Hiroshima Carp

 

Last week we had our first Japanese baseball game experience! Our local team is the Hiroshima Carp and it is about a 50 minute train ride from Iwakuni and a 10 minute walk down to the Mazda Zoom Zoom stadium, which has a capacity to hold 32,000 fans. This was the last home game of the season as the Carp were slated to play the first place Chunichi Dragons (Fun fact about the Dragons: Also known as the team Tom Selleck played for in the film Mr. Baseball, the Chunichi Dragons at first glance resemble the Los Angeles Dodgers since both clubs wear similar uniforms). The Carp started their ace pitcher, who is rumored to be leaving Japan for an American team next season. He dominated most of the game striking out over 10 batters! The Carp ended up winning the game in the bottom of the 9th (we left early because some people had to work the next day :) !

We ended up sitting in the Dragons cheering section because Kirk's co-worker John is a Dragons fan. He thinks they have better cheers than the other teams. The Dragons had three "cheer leaders" that took turns each inning leading the cheers while the Dragons were up to bat. One of the other cheer leaders would beat a drum and the other would play the trumpet to the beat of the cheer. What was really neat is that most of the cheers involve English words, such as "Hit, Hit, Solid Hit". Many of the other ones had the players name in it asking him to get a sold hit. Oh, I can't forget to mention the team member waving the team flag!

 

Hot dogs and beer at a baseball game...yes, even in Japan. Most of the standard stadium food was available: hot dogs, nachos, french fries. As we walked around we also saw for sale were ramen noodles, chicken-on-a-stick, chicken nuggets and fried rice. We also walked by a Budweiser stand - funny thing - the girls manning the station started waving us over. I don't know why but I guess we look like we should want to drink Budweiser :) ! Bottles are not allowed inside the stadium, so all drinks are poured into large paper cups. The beer guys at the stadium actually have small kegs strapped to their backs to give you draft beer right at your seat! And yes, it's really expensive - 700 yen a cup (@ $9).

I didn't take this picture - but you get the idea.

The seventh inning stretch is much, much different. Everyone blows up a balloon and lets them fly up in the air and whistle down to the ground. The poor grounds crew has to go around and pick them up before the inning can start!

I didn't take this picture either - but imagine 32,000 of these flying through the air!

Here are some more pictures of our trip to leave you with...

Kirk still thinks that the "hang loose" sign is cool - it's not, even in Japan!

Moving Violation

I got a ticket. Not a parking ticket. Not a speeding ticket. A ticket for talking on the cell phone while driving.

I can't plead ignorance on the law, because it was made very clear to us during our driving class that it is illegal to talk on the phone while driving in Japan. The crazy part is that I actually followed protocol by pulling over to the side of the road, putting the car in park and turning on my hazard lights. Where I went wrong was pulling out into traffic while still on the phone...even if it was for only 15 seconds.

The story starts as I was trying to find a flower shop reccomended to me by one of Kirk's co-workers to buy her a bouquet for her birthday. It turns out that this shop is now closed and the building is being renovated. Since I could not find it and after driving around the intersection twice, I decided to call him to clarify directions. After talking for a minute or two while I was correctly pulled off the road, I decided to turn around and try to find it one last time. Unfortunately my mind went back to how I would do things back in the States, which would be to stay on the phone with him until I found it. Our conversation was cut short by the flashing lights and blarring sirens.

The whole ticketing process was very different I have to say. I was pulled over by not one, not two, but three officers. One dialed an English-speaking officer on his iPhone to translate the process to me. I was told to go down to the "Police cell" next to the bank to get my ticket. They followed me down there and as we were stopped in traffic, two officers jumped out of the car and sprinted into the office. The third followed me into the parking lot and walked with me into the building. After 20 minutes, I got issued a citation and had to walk next door to the bank to pay it, which amounted to be about a $75 ticket.

Lesson learned.