Warped reality part 3.02
"" denotes English speech
<> denotes Japanese speech
[ ] denotes thoughts
The Next Afternoon.
Conrad was breathing hard. As might be expected, his first day
of kendo was mainly to find out what kind of shape he was in and to test
his natural ability. As Conrad was finding out the hard way, compared to
the other students his natural ability was very small.
< You are too slow and clumsy>, railed his sensei. < Come back
when you can repeat this kata perfectly five times in five minutes.> With
that Con was lead to the locker room by another student, who also
happened to be another American.
"Don't worry about it too much," Jeff said, "Sensei is always hard
on beginners and when he sees a gaigin he goes doubly hard on them. My
name is Jeff, I'm from Wisconsin originally. What's your name?"
"Conrad Borsting, I'm originally from Minnesota. I just got here
but I think that I am going to be spending the summer here. What about
you?" Conrad replied.
"Well I come here every summer, it gets pretty boring around
here sometimes though. If you would like help learning your kata's I
would be glad to help out. It wont actually take that long to learn, its
more of a test of determination than skill, those who don't come back
just don't have the drive that it takes to get good at the art."
"That would be great. I can use all of the help that I can get"
Con said. "There are not that many people around here that I can talk
to my only friends here are Ami, Lita, Mina and now you."
"Woah, you know Lita?" and incredulous Jeff responded.
"Watch out for her man, she is one crazy lady. I was going out with
her a while back but it just got scary at how intense she was. She takes
everything so seriously, would you believe that she wanted to get married
after we had been going out for THREE WEEKS, and then when I said no
and broke up with her she almost took my head off. Anyway just be
careful around her."
"Thanks for the advice I will. If you are not busy from three to
five it would be a perfect time for me to practice kendo with you." said Con.
"Sure three to five would be just fine. I don't get to talk to many
people from home and sometimes get a bit lonely. You are the first
American that I have met that plans to spend more that a few weeks here.
I'm looking forward to getting to know you better over this summer. I
gotta go back to class now but I'll see you later." Jeff said as he got up and
ran back into the training hall to continue learning with the other students.
Conrad practiced the kata that his sensei had given him to learn for
a half hour, memorizing how it was supposed to be done so that he would
not learn it incorrectly. He then went to the showers to clean himself up for
his upcoming study session with Ami. Walking back to Juuban highschool
he wondered about what Jeff had told him. [ Is Lita really that guy crazy?
Life is getting strange I cant keep what I know about in anime separate from
what people are like here. I just wish that I had someone that I could talk to
about all of this and see if I am going mad.]
< Hi Con!>, called out Ami as she came towards him from across
the courtyard. < How was your first day at the kendo club?>
"It was OK, I met a nice American named Jeff who offered to
help practice kendo with me so that I would be allowed to join the rest
of the class. You see the sensei kicks all of the new students out until
they learn their first kata perfectly." Con said.
"Really, hm where have I heard that name before? Oh yes he
was the one that Lita proposed to a few weeks ago. I thought he was
going to have a heart attack. And when he said no Lita almost did him
in herself. I think that the reason that she took the rejection so hard was
the fact that he was the first boyfriend that she had been able to keep for
more than one week straight." < Well don't forget to practice your
Japanese, you definitely do not want to fail your upcoming test.> she
lectured < I think that it is about time that you got back to studying.>
"Remember the test if from Japanese to English so all you really need
to worry about is understanding the questions, once you can do that
answering them should be easy enough."
Conrads week seemed to fly after that. Studying Japanese from
8 to 12. A short break for lunch, participation in Aim's English class.
Then an hour of practicing kendo before Jeff showed up to spar and help
him practice. After 3 straight hours of kendo practice a mad race to get
washed up and meet Ami for two more hours of being tutored in Japanese.
The three days flowed quickly together as his free time seemed to evaporate
before his very eyes. At night he was so tired that he didn't even have time
to read a book before he would fall into a deep sleep.
Tuesday Morning at the American Embassy
Conrad woke up early at 6:00 as was his habit, however as he was
also still tired from his hectic schedule he wasn't out of bed until 7:00 wich
was another habit. When he arrived in the Embassy cafeteria he was so
nervous about the upcoming exam that he couldn't eat anything, not even
the specially imported American cereals that were supposed to make people
feel more at home.
< Are you ready for your test?> Ami asked him as they waited
together for the bus. < You really don't have anything to worry about.
You hardly ever need me to translate for you anymore and with all of the
studying we have done you will do just fine.>
< I hope your right, I'm just not looking forward to this at all.>
he told her as they got on the bus.
They rode in complete silence. Conrad sat worrying about how
he would do while Ami sat trying to think of some way to cheer him up.
As they approached the testing room Ami tried one more time.
< Don't worry about it, this test is only three hours long. It will be a piece
of cake with all of the studying that you have done in the last week.> Ami
said as she tried to reassure him. With a cheerful < Good luck> she was
gone, off to her first period history class leaving Con to face the impending
test alone.
After a three hour test and a nerve racking hour waiting to find out
how he had done Conrad was worn out when Ami arrived to learn the news.
< Well how did you do?> she asked.
< Well, um , I aced every part of it except grammar.> he replied
sheepishly.
< That's OK you are new to this and its only to be expected that
you would have some trouble with our grammar and spelling.> she told
him reassuringly.
< No, its not the Japanese grammar that I had trouble with its the
English that I had trouble with. I'm just not very good identifying nouns
and pronouns in English.> he said quite a bit embarrassed at this point.
Ami's response was interrupted by the return of the English teacher.
< you did a good job teaching him Ami. Your grade for this quarter
averages out to be an A.> turning to Con he continued, < I know that if
you keep working this hard you will be able to speak fluently in just a few
more months. Good luck and enjoy the rest of your vacation.> With that
he walked off.
< Thanks allot Ami, I never could have done so well without you.
But if you could excuse me I have to go take one more test today. I am
going to try to get back into regular kendo classes and I want a chance to
go though the kata a few more times just to get it absolutely right. >
< Good for you > Ami said, < I hope that you succeed there as
well.> With that she was also off, returning to the classes that she had
been allowed to skip for the past week. Upon returning to the first one
she was appalled that she was only one week ahead. With grim
determination she set out to catch up with her personal homework schedule.
Now that the time for his test had come Conrad was very worried.
He paced back and forth outside of the practice room in the Dojo. [ what if
I do it wrong, and in front of all those people? will they let me back into
class?]
"Relax Con, everything will be fine, you could do that kata
blindfolded if you had to." Jeff said, suddenly laughing for no reason.
"Its time for you to go in now so look sharp and quit worrying about it."
All his sensei said as he entered the room was < Start!>, causing
his anxiety to peak. Once he began the kata however the intense
concentration required soon dissipated his anxiety and helped him
relax and he lost himself in the familiar calming motions. [ That want
so hard, I guess that I didn't have so much to worry about after all.]
< Now with a blind fold.> was all that the sensei said in response
to Conrads happy smile.
Looking over Con saw Jeff being unable to suppress a broad grin
at his friends discomfiture. [ I am really going to get him for not warning
me about this.] Conrad thought as he tied the blindfold over his eyes.
After one false start and another fall he succeeded in repeating the kata
five times without a mistake.
< Now you are ready to learn.> said his sensei. With that he
was given a spot in the rear of the class and things returned to normal.
The only difference from the first day being that now Conrad understood
what was going on and was able to participate in the drills and practice bouts.
End part three
Kelly Conrad Davies Schultz
kellys1@randolph.spa.edu but only till now today is the end
Shade and sweet water.
Skywise
P.S. read Sailor Moon V and the Circe Prodject
and Bubblegum Zone and Tokyo Babylon
and Knights End and Sailor Moon Refugees
and Sailor Moon M and The Wheel of Time
and Honor Harrington and Sour Times