Cricket. In Japan.

Yes, you read correctly. Last weekend (well, the one 8 days ago now) I went up to Morioka to play cricket! The Morioka cricket club is run by two people, Dean and Jamie I think, who are surprisingly from ... America!
I was glad to get a bit of exercise, and there were plenty of people around keen to give it a go. Some were Japanese, and there were guys from America, Tanazania and Denmark who had never played before in their life either. So it was a bit of a clinic.
There were also a collection of Brits, Australians, one guy from Bangladesh and one from Nepal who had all played cricket before - some could bowl really fast. Luckily we used a plastic ball not a leather one, as there were no pads!
The location was Kitakami Park in Morioka, and the weather turned out to be really nice despite the forecast. The only real downside was the next day at school I was walking like a cripple. I decided this just proves that exercise IS bad for you. Thanks to all involved for a wonderful day. It just goes to show that people have all sorts of interests wherever you are in the world! Now if I can only find the Japanese Doctor Who fan club!

that's mean throwing the ball to the keeper. I think that's what I was doing at least.

The bowler here was a naturally gifted sportswoman. She batted well too stayed in for a long time. First time she'd played the sport.