Aug. 7th

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!

Aug. 4th

Wow, only three more weeks left in Matsue! Yesterday was Braden`s birthday so I made him a lovely tonkatsu dinner (breaded and fried pork with katsu sauce) and then we ate cake and ice cream :). It was a pretty quiet party, just the two of us, but it was fun :). We also went and bought Braden a yukata for this weekend`s summer festival. We got it at a second hand store so it was really inexpensive, but it was is really good shape too :). I got a yukata as a gift from a friend, so now we`re all ready to go! I`ll be sure to post lots of pics on facebook this weekend of the festivities.

In other news, the computer at the International Students House has been acting up lately, so I may not by making any free skype phone calls home anytime soon. I haven`t had the best of luck fixing computers lately, and its especially hard when the operating system is in Japanese >:( and the computer is fairly old too... Anywho, its been nice to use these last ten months, ever since my own computer broke, so I am grateful, despite its latest difficulties. They really ought to replace the thing though, for future students who, like me, don`t have laptops...

Well, come back next week for some more pics. Till then!

July 26th

Braden and I are trying to make the most of our last few weeks in Japan, so it looks like I'll actually have interesting stuff to write about ;). Last weekend we went with our friends Ed and Hori San to the beach of the Japan Sea and had a great time swimming and playing in the sand. The temperature of the water was great, just like a swimming pool, but it tasted terrible! I really haven't swam much in the ocean before, and so didn't realize just how incredibly salty it would taste :X. But despite its bad taste, it was still lots of fun, and afterwards we all went to a hot spring to clean up and have a nice relaxing soak. We spent the evening playing video games with Ed and then went home. The next morning both Braden and I woke up very sunburned and sore from swimming, but it was worth it :). Let's see, what else have we been up to? We went to a birthday party last night for our friend Shuhei, who turned 20. Birthday parties occur pretty often at the International Students House, and they're always fun times. Just everyone relaxing, eating some snacks, drinking (there's always juice available in addition to sake and beer, since not everyone who lives there drinks), and chatting about anything and everything. These days I also spend a lot of time studying Japanese, surfing the internet, and riding my bike. I used to watch TV, but just this weekend Japan ended its analog broadcasting system and switched everything to digital, and since Braden and I are leaving soon we didn't bother to buy a digital converter. I kinda miss having the TV though. I usually had it on while I studied for some background noise, and I always watched the kids shows that came on in the evenings while I made dinner. It was a great way to practice my Japanese, and I could practice kanji too, since most Japanese talk shows show captions on the screen with kanji. Oh well, bye bye Japanese TV :P.

On other news, Braden and I had a nice anniversary dinner at a yummy Indian restaurant in Matsue called Spice Kingdom. They always serve really big, really delicious naan (Indian bread). I had a hard time finishing it all, I got so full :X. After dinner I had an English lesson and then we went to our friend's birthday party.

I almost forgot to mention an interesting thing we got to see on Sunday evening. There was a matsuri (festival) that day, and a bunch of people gathered in downtown Matsue to watch a portable shrine called a Mikoshi being carried from Matsue Castle to a shrine on the other side of the river. There were two shrines, one carried by women, and the other carried by men. Both groups carried the shrines along streets lined with vendors selling lots of delicious looking junk food and cool toys, and every once in a while they would stop and shake the shrines so that the bells on them would ring. When they finally reached the plaza near the shrine everyone cheered and then they followed it up with a dance performance. Now, you'd think they'd follow it up with some sort of traditional Japanese dance, but actually it was followed by a dance school that specialized in hip hop XD. I was a little surprised, and it was funny to cross the street to the shrine and suddenly hear the traditional flutes and drums of the Shinto Priests. It was quite the contrast, hehe. Well that's all the interesting news for now, but hopefully I'll have some more soon! Till then!

July 17th

So far it's been a pretty hot, but fun, July. I'm still trying to get used to this muggy heat. It's especially annoying at night when I'm trying to sleep. Every day in the middle of the night I wake up hot and sweaty so I turn on the air conditioner, but after a little while I actually start to feel too cold so I have to turn it off. Then about an hour later I wake up hot and sweaty again and turn the air conditioner on again. Its a vicious cycle :P. Aside from the heat the weather has been pretty nice, and Braden and I have enjoyed getting some sun now that the rainy season is over.

For my birthday we went on a little boat ride through the moats around Matsue Castle. It was a lot of fun, and it was just the two of us and our guide who steered the boat. We saw swans, ducks, a turtle, a heron (or something like that) and lots of fish jumped out of the water to eat the bugs sitting on the surface. And there were lots and lots of dragonflies. We got to go on another boat ride this weekend with our friend Chieko when she invited us to go on a boat tour to some caves along the coast of the Japan Sea. Both caves have legends associated with them. The first cave, called Kyu-kukedo, is said to be the home of the souls of dead children. It is said that the children build little piles of stones in memory of their families. Then, every night, oni (Japanese demons) come to knock the stone piles down. Then Jizo (a Japanese diety who is the traditional guardian of children) comes and chases the oni away. At Kyu-kukedo we were able to get off the boat and look in the cave. Inside the cave were many little piles of stone, and a lot of stone statues of Jizo. Parents of deceased children often go there to leave offerings of toys and food to the Jizo statues. The next cave, Shin-kukedo, was filled with water and big enough for the boat to go through. Inside was a torii gate and lots of water dripped from the ceiling (the boat was covered so we didn't get wet). That cave is said to be the birthplace of a Japanese diety named Sada-no-okami. It is said that while his mother, Kisaka-Hime-no-mikoto, lived in the cave, she got tired of the darkness, and so shot a golden arrow through the east wall, creating the east entrance, and piercing the rock to the east of the cave (which also has a prominent hole in it). After going through the cave and exiting through the hole said to be created by Kisaka Hime, we passed a small light house said to be near the birthplace of the Japanese sun goddess, Amaterasu. After circling the light house we returned to the harbor. The ride was about an hour long, and really interesting. We got to learn alot about Japanese mythology.

I also got to practice a lot of Japanese this weekend. Today in church I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting, and I gave a lesson in Relief Society, all in Japanese :). The ward members told me I did well, but I know I still have a lot of Japanese to learn :P. By the time I get really comfortable with my Japanese we'll be leaving :P. I'll just have to keep up my Japanese studies in America!

July 9th

Just a random update on our summer activities so far. Today Braden and I had fun making paper lanterns at an activity at the Matsue Community Center, then we rode our bikes around Matsue for a while looking at various hobby shops. Japanese hobby shops are lots of fun to just look at, even if I can't afford to buy anything :P. They always have lots of model gundams, dolls, manga, toys, games, etc. We even saw someone dressed up as a maid in one of the stores we visited today.

It's been really hot today, but thankfully all the stores in Matsue have air conditioning. I guess if they didn't they wouldn't get very many customers in the summer time. The humidity hasn't been as bad this week though, which is nice. When it's really humid it just feels hot all day and all night, shade or no shade. But when the humidity is normal it cools off at night and makes it easier to sleep. (I have such a hard time sleeping when its all muggy :P). The rainy season has officially ended, or so I hear. The rain can be annoying sometimes, but I'm kind of sad to see it go because now it's supposed to get hotter :X. I need to develop Braden's good habit of drinking several bottles worth of water a day so I don't get dehydrated.

For Independence Day Braden and I went to Izumo and had a barbecue with some American friends and even played with some small fireworks. It was a lot of fun, even though I felt sick the next day (must've eaten an undercooked bratwurst or something...). The weekend or so before that we went to a concert in Yonago with an alumni of CWU who happens to be living in Matsue, and that was really fun. Afterwards he treated us to sushi. It was awesome XD. We've both been keeping pretty busy lately. I had more English lessons than usual last month and Braden has his classes and part time job too, but we still have time to hang out with friends. We like to go to Izumo and play video games with out friend Ed, go to free student concerts at the University with our friend Shuhei (who also took us to see fireflies one nice summer evening), and go to hot springs with our friend Chieko. Chieko took us to one this last friday that was pretty cool. It was on the 9th floor of a building and had a big curved window with a really nice view of Lake Shinji. It was funny though, cause the window wasn't a one-way window or anything like that, so if you stood up and walked by the window anyone walking on the sidewalk by the lake would be able to see you XD. Japanese people aren't so shy about that sort of thing though, so I doubt anyone complains, and it's easy enough to just avoid the window if you're worried about it. But still, I thought it was interesting, since I nothing like that would be allowed in the states. Someone would get sued XP. Well, that's all that's been going on lately. I will definitely be able to post some interesting things once the summer festivals start. I'm very excited to experience my first Japanese summer festival :D.

June 25th

A couple of nice ladies from church invited me to go with them to their friend's kimono shop and try on a formal Japanese kimono. The owner and her daughter helped me get it on. Alot of Japanese people don't know how to put on a formal kimono, but kimono shops and often beauty parlors have professionals who can help you put one on. The shop is owned by a family, and the father designed the kimono I wore. Apparently I was the first person to try on this kimono :). This style of formal kimono is called a "furisode." Furisode kimonos have long sleeves and are typically worn by single women on special occasions, like their coming of age ceremony when they turn twenty. Married women usually where a different style of kimono with shorter sleeves. I got to wear the long sleeved one even though I'm married ;). It was lots of fun and the shop owners were really nice. They had lots of really pretty kimonos on display. The kimono shop was upstairs, and downstairs they ran a really nice little gift shop. I really wish I could afford a formal kimono, but they are very expensive (people often rent one instead of buying one for special occasions). I do hope to wear a yukata (a light, informal summer kimono) for the summer festival :).

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 ;).