Yeah for summer festivals! This weekend Braden and I got to enjoy Suigousai, a big summer festival in Matsue! It was two days long, Saturday and Sunday, and both days there were fireworks, vendors selling lots of Japanese festival food, lots of people wearing yukatas (a light summer kimono) and lots of noise and fun. On Saturday evening Braden and I rode our bikes down to lake Shinji, where the festivities were being held, and then I put on my yukata by myself in the bathroom in the park, which was no easy task, let me tell you, but I did it! Yukatas can be a little difficult to put on, but I practiced a lot with the friend from church who gave it to me, so I was up to the challenge :). Men's yukatas are a bit easier to put on, and Braden put his on in the park. We had a little trouble with the belt, but got it tied eventually. Then we watched the Saturday fireworks, 3,000 shots total, or so we were told. Then afterwards we went and strolled through all the stalls and bought some ice cream, fried chicken, a candied pineapple on a stick, and some takoyaki (Octopus and batter fried into little balls). Walking by all the vendors and through all the crowds eating unhealthy festival food reminded me of the Eastern Idaho State Fair and their delicious tiger ears and freshly dipped corn dogs. Yum. Japanese festival food is good too, though its a little different. Lots more squid and octopus around XD. So then we watched a half hour fireworks show and oohed and awed all the big ones, then when it was over we took off our yukatas (we wore our regular clothes underneath) and rode our bikes home. The next day we had a great day at church, I got to speak a lot of Japanese with the sisters, then we rode our bikes home in the scorching heat, and got ready for another round of festivities! Sunday evening is really the main event of the weekend, and that's when most of the city goes to see the fireworks, cause they shoot off a lot more that day, about 6,000 shots! Its longer too, one hour instead of half an hour. Shortly after getting home from church, our friend Ed and Sister Hori came by, along with the elders from Izumo, who planned to join up with the elders from Matsue and pass out some flyers to the myriads of people who were going to be gathered at the lake. Sister Hori and I made a big dinner for everyone, and the Izumo elders pitched in with some fried rice that they had prepared earlier. We all ate, then got dressed in our yukatas (except for the elders of course, and Sister Hori, cause she accidently forgot hers at home), then we walked all the way to the lake, which was quite a ways actually 0_o. It was like a forty minute walk XD. Ed had his car but we were afraid we wouldn't find any parking so we decided to walk instead. It took us a while, but we talked a lot and the time went by quickly. It was cool to see how the amount of people walking around increased as we got closer to the lake, and by the time we reached the bridge, thousands of people could be seen walking around. Lots of people were wearing yukatas, but lots of people were in regular clothes too. It was split maybe 50/50. Once we reached the lake we crossed the bridge and found a nice little spot behind the art museum to watch the fireworks from. The grassy spots were already completely claimed by people, but we found a little patch of dirt that wasn't claimed, haha. We had a mat to sit on though, so it was okay. The fireworks were awesome! A lot of them were ones I've seen before on the Fourth of July, but they had a lot of really big ones that filled the horizon, and some that made cool shapes, like slices of watermelon, faces, and even pokeballs! The finale was big and shiny and really cool. I love fireworks, they're big, sparkly exploding works of art. What's not to like?! After the fireworks ended we joined the masses as they got up, gathered their things, and started walking home. I'm glad we didn't go by car, cause of course the traffic was terrible. Soon after the fireworks ended we met up with our friend Kim and the new ALT (Assistant language teacher with the Jet Program), Sara, who had been watching from the other side. Then we all made the long trek home. It was pretty tiring, but we made it. Ed then drove everyone home, and Braden and I went right to sleep. It wasn't too late, only about 11, but poor Braden had to get up really early for work the today and then rush right afterwards to class to take a Chinese final, which he said he did really well on :). Well, I know this entry is probably pretty long, so I'll end it for now. I'll have more to share with you all soon, so stay posted!
Yeah for summer festivals! This weekend Braden and I got to enjoy Suigousai, a big summer festival in Matsue! It was two days long, Saturday and Sunday, and both days there were fireworks, vendors selling lots of Japanese festival food, lots of people wearing yukatas (a light summer kimono) and lots of noise and fun. On Saturday evening Braden and I rode our bikes down to lake Shinji, where the festivities were being held, and then I put on my yukata by myself in the bathroom in the park, which was no easy task, let me tell you, but I did it! Yukatas can be a little difficult to put on, but I practiced a lot with the friend from church who gave it to me, so I was up to the challenge :). Men's yukatas are a bit easier to put on, and Braden put his on in the park. We had a little trouble with the belt, but got it tied eventually. Then we watched the Saturday fireworks, 3,000 shots total, or so we were told. Then afterwards we went and strolled through all the stalls and bought some ice cream, fried chicken, a candied pineapple on a stick, and some takoyaki (Octopus and batter fried into little balls). Walking by all the vendors and through all the crowds eating unhealthy festival food reminded me of the Eastern Idaho State Fair and their delicious tiger ears and freshly dipped corn dogs. Yum. Japanese festival food is good too, though its a little different. Lots more squid and octopus around XD. So then we watched a half hour fireworks show and oohed and awed all the big ones, then when it was over we took off our yukatas (we wore our regular clothes underneath) and rode our bikes home. The next day we had a great day at church, I got to speak a lot of Japanese with the sisters, then we rode our bikes home in the scorching heat, and got ready for another round of festivities! Sunday evening is really the main event of the weekend, and that's when most of the city goes to see the fireworks, cause they shoot off a lot more that day, about 6,000 shots! Its longer too, one hour instead of half an hour. Shortly after getting home from church, our friend Ed and Sister Hori came by, along with the elders from Izumo, who planned to join up with the elders from Matsue and pass out some flyers to the myriads of people who were going to be gathered at the lake. Sister Hori and I made a big dinner for everyone, and the Izumo elders pitched in with some fried rice that they had prepared earlier. We all ate, then got dressed in our yukatas (except for the elders of course, and Sister Hori, cause she accidently forgot hers at home), then we walked all the way to the lake, which was quite a ways actually 0_o. It was like a forty minute walk XD. Ed had his car but we were afraid we wouldn't find any parking so we decided to walk instead. It took us a while, but we talked a lot and the time went by quickly. It was cool to see how the amount of people walking around increased as we got closer to the lake, and by the time we reached the bridge, thousands of people could be seen walking around. Lots of people were wearing yukatas, but lots of people were in regular clothes too. It was split maybe 50/50. Once we reached the lake we crossed the bridge and found a nice little spot behind the art museum to watch the fireworks from. The grassy spots were already completely claimed by people, but we found a little patch of dirt that wasn't claimed, haha. We had a mat to sit on though, so it was okay. The fireworks were awesome! A lot of them were ones I've seen before on the Fourth of July, but they had a lot of really big ones that filled the horizon, and some that made cool shapes, like slices of watermelon, faces, and even pokeballs! The finale was big and shiny and really cool. I love fireworks, they're big, sparkly exploding works of art. What's not to like?! After the fireworks ended we joined the masses as they got up, gathered their things, and started walking home. I'm glad we didn't go by car, cause of course the traffic was terrible. Soon after the fireworks ended we met up with our friend Kim and the new ALT (Assistant language teacher with the Jet Program), Sara, who had been watching from the other side. Then we all made the long trek home. It was pretty tiring, but we made it. Ed then drove everyone home, and Braden and I went right to sleep. It wasn't too late, only about 11, but poor Braden had to get up really early for work the today and then rush right afterwards to class to take a Chinese final, which he said he did really well on :). Well, I know this entry is probably pretty long, so I'll end it for now. I'll have more to share with you all soon, so stay posted!
