So it has been awhile since I wrote anything. Several reasons: 1)I stopped checking my e-mail or using the internet for several weeks, I was lazy and knew I wouldn't have many e-mails and just couldn't be bothered. 2) Life here has settled down into a nice routine, I feel very comfortable and at home in Fukui, which means that things no longer seem terribly exciting (perhaps only mildly exciting) and therefore don't seem worthy of writing about. But enough with the excuses, here is real blog to make up for it:
I have joined a Yosakoi dance group. There are 60 people in my dance group and we practice twice a week. Yosakoi is a kind of festival dancing. These big groups practice for months and then have competitions at the festivals in the end of july and beginning of august. I am going to get to dance in the fukui festival (yeah!). I am very excited because this is a really cool opporunity and also it makes me feel like I am a part of the community. There is only one other foreigner in my dance group (my friend Simon) so I am getting to meet a lot of people that I would not otherwise meet, and they are all so nice. Yosakoi dancing is really tough though, I break out into a sweat in the first 10 minutes of a 2 hour practice (and then I hurt for 2 days afterwards). I will post pictures of the festval (and me dancing) when I get them. We even get to wear Japanese Hapis (a kind of jacket that is fairly traditional but less constraining than a yukata).
Speaking of Yukatas, I finally bought one! A yukata is like a cotton kimono- so less formal and not as hot. People wear them in the summer to festivals. My friend Nic also bought one and we are going to wear them to teh fireworks in August (huge parties on the river banks for the fireworks too- the Japanese love any excuse for a good party).
The fourth of July is coming up in a few days and I have to admit that I am a bit sad about it. I really like celebrating the 4th of July (I remember last summer making and wearing Howard Dean t-shirts to the fireworks on the national mall). Obviously noone here celebrates the 4th of july, but also because I don't have any american friends noone will want to have a private party with me either. Perhaps I will go buy fireworks and have my own fireworks display (without the howard dean t-shirts this time). You can actually buy fireworks at the convience stores here and they are amazingly cheap and impressive. We can light them on the river bank next to our apartment building. It is nice when you don't have to worry about lighting whole mountains on fire (I doubt you could light a mountain on fire in this country if you were trying- it rains so much everything is permanently wet).
I am going to Thailand in a few weeks with Erin and I am so excited! It will only be for 6 days, but I have been wanting to go for some time. I bought a thai phrase book and have been trying to learn thai, but it is a language that I think you need to hear to learn (very sing-songy).
I have joined a Yosakoi dance group. There are 60 people in my dance group and we practice twice a week. Yosakoi is a kind of festival dancing. These big groups practice for months and then have competitions at the festivals in the end of july and beginning of august. I am going to get to dance in the fukui festival (yeah!). I am very excited because this is a really cool opporunity and also it makes me feel like I am a part of the community. There is only one other foreigner in my dance group (my friend Simon) so I am getting to meet a lot of people that I would not otherwise meet, and they are all so nice. Yosakoi dancing is really tough though, I break out into a sweat in the first 10 minutes of a 2 hour practice (and then I hurt for 2 days afterwards). I will post pictures of the festval (and me dancing) when I get them. We even get to wear Japanese Hapis (a kind of jacket that is fairly traditional but less constraining than a yukata).
Speaking of Yukatas, I finally bought one! A yukata is like a cotton kimono- so less formal and not as hot. People wear them in the summer to festivals. My friend Nic also bought one and we are going to wear them to teh fireworks in August (huge parties on the river banks for the fireworks too- the Japanese love any excuse for a good party).
The fourth of July is coming up in a few days and I have to admit that I am a bit sad about it. I really like celebrating the 4th of July (I remember last summer making and wearing Howard Dean t-shirts to the fireworks on the national mall). Obviously noone here celebrates the 4th of july, but also because I don't have any american friends noone will want to have a private party with me either. Perhaps I will go buy fireworks and have my own fireworks display (without the howard dean t-shirts this time). You can actually buy fireworks at the convience stores here and they are amazingly cheap and impressive. We can light them on the river bank next to our apartment building. It is nice when you don't have to worry about lighting whole mountains on fire (I doubt you could light a mountain on fire in this country if you were trying- it rains so much everything is permanently wet).
I am going to Thailand in a few weeks with Erin and I am so excited! It will only be for 6 days, but I have been wanting to go for some time. I bought a thai phrase book and have been trying to learn thai, but it is a language that I think you need to hear to learn (very sing-songy).
