Tuesday 5/11: Archery

Today was another gray, rainy day here in Kanazawa. This place always gets a lot of rain apparently, and the rainy season isnt even til June. Anyhow, Tuesday was awesome because we got to do archery. The range was outside, with a bit of an overhang for the archers, so we got to shoot in the range which was even cooler. The bows you use in japanese archery (kyudo) are huge- about 7 feet tall i think. You also push on both the bow and the string when youre drawing back, while in Western archery you just pull the string back. The arrows we used were the cheap ones with synthetic feathers i think, but the more expensive ones have swan or eagle feathers. I didnt do that well at archery because such activities require things like skill and arm strength, but I wish they had archery at college so I could practice.

I have noticed a trend on Japanese TV. When, on game shows, or anything really, when someone is criticized even a little, the contestant promptly starts sobbing and apologizing. This leads me to think that Japanese people generally do not do well with any kind of rejection or failure. Its okay if you dont exceed at everything in life, I promise.