26 July 2010

Weird Day at the Pool

It was an uncomfortable 40 degrees on Sunday so we went to the pool with a few friends to cool off. Or had intended to cool off.

The pool was only 1 meter deep so it was a little less lame than being in a wading pool. It wouldn't have been too bad if it were cold, but since Nagoya has been so hot for 5 weeks the water was lukewarm. It was like sitting in a luke warm bath. It would have been an entirely worthless experience had we not been with friends with whom we could complain about the warm water.

After soaking in the giant bathtub we got out to lay on the side of the pool to read/tan/talk. About ten minutes later a bell rang and everyone got out of the pool. Some men got up to stretch so we figured that the bell ended the child swim and started the adult swim. But this guy was just prepping for the stretching routine that everyone was about to do.

Some weird music started playing and then everyone stood up and started stretching in sync. From the 4 year olds up to the 80 year olds everyone knew what actions to do and when. It was eerie how coordinated everyone was. The 5 of us sat in awe, no doubt making fools of ourselves by starting at everyone - but we couldn't look away.

This is the stretch routine they were doing if you want to check it out. Having seen the whole thing in person I didn't watch the entire video since nothing compares to watching it live.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous30 July, 2010

    haha! i think this is the morning routine they do at schools here. and if you walk around in the morning you might see some older people standing outside listening to the radio broadcast and doing the exercise too.

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  2. Wow that sounds like such a bizarre experience. I would have felt totally embarrassed being the only person not stretching and tried to stretch. It reminds me of when I used to go to church with Suzi and everyone would be saying prayers in unison and crossing themselves and such, and I had no clue what was happening.

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  3. That's exactly what it was like Dave. I had the same experience you had when I went to a wedding with Danielle's family. Everyone was going up to get the eucharist and I was the only one left sitting down.

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