Sorry for the lack of updates, everyone… here’s a quick briefing on what I did the past few days:
Thursday
There was a big fireworks festival in Nishi-koen. There must have been a hundred thousand people there… I’ve never seen it so crowded before. It was a bit stressful trying to find all my friends in the park but I did pull it off. Afterwards Yuta and Christophe and I went for a stroll through Sun Mall. Everyone was wearing yukata (a kind of summer kimono). Christophe tried to pick up a couple girls until he realized that they were 16. To give him credit, it’s impossible to tell how old someone is if they’re wearing a yukata.
Friday
My lab held their farewell party for me in the evening. It started at 6:30ish, at a cozy little izakaya (pub) downtown. By the end they had given me a pair of toy swords and a topknot wig thingie and had me posing like a samurai.
Laughter abound
But he didn’t shoot no deputy
And then we went to the nijikai (second party). You remember how the hobbits are asking about “second breakfast”? Well this is the same thing, except with alcohol. I’m pretty sure they were trying to get me as drunk as possible, and they certainly succeeded. They also made me try some jellyfish salad and, believe it or not, raw horse. Which brings me to my other point: don’t ever tell a Japanese person you’re so hungry you could eat a horse, because they will take you literally.
Saturday
I started out the day with some time to kill, so I went downtown to see what the big festival fuss was about. This weekend was Sendai’s Tanabata Matsuri, one of the largest festivals in Japan, and Sendai’s most famous. Tanabata, or the “star festival”, celebrates the one time of the year when the constellations representing two lovers can meet. The traditional decorations have a paper-mache ball at the top with paper strips or strings with origami hanging down from them.
They range from reasonably simple…
…to ridiculously complex
The decorations are deliberately hung low to allow and encourage you to touch them, and this makes them that much more unique.
Afterwards there was a parade down one of the streets. Thankfully, I arrived early enough to get a seat; the sidewalks were quickly gorged with people in the hour preceding the event.
Yummy! It’s Mr. Ed! :o)
The little girl in the yellow outfit was precious–not sure why they have a mylar dolphin, though….We like to see pictures like today’s entries!
hey jeff!!! goodness its been a while, but i have been reading your entries on the website, so interesting! and beautiful. i am in italy right now with roberto my fiancee and his family i want to show you some pictures just want to make sure your email is jhiner@email…the same ya know…anyway was thinking about you and i miss you. when do you return to the U.S. im coming back august 21st and then after december we are moving to phx and i will continue with undergrad at asu and then do a masters there next fall..anyway talk to you later! email me when you have a chance! ciao bello!
elise