Happenings

Went to Kyushu with the Watanabe's this weekend. Teru and Fusae picked Chris and I up at 4am on Saturday. It seems whenever Teru is driving I get car sick, so Chris and I popped some dramamine and passed out until 7. I NEVER sleep in the car so when I woke up and saw that it was already 7 I was shocked. I was convinced that it could only have been 5:30. So we drove the 5 hours to Aso-san only to learn that it was closed. For the first time it was closed because poisonous gases were rising out of the crater. No one could go up and visit it. I was quite bummed, I must say. So we got back in the car and headed to Yufuin, a little onsen village. We ate lunch, dunked our feet in the hottest foot onsen I have ever felt then went shopping. I was convinced I wouldn't buy anything, but I found a present for my brother's wedding, so I suppose that is OK. We went to a beautiful onsen in Yufuin, then had dinner and headed home. A true Japanese road trip. Fast and shoving in as much stuff as you can.

The next day was Hagi Samurai Matsuri. It was quite a fun time. They dressed Dan, Pete and Chris is Samurai gear and put them in the parade. Chris was the first woman to ever be dressed as a samurai in the parade, I laughed so hard, then felt a little bad for her! Poor Kurisu! While they were walking the 1.2 km, Pauline, Cho Rong and I wandered around the festival. We made bamboo helicopters, ate manju, searched for sweet potato fries and watched yosakoi, which was the coolest part of the day. Yosakoi is a type of dance where they hold noise makers and dance to pretty cool Japanese music. Of all the performance art forms in Japan, this is by far my favorite. I would love to try it out, but you know when you join a hobby in Japan you are commiting yourself to at least 2 practices a week plus performances. The number 1 yosakoi group in Japan performed and I mentioned to one of my students that one of the guy dancers was cool. (ie. good looking) Well she jumped at the chance to embarrass me and ask if I could have my picture with him (in true middle school/high school fashion). I was amazed at how many people I knew at the festival. They weren't all my students (as usual) but people from all areas of my Hagi life. It made me feel like a real person living here, rather than just a temporary foreigner on parade. After that we went to okonomiyaki where Cho Rong, Pauline and Chris shapped their pancakes into echi shapes (heart, boobs and penis). It was a good weekend.