Day 34: 2006 Beatrice Cup

This morning Yuko and her mother made a special breakfast: pancakes!! I love Japanese food, but I also love pancakes. Today was a really fun day. Yuko put together a lunch for me and gave me a couple bottles of water for the day. I wanted to make sure I had a lot of liquids to help me survive this hot day outside, so I also had them stop at a convenience store where I bought a large bottle of Aquarius. The Hotta's dropped me off at the tennis courts near Notre Dame, and that is how it all began. The Pieczulewski's signed me up for the men's doubles and the mixed doubles competitions. Each of us drew cards to decide who our partners would be. I was told before the playing started that I had drawn some good partners.

Everyone at the tournament got together for a group picture before starting the games. The forecast looked like rain for today, but it was actually sunny, really hot, and humid. For the men's doubles I was paired up with a guy named Kim. He was a pretty good player, but so were the two guys we were playing. I was definitely the weakest player out there, but is was my first match of the day. We lost the match 6 games to 2. The picture here shows the expression that was on my face many times throughout the day...frustration. Luckily, there was a competition for the consolation, so we had one more match to play together. This time Kim and I actually played Charles Pieczulewski and his partner, a funny old man who kept making faces at me. I played pretty well during the match, but I still made my share of mistakes. We ended up leading five games to three and then I closed out the match for a 6-3 win! It was awesome to win a match.

For lunch I joined the families under the shade of a large tree at the edge of the park. It was nice to be out of the sun. Unfortunately the ants thought it was a nice place as well. The Hotta showed up after lunch to watch me play tennis. They also brought me more water, which I needed desperately. My next match was in the mixed doubles category. My partner had already finished winning the women's singles, so I thought we had a good chance as long as I didn't blow it. Our first match we played a good couple. I think I played really well actually. I am naturally a competitive person, so it was very enjoyable for me when I was playing well. My partner and I won the first match six games to one! That was a good confidence booster in itself. The next pair we played included my old partner, Kim. It seems that Kim had warmed up his game throughout the day as well; He and his partner beat us six games to two. The games we did win were convincing, but we just didn't win enough of them.

Sachiko Pieczulewski and her partner we in the final match against Kim and his partner, who had just beaten us. The final match was a nail-biter, ending with a score of six games to five! I am glad I wasn't in the final match because both of those pairs really played well. I was also looking forward to getting out of the sun. Kim and his partner won the mixed doubles. I got a picture with each of my partners, and then the Pieczulewski's surprised me with some great gifts: calligraphy of my name that Sachiko made, and a really cool hanging tapestry for displaying the calligraphy. It will look nice hanging up at my house.

I took a shower right when I got back to the Hotta's, and my sunburn from today really became evident. For dinner we had fried pork and chicken, which is really delicious with the sauce they use. Every meal is so nice when I am with such great families. Before I was even done with my meal Junpei said, "Ryan. Second floor. Star Wars DVD?" Now I have gotten used to telling him, "Okay, but after I finish my beer." This way I at least have some control over when I go upstairs with him; He watches anxiously and his parents just laugh.