May and I were told to meet everyone at the hospital at 12 noon on Saturday and that we would be leaving around one. We were some of the first people to arrive, but by 12:30 all 64 of the other Kumamoto-Goers had also shown up. May and I had been designated to travel on the second bus (of 2) with the baseball and volleyball teams. You have to take into account then, that everything I am about to describe may have been unique to the second bus but I doubt it. I doubt everyone on the first bus was just sitting there reading books while all those on the second... oh, boy. There was lots of beer – as I said, they started that at around ten to one in the afternoon – then they moved onto the wine, and with this, they started the karaoke. It was great, and very funny watching all these people I know as nurses, doctors, surgeons(!) getting tipsy on a coach. Even though May and I weren't drinking, we really soaked up the good atmosphere. It was kind of difficult not to. The Japanese have been stereotyped as scrupulous workers, but I can testify that they are also party maniacs!
The one thing that best sums up the journey I think, is when one of the senior members of staff (who was the main organizer of the trip) stood up and yelled above all the commotion to say that we wouldn't be making any more stops unless someone needed to use the toilet. Then she asked if anyone needed to go and half the bus eagerly raised their hands, shouting, "Me!" in unison. It was such an odd, amusing moment. It felt just like being on a school trip: thirty kids on a bus getting over-excited and needing to use the bathroom every hour.
We arrived in Kumamoto at about 4:30 and it took us another 30 minutes to get to the hotel. We would be staying at the Toyoko Inn and May and I were very pleased to discover that everyone would have their own individual room. We weren't worried about the two of us sharing, but the prospect of sharing with one or more drunk Japanese girls didn't really appeal to us non-drinkers, who just wanted a good nights' sleep. The rooms were small but very nice indeed. We didn't get to spend much time in them though; at 5:30 all of us left and made our way to the ANA Hotel for the opening ceremony, along with all the other teams from around Kyushu.
The opening ceremony was great. There was lots of food, lots of alcohol (and a very happy atmosphere for the sober people to enjoy) and each hospital team did a little performance for the total 850 spectators. There was a recurrent theme in most of these performances: semi-nudity. It was surprising how willing all these committed health care professionals were to make fools of themselves. My hospitals' performance consisted of a well-built pharmacist in a short dress and pink wig, dancing and miming to music with the volleyball team dancing in the background. I laughed the whole way through. I will never look at that pharmacist in the same way ever again.
There are two other Gappers currently on placement in Kyushu, Lucy and Lee-Anna, who are living in Kumamoto, as it happens. We met up with them at the opening ceremony and got to compare notes on our placements and life in Japan in general. We hadn't seen them since we were in Tokyo together back in September. They actually performed in their hospital's dance and were superb. They didn't get naked though, just for the record.
The ceremony wrapped up around 9pm. We headed back to the Toyoko Inn and I went straight to bed, having set my alarm for 5:40. I had to be up so early on Sunday because at 6am everyone was to eat a bento breakfast in their rooms (although I ate mine with May in hers). We all got back on the buses then made our way to the sports complex. It was only then that I remembered, oh yeah we're here for a sports event. (With all the drinking and dancing going on around me I had forgotten). This was an annual sports competition between all the Red Cross hospitals in Kyushu, of which there are many. There are two in Nagasaki alone, mine being the Nagasaki Genbaku and the other being Isahaya. On arrival, May and I tagged on to our relay marathon team because we thought they were heading somewhere where everyone was meeting but they turned out to be walking over the marathon route. We didn't mind though; It was really cold so all the walking kept us warm. We had a good time just chatting with them too. Here they are:
The marathon was due to start at 1pm so the team decided to watch some softball until then. Softball is like baseball, but the balls are bigger and yes, a little softer. Also, girls can play. I think that's the only difference between the two. Isahaya were playing first, so the Genbaku team were all there cheering on their friends. I had never watched a softball game before but I really enjoyed it. It helped having Imamurasan, one of the marathon team (far right in the above photo), there to explain the rules to us. Isahaya won 17 to 8. May thinks it was her cheering that made them win, and I think maybe she is right. You should have seen her, she was yelling like a madwoman. It was her first softball game too but she took to it like a duck to water.
Genbaku weren't playing softball until a little later so May and I had a wonder around. We bumped into Lucy and Lee-Anna, who were working on the staff, and chatted with them for a while. Then we watched a little tennis and some volleyball. We caught the second half of the softball game between Nagasaki Genbaku and Kumamoto. May was cheering like crazy again but we got thrashed. We lost 22 to 0. Yeah, our softball team sucked. It was still fun to watch and we still cheered even when we were clearly going to lose the game. One of the radiologists was watching with us and he kept shouting, "Ii yo!" to our team. It means 'no problem' or 'don't worry about it'. LOL. At this point we were at 20 to 0 and this was the last innings. There's no way we can win and he's shouting, 'no problem'. Now that's a committed fan.
Everyone had bento for lunch, courtesy of the Kumamoto organizers. I can't even imagine how much 850 bento boxes costs. By then it was almost time for the marathon so May and I headed for the track, where it would start and where all the exchanges would take place. We stopped off at the volleyball courts on the way and watched Nagasaki Genbaku win their quarter-final. Woo! During the marathon May and I came up with the chant, Go Genbaku, Go! which we were very proud of but too shy to use, since we would actually be saying "Go atomic bomb, go!" which we thought may be a little insensitive. Our team did well in the marathon even without our chant, coming 12th out of over twenty.
The closing ceremony started at 3pm after all the games had finished. Nagasaki Genbaku came third in the volleyball competition, but apart from that most events were won by Kumamoto or Fukuoka - two of the largest cities in Kyushu. We finished off with Manzai, where everyone raises their hands and cheers "Manzai!" together. It is kind of like the Japanese version of The Wave, or Mexican Wave as we call it in England. Back to the bus we went, and back to Nagasaki. The return journey was less chaotic than the one on the way. Everyone was so tired. There was plenty of drinking again though :-)
It was so wonderful to see Nagasaki again. I was home! Visiting Kumamoto made me realise how beautiful Nagasaki is. It was great sleeping in my own bed again. At work the following day I was looking at the staff differently. I now know that no matter how serious they are about their jobs, they will party like their is no tomorrow if given the chance.
May trying to keep warm:
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