Softball

Today I ended up going to watch Tatsuya's team play softball. They're a team made up of random company workers, I think. The word is "shakaijin", which I'm pretty sure translates to "society people". Like, members of society. Perhaps the implication is that they are productive members of society. I could be going out on a limb here. Anyhow, the age range seemed to be early 20's to late 30's, so far as I could tell.

When we first arrived, I got some quizzical looks. I think there aren't many spectators for most of their games, and it also seems safe to say that Tatsuya isn't often bringing girls around. Particularly foreign girls. So his teammates were trying to figure out who I was, and what relationship I was to him. While he denied that I was his girlfriend, he wouldn't explain what our relationship was, which I think will earn him more teasing in the long run. I wouldn't have been insulted if he'd just called me a friend. Anyhow, his teammates were welcoming enough and asked some friendly questions about  me, some of which I managed to answer on my own. At first they were directing all the questions at Tatsuya, likely because they assumed I didn't speak Japanese.

The field where they had today's games was basically a giant diamond with a full-sized softball field at each corner. There weren't four games going on simultaneously, though; only two. There was a bleacher area in front of and above the nearest field, but the rest of the fields didn't really have benches. The first game was played at the far field, and the players let me sit in the team area with them, which I thought was nice. Otherwise I was going to have to sit in a patch of weeds on the edge of a parking lot. It was also a good vantage point. Although the team played well, they lost their first game. For the second game they moved to the near field, but I still got to sit in the dugout with everyone even though I could've gone up in the bleachers. They won the second game, which was exciting.

Although I'm not that interested in sports, it was still pretty fun to watch the softball games, for the most part. Tatsuya seemed pretty good at softball, so far as I can tell; he could throw and catch quite accurately (something I've never been able to do), batted at least as well as anyone else, and ran pretty damn fast. And he's very much a team player. Since he seems to always need something to do, he was usually the one retrieving bats between batters. It was cool to see him doing something he very obviously enjoys.

After the second game, we all ate bentos (pre-made lunches) together and watched two of the other teams play the third game. I got a few more questions about myself and America, but mostly I just talked with Tatsuya. I'm grateful he understands so much English, because most of the stories I try to tell would be incomprehensible otherwise. I told him the story about how we used to play with baseballs in the back yard, but sometimes one would get hit into Morley's field and you might get swooped at by a falcon when you went to fetch it. But imagine trying to tell that story when you don't know the words "falcon", "yard", "hit", "field", or "swoop". Gestures can replace some of it, but not all. Still, we communicate reasonably well.

Once the third game ended, they were done for the day. There was still a little bit of time before Tatsuya needed to go home (his little brother is coming back into town tonight), so we went to a coffee shop and chatted some more. On the way, he surprised me by asking if it would be okay to say that we were dating, and that we were girlfriend and boyfriend. It's so strange; I'll feel like we're getting nowhere, and then all of a sudden he does something like that. Anyhow, I said it was fine. I think "dating" is a pretty accurate description of the situation, though I don't exactly feel like I can claim him as my boyfriend at this point. We'll see how things develop. At least now I'm feeling a bit more optimistic. He also seems to understand that having no free time is something of a problem, because he apologized for it. It seemed like he intends to figure out a way to spend more time with me, but I can't remember exactly what he said.

Anyhow, after hanging around at the cafe for a while, Tatsuya dropped me off at home. I stole a kiss goodbye, which seems only fair if he intends to call me his girlfriend. I've already more or less taught him that I expect a hug when we say goodbye, but a kiss might take some more prodding. While he can be brave in a lot of ways, he's quite shy in others. Still, I'd say this was quite a good day. And thanks to my hat, sunscreen and cardigan, I didn't even get a sunburn!