where it's strategically best to go up in a line-out, and whether it's better to pass the ball off the top of the lineout or bring it down for a maul. But I have no idea which person should be jumping when (the PRU team runs line-outs where the jumper runs to the place they'll jump from). I'm a good jumper, but I don't know whether I'm better or worse than the other two jumpers, and when one of us should jump as opposed to the other.
Similiarly, the PRU team calls plays off of scrums (8man or scrumhalf pick). Which means I - even if I'm just an 8man, and not a captain - should probably be calling stuff. At some point. When, I'm not sure.
The thing is, even when I've had to call or do these things before, I've depended largely on Krysi or Sheri or whoever to tell me what I'm supposed to call, and relied on people knowing that I don't really know what's going on. The PRU girls don't really know me, and mostly likely assume that if I'm captain I'll know what to do.
I feel kind of silly worrying about this, also. Like it's egotistical to complain about being a captain, or even to assume I will be a captain. Or like it's in bad taste to even talk about Things I Am Good At. Except - seriously, you have to believe me - I have had a rock-solid self-image of me being Bad At Sports for many years now. I am slowly chipping away at that self-image, but I'm barely to "Okay, so I guess I'm not too bad at rugby, I mean, I'll admit I'm one of the top 15 on a team of 40 or so, but I'm still a total klutz and I don't know what's going on and that amazing 8man pick on Saturday that led to Sheri scoring a try was really Sheri's doing, I mean she told me to pick and I did, it's not like I can really play that well or anything." Believing that I'm one of the top 2 out of 44 select-side ruggers? HA.
Hence my theory that Gabe picked me as captain because my hair is pink.
Rugby people are SO good to their bodies....
On a somewhat related note, I'm SO excited for this weekend. Playing rugby! In Baltimore! With a whole bunch of other ruggers, most of whom I haven't met before! What could be better?
I'm probably going to be 8ing, considering that's what I did during our scrimmage practice on Sunday (our cold, wet, muddy, miserable practice, which I wore shorts and socks to, which prompted my parents - who drove me from the Bungalow to campus - to rush-order me a pair of underarmour spandex pants. Go Mom and Dad!)
Considering Gabe had me captain my team both at the practice and the last tryouts, the other thing I might be doing next weekend is act as the on-pitch captain. I don't know why he had me captain - my personal guess is that with my hair, I'm easy to recognize and remember, which is an advantage in a select side team whose players don't know each other well - but it means that people tend to look to me to figure out what's going on.
Knowing what's going on is not my forte. To put it mildly.
I'm just to the point where I can kinda sort figure out where it's strategically best to go up in a line-out, and whether it's better to pass the ball off the top of the lineout or bring it down for a maul. But I have no idea which person should be jumping when (the PRU team runs line-outs where the jumper runs to the place they'll jump from). I'm a good jumper, but I don't know whether I'm better or worse than the other two jumpers, and when one of us should jump as opposed to the other.
Similiarly, the PRU team calls plays off of scrums (8man or scrumhalf pick). Which means I - even if I'm just an 8man, and not a captain - should probably be calling stuff. At some point. When, I'm not sure.
The thing is, even when I've had to call or do these things before, I've depended largely on Krysi or Sheri or whoever to tell me what I'm supposed to call, and relied on people knowing that I don't really know what's going on. The PRU girls don't really know me, and mostly likely assume that if I'm captain I'll know what to do.
I feel kind of silly worrying about this, also. Like it's egotistical to complain about being a captain, or even to assume I will be a captain. Or like it's in bad taste to even talk about Things I Am Good At. Except - seriously, you have to believe me - I have had a rock-solid self-image of me being Bad At Sports for many years now. I am slowly chipping away at that self-image, but I'm barely to "Okay, so I guess I'm not too bad at rugby, I mean, I'll admit I'm one of the top 15 on a team of 40 or so, but I'm still a total klutz and I don't know what's going on and that amazing 8man pick on Saturday that led to Sheri scoring a try was really Sheri's doing, I mean she told me to pick and I did, it's not like I can really play that well or anything." Believing that I'm one of the top 2 out of 44 select-side ruggers? HA.
Hence my theory that Gabe picked me as captain because my hair is pink.
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