Concentration 20

Ahhh! Anna-saaaaan!! Kyaa, suteki!!
Heh heh. I gave today (Well, yesterday as I post this) a name (and Ka-chan laughed at me) : 'The Journey to my Beloved Anna-san'.
And it was just that!
My trip to Yokohama began with my pacing up and down the platform of the subway station, praying that the subway would come, and get to Ikebukuro in time so I wouldn't miss my 6:03 train to Yokohama, because the next one wasn't until 6:55, and the class was at 7:30, and it takes about 40 minutes to get to Yokohama. The subway came, and when I got to Ikebukuro it was about 5:55, so I asked the station guy where the Shinjuku-Shonan line was, and somehow got my ticket (620 yen, one way) and literally ran onto the platform. Then it was about 10 minutes of me worriedly asking random people whether this or that train was going to Yokohama. I finally found the one what was, which didn't come until about 6:15 (so much for the train schedule). I got on it, and listened to CDs, and stared out at the dark dark streets, and was paranoid about making it to the class on time, for the whole ride. Then I somehow found the subway station in Yokohama, and a woman who was going on the same subway helped me buyt my ticket and get to Shin-Yokohama, where I arrived at about 10 minutes to. Luckily, the Yokohama Rapport, where the class was held, is an important building, being a sports center for handicapped people, so there were many signs. Following the signs and asking people if I ewas going the right way, I literally ran the way to the building.
After I literally ran into the building and to the sub arena, I stood around with the students in the genkan for a bit, half-looking for Anna-san. An older woman came up and asked if I was here to sit in on a lesson. I said I was, and she led me into the lesson room, calling, 'Anna-sensei!' And then I saw her. My Anna-san. Coming over with her huge, joyful smile, just for me. "Oh, Adrienne, you made it!" After she paused to say good-bye to two down syndrome kids, she continued over to me, and said happily, 'It's so nice to see you!" I said, 'Ohisashiburi desu ne!' For a moment I though she would hug me, but she just clasped my hand warmly. Genki datta?" I nodded effusively. 'Anna-san ha genki deshita ka.' She nodded. 'Genki, genki!' And she really looked genki, all smiles and gentleness and cheerfulness, and warmth and a vaguely biting sense of humor. She asked me, "Do you wanna dance today?" (and I didn't exagerate on her perfect Native English in my mind!) I showed her my clothes, which were tight jeans and not dancing wear, and she laughed understandingly, and said, 'Ja, sochira ni suwattekudasai'. I sat down. The other instructor, this man named Namio led everyone in the stretches, which were also very dance like. After a while Anna-san joined in the stretches as well. Oh, Anna-san was wearing a tight black exercise tank top, and hip-hugger cut black velour-ish loose pants, random plastic-y official looking green sneakers, two silver necklaces, silver hoop earrings (her hair was pulled back a ponytail, with short pieces over her ears, and her bangs brushed over to one side). Anna-san is quite short (well, shorter than I am, at least), and at least as skinny as I am, and she has muscles (from dancing so much, I guess) in her upper arms (would those be biceps?). I really like her body. And I mean that in the purest most unlecherous sense. It's pretty to look at.
(Although I will admit to having 2 and 1/2 slightly lascivious thoughts during the stetching. Nothing very naughty. Just that she has a nice oshiri. And a nice chest. And I really like the curve of her back into her hips, especially the part before the pants began. But I suppose that last one can also be categorized as semi-aesthetical....)
Another thing that struck me is how strikingly her face resembles her father's.
After the stretching, Anna-san went to the front of the class and called out that we would be doing a short beat, and then working on the dance. And it was that voice I recognized completely from my B.B video. I suppost that makes it her excited, half-shouting voice. Her MC voice, if you will.
So they put on the music, and began to do beat. 'Beat' is a teaching method they use at Actor's. Which I guess makes it a Makino original, although which Makino thought it up, I'm not sure. It's really just moving to the beat, however you want to. That was really cool to watch, because Hyper has such a wide range of students, from these two elementary school students, who said hi to me and proudly introduced themselves English (Yuri and Momoko, who had one a B.B and an Actor's T-shirt respectively), to older women who look to be in their 50's or 60's (and a man in his 40's or 50
s) . And it really is everyone just dancing however they want.
Also! Anna-san herself teaches the Hyper Class, so I got to see her dance! It was so fun to watch her beat, because she had this huge smile on her face, and looked like she was enjoying herself so much, sometimes lip synching to the song. She's also very good!! Which I guess is to be expected, since she's been dancing since she was 8 years old. But still. It made me happy.
After the beat, they started the actual choreographed dance, which has a hip-hop taste to it. Anna-san ran through each of the steps, etc, and that was also fun to watch. She also teased the other instructor, Namio a lot because he kept getting parts of it wrong, saying, "Why do I have to teach you?" And making faces and laughing when he messed things up (sometimes on purpose). They seemed to get a long really well, a fact that I am refraining from overanalyzing.
Then Namio led the cool down.
After the students started leaving, I went over to Anna-san. She thanked me a lot for coming, and I thanked her for letting me. She then explained that Maiko-san is sick and in the hospital (it didn't sound to serious tho, I think it's the flu), but that she'd probably be out sometime next week. I expressed my sympathies (poor Maiko-san, she keeps getting colds. I guess that's what happens when you move to Tokyo from Okinawa) and said that I wanted to join the class, because it looked like a lot of fun. Anna-san smiled brightly. "Honto ni?" She gave me all the necessary papers, asking if I could read the Japanese ok. I asked when the next lesson said and she said next Friday. I said I'd see her next Friday, and she said 'Tanoshimi da!' And smiled at me as I went out. Then I remembered that I had to ask her if my sneakers were ok, so I went back in and asked her. She said that they were fine, and just to wear clothes that it's easy to move in. I said I would, and then she told me to be careful on my way home.
Then I went out and walked back to the subway station, and was hysterically ecstatic and punched the air, and yelled (in a small excited voice) things like 'Yatta!' and 'Anna-san saikou!', and made an ecstatic phone call to Mochi, who told me to calm down, LOL, but was very happy for me. Then on the way home I listened to my CD with Anna-san's song on it. And her voice is just the same! Well, maybe a little deeper, since she was 16 when she recorded the song, and is 31 now, but still. It made me happy.
I get to see Anna-san every week now! And maybe Maiko-san sometimes too!!
And the dance class really did look like fun. It looks like it will be challenging for me, but still!
Ahh! I love Anna-san!! And I'm sooo glad that she's doing so well and seems so happy.
Only, I think I'm going to have to be careful.
Because Anna-san's bright and cheerful, energetic, has a heart of gold, is very warm and loving, beautiful, and most of all has one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen, because it's so full of joy.
She's Anna-san.
And I think I could fall in love with her if I get to know her more, as a person, on a weekly basis.
Not some far away, idealized kind of crush like before.
For real.
Ahhh, she's just so warm and sweet and enthusiastic!!