Super Bowl Monday

Yes, indeed, some of my traditions are allowed to continue here in Japan.  One such tradition is watching the Super Bowl.  For those of you who know me well, you're well aware that the number of football games I watch per year could be counted on one hand (even one of Yoda's hands). 

And yet, somehow, I have managed to watch every Super Bowl but one over the last 10+ years (any guesses which year I missed it?).  It's a great time to  hang out with friends and snack on junk food while getting wrapped up in the excitement of the game.  This year it provided a great opportunity for Joel and me to hang out while Pamela (Joel's wife) and Haidee went out for coffee and conversation.  

Now then, watching the Super Bowl is slightly more difficult here in Japan than it is in the United States.  First of all there is the time difference.  No doubt you have noticed the title of this blog is "Super Bowl Monday".  That's right, Super Bowl XLVI began at 8:30am on Monday morning, here in Fukushima Japan.  As it turns out, that time was more convenient for us, as Sunday night our community usually gathers for worship and Bible study.  Monday is a day off for Haidee and me, and Joel and Pamela don't start work until after lunch.

Secondly, you can't just turn on a TV and watch the game.  The Super Bowl doesn't air on any network or cable stations in Japan (and besides, we don't have a TV here anyway).  There are several places on-line to watch the game for free. . . however those sites are blocked in countries other than the United States . . unless you pay a nominal fee.  So, being denied the opportunity to watch the game for free, Joel and I settled for huddling around his computer watching live blog posts being updated every minute with play-by-play details of the game.  Hmmmmm.  Not exactly the most exciting game experience for me.

After putting up with this for awhile, we finally bit the bullet and paid $15 to watch the game streaming live from the internet.  Ah!  Much better. . .

We've got the fellowship, we've got the game streaming live to our computer, now all we need is the junk food!  Thankfully this isn't too terribly difficult to find in Japan.  I ran to the local Seven Eleven and in no time we were munching on popcorn, kettle chips, and green wasabi peas (hmmmmm, so good!).

All told it was a fun Monday morning.  The Super Bowl game was fantastic!  Probably one of the most exciting in the past 5 years, with the Giants edging out the Patriots 21 - 17, the lead changing with one minute remaining, and a Hail Mary attempt on the last play of the game.  It was great hanging out with Joel, too.

I'm thankful for all God's gifts to us here in Japan, big and small.  They're fun!