Like An Arrow

I'm continuing the diary for another few days just to show you all what my life was actually like back then. Sure seems like I didn't want a girlfriend - or at least the one I had...
AJ


Sunday, November 11, 1990

Today, we’re taking in a kyudo (Japanese archery) competition.

I’m up at 6:15AM, and miracle of miracles, Ashley is over by 7AM. Kanemaru-san arrives at my door at 7:05AM – exactly on time to drive us to the city of Oyama (Oyama-shi), in the southern part of the Province of Tochigi (Tochigi-ken).
In his van waiting for us are six very sleepy school students – girls – from Kuroiso Chu Gakko (Kuroiso Junior High School) in the northern city of Kuroiso (Kurosio-shi) where I had my ‘date’ with Kaoru yesterday evening, and two from Dai Go Ko (aka Ohtawra Girls Senior High School).
The two-hour trip is long and cramped in Kanemaru-san’s van. I sit up front in the middle, next to Kanemaru (right-hand drive in Japan!) and have the rearview mirror staring me in the face. It’s not my pretty visage I get to stare at, it’s Kanemaru’s face. Two hours.
Ashley sits to my left and is quiet. Probably thinking up reasons why she hates me today.
Arriving in Oyama, we watch a game where the junior high participants try to hit a target 60 feet away that has six pie shaped divisions, and a central bulls-eye to gain the most points from three shots. The bulls-eye is worth 10 points, with the pies worth from clockwise: three-seven-five-three-five-seven.
The real competition where the high school shooters try to get as close to the bulls-eye as possible is kind of boring as no one comes close—in fact, only two or three managed to hit the target at all, causing Kanemaru-san to lament that all of the girls in competition have a very bad form. He said that in English. I’m so proud of him.
Ashley and I leave the competition at 10:30AM for brunch at Mosburger – a Japanese hamburger joint that has the best burgers ever.
When we get back to the competition, I snap at Ashley. It may have been the events of last night played heavily on my mind combined with her quiet, aloof demeanor this morning, but I flipped out on her wondering why all she can ever talk about is Austria (where she lived for a year), SMU (Southern Methodist University) where she went for three years, and about her cat, Samson.
I also said she’s only called me ‘Andrew’ once, as she usually just calls me ‘man’. For the rest of the day, I notice she calls me Andrew – often. I’m still pissed off from last night, and I know I’m going to be for a long time.
The competition lasts from 9:30AM to 3:30PM, and despite my snapping, Ashley and I head back to Mosburger for lunch – Kanemaru and the girls were smart enough to bring their own bento box lunches.
We leave for home almost exactly at 3:30 and arrive home almost exactly at 5:30PM. Every girl (Ashley too), is asleep. Kanemaru and I are the only ones awake, which is good because one of us needed to make sure Kanemaru-san didn’t doze off at the wheel.
I had apologized to Ashley earlier, but I knew I didn’t really mean it. I made up some crap about my back spasms clouding my better judgment. Although I didn’t really have spasm, my back did hurt—in fact I have been wearing a Velcro back strap around my lower back since I arrived. I think the futon on the ground is making a back destroyed by soccer and weights even worse.
Ashley leaves my place as soon as we arrive, wanting to call our friend Naoko to see when she’ll be arriving tomorrow to take us on a trip to a castle somewhere. As you can see, I have no clue WHERE exactly I’m going… I’m kinda just along for the ride.
Ashley keeps calling me up to tell me that she hasn’t been able to get through to Naoko – and that she’s going to sleep now - but Naoko does call me at 9:30PM to tell me that she’ll be over to pick us up at 8:30AM tomorrow.
I don’t bother to call Ashley up. She’s asleep. So why wake her up?
I call Tim Mould in Kuroiso and ask him how his first month in Japan has been (Tim arrived two months late due to some illness). I invite him over for dinner on Tuesday.
I do some ironing, finishing at 12:30AM, and crash soon after.

Somewhere, arrows are flying,
Andrew Joseph