Saturday, November 8, 2008

Learning to expect the unexpected

According to today's plan, I was to get on a bus at noon with other City Hall employees to go play a game called park golf at Ono campus.

Well, sometimes I don't know the actual plan. It's best to just go with the flow. :)


When Liz and I got on the bus, we looked around at the unfamiliar people dressed in business attire. Something isn't quite right here. After a few minutes, we tried asking them if they were going to play park golf, and in response, we got several shaking heads and a "No. P.T.A." As in a P.T.A. meeting?!? Time to get off the bus! Good thing we asked, since they apparently weren't going to say anything!

We finally found a couple of fellow golf buddies, and discovered we'd be riding in a car with them to the course -- which turned out not to be at Ono campus. Surprise, surprise!

An hour later, we arrived at the golf course, and I learned that I'd be on a team with three people I'd never seen before. Surprise! But my teammates were so much fun, and I enjoyed playing the game that was a lot like "normal" golf, just with a bigger ball. (I wasn't exactly sure what to expect since I'd never played.)


Too bad I suffered from frozen philanges!! I seriously couldn't feel my fingers for about an hour. Surprise! (I even had gloves on.) And too bad I was over par every single time! I've determined that park golf isn't a strength of mine.

I've also determined that it is a spring/summer activity and not a game for late fall -- especially when late fall feels like the middle of a bitter cold winter!

The string is attached to the tee, not the ball. Just wanted to let you know.

After park golf, we all went to dinner. I thought we were going to a restaurant, but instead it was a small, rented building with a kitchen that was supplied with raw meat (including squid, yay!) and a grill. Surprise!

This is "Coach." (He tried giving me golf pointers, but my aim is really bad.) He's proud of the smiley face he made out of squid meat, haha. What a character!

My team! Her shirt says, "Alcoholic. Seldom or Never. Culture Fusion. Brooklyn." (huh???)

After a delicious dinner, we talked and laughed together around the table. There was a conversation that went like this:

Japanese friend: "(something that sounded like "Ricky Martin" to me.)"
Me: "Ricky Martin!?"
Liz: "Rocky Mountains!?"
"Coach": "ROCKY?!!!" *starts punching the air and humming "Eye of the Tiger"* haha

"Coach" impressed me with some of the random English words he knew -- words like "premium" and "grotesque." Surprise!

Overall, it was a good experience. I'm glad I went even though I froze. And by the way, I lost park golf BIG time. No surprise there!

6 comments:

Ariel T said...

For the first time, i'm the first person to comment on your blog....YAY! Surprise huh? Hehe....
It was probably way TOO COLD for a golfing outing, but i'm glad you had fun with all the unexpected stuff going on. Yeah, like you, I probably would not win too. I'm just not a golfer :)
I'm glad that you had your favorite raw squid after your golfing trip!

Love ya,
Your Girlfriend in Bloomington ;)

Wendy City said...

heya! :)

This sounds like SO SO SO many experiences I've had.

You just gotta roll with the punches :D

Anonymous said...

Daaayna,
I have failed! I am not the 1st or 2nd person to comment this time I am the 3rd :( oh well. I am glad that you had fun playing golf it sounds like a lot of fun. Although I do not think that I would like the cold weather!
Love ya!

Dawn said...

I agree that is sounds like a spring or summer sport. I bet it was fun either way - sitting by the grill after had to be warm - LOL. I've only went outside here today to do a little Christmas shopping and I feel frozen - just to share, here in Greenwood, Indiana it is a whopping 37 degrees - LOL.

Amanda said...

Dana,

It has been a long time since I've posted. I'm terrible! Of course, I've already apologized to you for that. I love you....and love reading your blogs. Hopefully I will read them regularly again.

I miss you, amiga!

Anonymous said...

Haha! I'm glad you were able to meet up with your proper group...although PTA might have been fun...and warmer.

I played Park Golf too and I had results similar to yours. I actually hit the ball out of the designated course a few times and had to do some fence hopping to recover. To say the least, everyone was in laughter. I think they learned that not all Americans are Tiger Woods. :)

I think I'll start reading your blog regularly, although it's going to make me miss Japan even more!

Oh, if you want to look at some wedding pictures, check out my facebook status. The website is on there. :)