May 30th

I oughta be ashamed, only two posts this month!! I'm getting lazy :P. Braden and I had a really fun weekend (Despite it raining cats and dogs both Saturday and Sunday). On Saturday our friend Ed came over from Izumo and together we visited Matsue Castle. Braden and I had walked around the castle grounds before, but this was our first time inside the castle itself. It was pretty cool. On the ground floor we took our shoes off, presented our tickets, then proceeded to the first exhibit. The first room had an old well in it, and some large decorations that used to be outside the castle. The bottom of the well was filled with coins, so we also dropped in a coin and wished for good luck. On the next floor they had lots of old armor and weapons on display. The helmets were the coolest, some of them were so elaborate. The next floor had a lot of old artwork depicting the history of the castle and some more antiques. The next had photos and facts about various castles in Japan. I think the next floor was mostly empty, and the top floor was a lookout area with openings on all four sides, and we could see all of Matsue. All in all, it was very neat. Although the castle has been renovated to be safe for visitors, it still retains much of its old self, and it is one of only 12 original castles remaining in Japan. Our tour guide was very nice. She did the explanations in English, and halfway through the tour our friend Chieko (who also works as a castle tour guide) caught up with us and explained some of the paintings to us. After visiting the castle we went with some other foreign exchange students to an event featuring traditional Japanese performing arts (the school got some free tickets to it which they offered to the foreign exchange students :D). At the event we saw a couple of fan dances, a taiko drum performance, a short Noh play about the Shinto Diety Susanoo who slayed a dragon and saved a princess, a short but fun sword fight between ancient samurai, some princesses singing J-pop, a march of Sumo wrestlers (well, they were dressed like sumos, but they weren't really big like sumos), a song and dance about fishermen, and another traditional Japanese dance featuring a dancer in a mask and a cool kimono. The event was pretty long, and some of the performances were more entertaining than others, but it was all in all a pretty cool experience. After the event we went and had some dinner with Ed then finished off the day by watching anime (also culturally significant! lol). On Sunday we rode our bikes through the wind and rain to get to church. Then after church we rode through more wind and rain to get to a High School band concert that we'd been invited to by one of the students of our English conversation class at the church. The concert was excellent. They played two marches, a song by Ravel, and the hymn "Come Ye Children of the Lord" in the first half, and Whistle While You Work, the theme of the anime Gegege no Kitaro, the James Bond theme, and a couple more I don't know the names of, in the second half. It really was the best high school band performance I've ever heard. Course, they are Japanese high school students, probably the hardest working students on earth! Our friend in the band said that they practiced long hours everyday. And it really showed! Well, I guess this post is long enough for now. I'll try to post more in June ;).