Carissa's Exploits and Fabulous Adventures




Japan Round Two

Monday, August 30, 2004

So the Fukui festival was canceled because of flooding, which meant no dancing (and public humiliation) for me. But then, miracle of miracles, they rescheduled the dancing part of the festival. I was bit nervous having missed almost all of the practices in August, but it turned out very well. I was really worried while I was dancing but then I looked up and the new teacher from Colorado (Sean) was smiling and waving, then I looked the other direction and Anthony and Maiko were waving. If there are at least a few friendly faces in an audience it makes it easier to pretend the rest of the audience doesn't exist. It was a lot of fun! I have another performance in October (and I am going to all of the practices this time).

So Sean just got to Fukui yesterday and I immediately dragged him off to watch me dance. He is really nice and I think we are going to get along well (you always worry a bit before you meet someone. I remember thinking that Gina was going to be a crazy axe-weilding psycho and although a bit crazy at times I never once saw an axe in our dorm room). So I have a good feeling about this. Although I am very sad to see John leaving. We have been very close friends for 9 months and now he is moving to the other side of the country (which is considerably closer than the other side of the world i.e. England).

I have been very bad about blogging and I'm sorry. Please send all complaints to our customer service center, where they will be read and, if uncomplimentary, quickly deleted.

Wednesday, August 18, 2004


This is my new friend Bob the Beetle. He lives at a bug zoo in Kanazawa Japan. Despite his scary appearance he is very friendly. Posted by Hello

Sunday, August 15, 2004


Carissa at the bug zoo Posted by Hello

Saturday, August 14, 2004

Fabulous week of vacation.

Monday we went to a beautiful beach called Isu-hama (Crystal Beach because the water is so clear). I even got the courage up to jump off a huge cliff with loads of people watching- I didn't cry or lose my bikini so all was well. We went on a "Scrambler" ride behind a boat too. The Scrambler is like a giant air matress that is dragged behind a boat and it flies into the air everytime it hits a wave- loads of fun. Dad- you should definitely get one for the lake!

Wednesday I went to Mikuni Beach and spent the day and then watched the fireworks in the evening. They pour millions of dollars into this fireworks display and it is well worth it. They launched fireworks from the side of the bay as well as straight from a barge being dragged slowly around by a boat. The crowds after the fireworks made me wonder if it was worth it (took over 3 hours to get back to Fukui- normally a 1 hour trip).

Thursday I went to Kanazawa to visit my host family and we drove up the Noto peninsula to a famous Zen temple called Sojiji. The cliffs along the peninsula were stunningly beautiful. Friday we went to a bug zoo and I got to pick up giant beetles and butterflies (once again I didn't wimp out). Friday afternoon I volunteered at a nursing home with my host mother. We taught the seniors a dance for O-bon (festival for the dead. This week is when the spirits of dead ancestors and family members return to earth, kindof like halloween but not as scary).

Today (Saturday) we drove south in Ishikawa prefecture through the mountains. We saw Tedori River and a huge damn built of rocks. We had amazing soba and tofu in Hakusan and went to a spring and castle in Ono (a town in Fukui prefecture). It was a lot of fun. My host brother had left a CD of disco music in the car the last time he was in town, so my host parents and I drove through the majestic scenary singing "I will Survive" and doing the "YMCA"!

Friday, August 13, 2004


Fireworks at Mikuni Beach Posted by Hello

Sunset at Mikuni Beach Posted by Hello

Sunday, August 08, 2004

In Thailand Erin and were sitting in the Phi Phi Bakery eating breakfast and watching CNN when I saw the words Fukui Prefecture flash across the screen. I actually stood up and said "I live there" because I was so shocked. There was a huge typhoon that came through (while I was gone) and flooded the river and a large part of the city. You can still see all of the damage, some of our students had to move out of their houses for months while they are cleaned and repaired. It was really suprising and a little sad.

Another disappointing aspect of the flood is that they canceled the Fukui Festival because of all the damage and that means there was no Yosakoi dancing for me. I was really looking forward to dancing in the festival. The might re-schedule the dancing for another festival in September, but I'm not sure yet.

I am now on holiday (John constantly points out that it is not vacation but holiday because of course the Queen's English is proper and despite Japan teaching American English it is completely wrong...according to John). I have 9 days and almost no plans. It is going to be nice to just lay about, go to the beach and not have any schedule!