One of my first excursions was on the train to attend a Seibu Lions game with about 60 other JFMF teachers. We flooded the subway at rush hour and immediately clogged the token machines. One of my new friends described the scene as "kindergarten on crack" since we were all unable to read the instructions, get the correct token, or figure out which direction to go. Ultimately we all figured it out. Those ahead in line stuck around to instruct the ones still in the dark. Two hours later the entire group had made it to the park after getting split up in the maze of halls, stairs, and turnstiles.
I hung out with Meghan from Steamboat, Colorado and we later joined Dr. Carol Friedman from Chicago, Illinois. Meghan and I wandered around people watching. I took video of the exuberant fans. We saw people eating ramen noodles in large bowls of soup. I watched a mother and her son share a bowl, eating with chopsticks. One popular food booth was the familiar Kentucky Colonel.
The fans were very excited and demonstrative. They had section leaders who would blow whistles to cue different cheers, play trumpets, beat drums, and wave big flags. Families sat together in a sloping area with no seats. Towards the end of the game, everyone in the crowd filled up long balloons and released them on cue with music that played.
We posed with the Seibu mascots, tried some rice balls, and left before the end of the game.
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