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Blake Reynolds
 
Blake Reynolds
  
 
Big in Japan - Diary #2 - Blake Reynolds

New Photo Gallery on Big in Japan Page!!!

Aug. 6, 2007

TOKYO, Japan - Follow the Utah Valley women's basketball team throughout the team's trip to Japan. This is diary #2, this time by sophomore forward Blake Reynolds.

For everything related to the Big in Japan Tour, click HERE

Konichi wa!

Greetings from Japan! So far this trip has far exceeded any expectations I ever had. We've had the opportunity to see and experience so many new things. Walking amongst the sea of black hair through the Tokyo train station towering over most the people who stare at us in awe is an experience in itself!

The people here are great always treating us with so much respect and kindness. At our first stop, Takushoku University, we stayed in the dorms. That's where we got our first taste of Japanese style bathrooms; we called them squatters (I think that's pretty self explanatory). We also got used to wearing little blue slippers rather than our street shoes around the dorms and we even had to switch over to little white slippers that said "toilet" for when going to the bathroom. Sometimes it was easy to forget when coming or going to use the proper etiquette with their clever shoe system.

While at the university we played their team, the Orange Rabbits. Their English was scarce, but they were very friendly. However, we couldn't let their smiles fool us. I've never seen so many girls run around so fast and shoot three's as well as these girls did! They also weren't afraid to twist our bodies in ways they never have before when our coaches told them they could stretch us out after practice.

Besides playing basketball and sweaty waterfalls (it's so hot and humid here!) we were shown a good time around Tokyo. We've eaten out at fun restaurants and tried foods we didn't even know existed. At one restaurant we even sat on the ground on little mats. The food was delicious, but I won't lie, after about five minutes my legs fell asleep. I think I will stick to sitting in chairs for my meals.

We've also been to the top of the Tokyo tower where the bright lights of the city has us in awe. I knew Tokyo was big, but really had no idea until looking over it in the night.

Sunday we split up into smaller groups where we were accompanied by UT players and staff so we could all get the full experience. In my group we did a boat tour of the coasts of Tokyo. We also went on one of the largest ferris wheels in the world, that took us an hour to get all the way around!

I even had the opportunity to eat real ramen noodles, which I'm sure most college students would be totally envious about! They were delicious! By the end of yesterday I'm almost certain we walked all of Tokyo, at least that's how my legs felt.

Now we sit in a bullet train, leaving Tokyo, and off to our next stop, Nagoya. I'm excited to see what the rest of the trip has in store for us, because if it's as cool as what Tokyo and Takushoku University has provided for us, then we are all definitely in for a treat!

Sayonara,
Blake Reynolds