Japanese Clubs

Today I went out to join the soccer club, this proved to be interesting for several reasons. First I should point out that clubs are completely run by students here in Japan, that includes sports teams at schools as well. The first setback was that soccer club was supposed to start at 4:30pm, that did not happen. So those of us who wanted to join borrowed a ball from the office and went out on the field to play anyway, since the bus would not be there until a little after 6pm. The 6 of us played for a little over an hour when members from the soccer club showed up and took two goals off the field for use in the gym (apparently they play inside, which means I need a new pair of shoes for "indoors"). Some of our group went to talk to them, however these were people that had a limited understanding of the Japanese language. What I heard back was that we were told me could not play or join today because they had a game. Some of the others were a little offended by this because it seemed as if we were being shut out and someone commented that when they tried to join the basketball club they only got to sit and keep score. I was still not deterred by this, it seemed strange, but I know things are different in Japan and I was willing to wait it out. After they had set up three members of the club came out to play with us briefly on the field; they still had about fifteen minutes until their game. It was fun and things seemed to go well. It will be interesting to see what happens on Thursday. I plan to attend for about a month before making a final decision. I want to understand the culture behind clubs though and this is my best chance to do so as well as make some Japanese friends.