Adopt-a-Gaijin Walkathon

The family decided that I needed to go on an organized walk. They checked in the paper and found one. Today I went with the walking club from 9am to 3pm. We hit about three different parks in Yokosuka, for about 13km and then we all went our separate ways. I was the only gaijin and I was the only person uner 50 years old. But these old people could really move. The pace was quick and steady. In all there were over 100 people on the walk. One man started up a conversation with me from the beginning. Sofue Marabu was the name on his business card. His American travels are limited to excursions to Hawaii. As the walk started, a lady named Takayo kidnapped me. She adopted me for the day. During bathroom breaks, old people would wander over to say (in English) ,"How do you like Japan?" and "Is the walking fun?"

Picture by Sofue Marabu.

I thought some of these people were waiting for a bus. In reality, they all signed up for the walk. Before we did our group warm up exercises, they asked me to come to the front and introduced me. My introduction was met with clapping and bows!

About 2/3 of the trail was off the road and in tree-lined paths. The bamboo groves were cool.

The guy with the megaphone spoke a little English. His job was to tell people when to take a break and what time we'd be moving on, etc. His English was just good enough to tell me what time we were leaving. At different times, people would sneak up on my side and demonstrate their English skills.

Low-fat view from the top of the Plum Orchard Park.

Regular view

Takayo-san took this picture of me. I tried to get a picturd of her but she politefully refused. She's not maried and lives in Tokyo with her 93 yearold mother. She lived in Nebraska for two years working on the Winnebago reservation so her English was pretty good. I'm wondering if on these types of events if somebody always adopts the token white boy. They might even take turns.

The observation deck at the top of the plum orchard

Here is a view of the group leaders. I felt like part of a demonstration. They walked with the flag of their club. Here,they were just inviting everyone back in a couple of days for a different hike. One old man, walked up to me and said "If you enjoy this walking, please join us again." Everyone ws really nice.

Here's a view of what the train station map looks like. At first, the only thing it resembled was a wall out of the engineering room from Star Trek. But I can finally use (all alone) this to decide what train I want to take home.

After leaving the train station, I decided what's thiry more minutes of walking? I shrugged and began the walk home. In Japan, I don't know street names. Some streets don't even have a name. I have to be creative and find landmarks. For example, the above sign always tells me which way to go. He's pointing home. It's a very low-tech navigation system.