The Happinets hosted a fan event at a big Aeon mall in Omagori City, which is located about an hour southeast of Akita City. (Oddly enough most malls in Japan are called Aeon, I am still not sure why that is.) The event took place right in the middle courtyard, where all fans gathered to meet the team. I have to admit, it was very neat to see! There must have been a couple hundred people there all patiently waiting to hear the players talk, shake their hands and get their autographs. 

There was a huge blue mat laid out on the floor where some fans were sitting. The fans occupying the mat all had their shoes off! Very interesting, you would never see that in the States or anywhere in Europe. Other fans and curious onlookers occupied the sides as well as the upper atrium of the mall. 

The first part of the program was hosted by the cheerleaders, who introduced the fans to what I like to call, the "towel cheer." In the second half of every home game all the fans take out their pink Happinets towels and do a chorographed cheer. 
Check it out! I love the music and hope to learn the cheer at the upcoming home game. 

After the whole team came out, each player introduction himself and talked a little about their intentions for the 2012-2013 season. Most players mentioned that their goal was to bring the championship to Akita this season. Wooohoo! Bring it, please! 
Then all the players paired up with a fan to do a free throw contest. Check out Dan and his partner square off against Anthony Kent and his partner. 

Dan said he didn't want to cheat and use the backboard....haha! Sure, sure...I am sure that was the case because he is great at free throws. ;) While the contest continued I snuck off to go to Kaldi Farms, an international store, to buy a $100 worth of salsa, jalepenos, canned beans, tortillas, and hot sauce. Yum! Have I mentioned how much we love Mexican food and miss it when we live abroad?! Overall, the event Aeon in Omagari City was absolutely great and we were both very thankful we could be apart of it. Go Go Happinets! 

Spending holidays away from family is never easy. Since last year's Christmas proved to be disappointing we were not sure what to expect of our holiday celebration in Japan this year. Last season my cousin and I missed the last train from Tokyo to Sendai and had to sleep at the Tokyo train station on Christmas day. Plus to our surprise the train station closed down in the middle of the night and we spent the majority of our night at a 24 hour noodle shop, where we Skyped with family and ate noodles for 5 hours. So as you could imagine, it was a little disheartening but definitely a Christmas to remember!

This year's celebrations were much more in the spirit of Christmas! 
No noodles, no sleeping at a train station, just Christmas trees, music and celebrating. 

On Sunday, right after the home victory against the Saitama Broncos, the team hosted a Christmas party for the boosters and fans. The event took place at a fancy hotel in Akita City and was very nicely organized. All the players were introduced, then mingled with fans, took lots of pictures, signed dozens of signatures and even played BINGO. 
I even won a t-shirt at BINGO! 

On Christmas Eve, along with the other Americans, we were invited to a Korean BBQ restaurant in the Kawabata district of Akita. Korean BBQ is very popular in Japan! Basically you order raw meat and vegetables and then grill it on a personal table grill. We love it and wish the US had similar restaurants. We ate so much food and by the end of Christmas Eve we had a major food coma. We are very thankful for the wonderful and memorable Christmas celebrations! ありがとうございます。

メーリークリスマス Meerii Kurisumasu from Japan! 

My teammate Hikaru and I did another television appearance, this time on a morning show in Sendai called TBC TV. We spent a day on Joji Mountain, a famous tourist attraction in Sendai. There is a big Japanese Buddhist temple called Johgi Nyorai Saihoji Temple on the mountain and host showed us some Japanese customs when visiting a temple. We stopped by two restaurants, where we tried the towns famous fried tofu as well as some sweet beans on a stick. I can't say they were too delicious to me, but it was fun to try some new things. We also did some shopping down main street, and then had an interview talking about my teammates and the whole Sendai 89ers organization. After the show taping concluded, we had a late lunch with the crew of the show, it was fun to talk with everyone involved. I've been in front of the camera a bunch at Marquette but this was a lot of fun and certainly a new experience that I will remember forever! Check out the video from the show below as well as some pictures my wife took throughout the taping.  

 Check out the video!

Last week, a few Japanese teammates and I had an event at a temporary housing complex in Sendai where people who lost their homes in the earthquake and tsunami live. It was a very eye-opening experience and I was happy to be involved. It basically looked like a trailer park with rows of small homes set up. We came to meet the people, sign autographs, take pictures, and give the families winter mittens. The 89ers cheerleaders also came to lead the people in stretching, because I was told that it is good for the older citizens to stay active. There were a bunch of media there to cover the event, and we presented the residents with some autographed memorabilia. I was pleased to see that everyone was very happy and upbeat. I admired their strength to continue on with their life and be positive. These people have lost everything, some of them even lost family members. But, they were all smiling, laughing, and so appreciative of us. 

Check it out:  Sendai 89ers blog about Dan and his teammate, Hikaru, going to Okura with TBC to do a morning show. They walked around the town, tasted different types of local food and even went to pray at the temple. We will soon do an entry with photos as well as video from the show!  

This year, our friends Marty and Kyoko invited us to a Super Bowl party at their home in Sendai. With the time difference in Japan, the party and game began in the morning at around 9am. We enjoyed a great breakfast buffet and a champagne toast with some teammates, team management, and some other friends around Sendai. Thanks Marty and Kyoko for having us! 

It was a good close game, and we had a great time feeling like were back in the states. Although I did lose 1,000 YEN to my teammate Johnny betting on the Patriots! 

My teammate Hikaru and I went on NHK Sendai, Japan News for a live interview during the sports segment. It was a lot of fun and will be a great memory for me. It was interesting to see a Japanese TV show production from both in front of and behind the camera. Below is the link to the segment.

It's obviously all in Japanese, so our translator was to my left translating everything for me. They spoke a little bit about both of us as players, and then a little bit about our personalities. They asked us to describe each other in one word and tell us why. Hikaru chose to describe me as a "gentleman." He was pretty complimentary of me, being the nice guy that he is! My word for Hik was "positive," explaining to them that he never has a bad day, as a player or as a person. He is always productive every practice trying to be the best player that he can be. I admire that about him, and he is the best kind of teammate I could ask for. 

They also asked him if I had any flaws...Hik responded saying that my "high five" is too hard! So, we had to demonstrate it for them. I told him I get a little intense right before and during games, sorry Hik! 

My motto for the rest of the season is to "Stick Together," making sure we can make a strong push for the playoffs. 

 

Dan competed in the BJ League All-Star three-point contest held in Saitama, Japan. Saitama is about 1.5 hours south of Sendai and about 45 minutes north of Tokyo. The event itself was very nice! It was a huge production with lots or pre-game activities, contests, a basketball clinic for kids and a variety of live performances. I was definitely glad I could come, but come on BJ League, a wife has to pay for her own ticket?! I thought a marriage certificate would seal the deal but apparently the quote "happy wife, happy life" doesn't apply to the Japanese ;) Don't get me wrong I had a wonderful time, but I have to remember "we're not in Kansas anymore." 

Saitama Super Arena - maximum capacity is 37,000. The arena features a gigantic moveable section of seating which can reduce capacity for smaller events, for the All-Star weekend it was set up for 14,000. It is also the only Japanese arena equipped especially for American football.

Our great friends, Jeff and April along with their three kids came to visit us in Saitama. We met in Germany when Dan and Jeff were teammates at Ratiopharm Ulm and now they live in Tokyo. Who would have thought that we would hang out in Ulm, Germany - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - and now in Saitama, Japan! Gotta love this lifestyle! 

To read about Dan's experience at the All-Star weekend, please check out his blog on Cracked Sidewalks.