Better late than never ever 2: summer festivals

Oh, this is old, isn't it. It is officially winter*, so let's remenisce of warmer times by finally posting those pictures from the summer festival I went to way back when. This is the backlog of the backlog, so brace yourselves!
*even though it's still a toasty whole 16 degrees outside

There are many reasons to love japanese summer festivals.

For one, you get to dress up in your yukata.

You may also abuse the occasional innocent goldfish.

I named my fish Arne, and I'm pretty sure he died a slow
and painful death. :(

Play some of the more inocuous games and you may be rewarded with something a bit more guilt-free than a living gill-breathing creature. Like, for example, BUBBLES!

BUBBLES!!!!!

It's Japan! Of course they sell video games and consoles in some random market stall!

Also, lot's of seriously awsome probably unhygenic but definitely worth it street-stall-FOOD.

Candy apples <3

Yakisoba is not yuckysoba!

Plus the odd sumo-wrestling ring

But mostly it's all about the food!

CUCUMBERS ON STICKS! Is that too much phallic at once? 0.o
...at least it doesn't look quite as bad as the white-chocolate-dipped stick-mounted bananas...

Yo I put some water in yo water.

IF YOU TOO OLD FOR COTTON CANDY YOU DEAD!

And speaking of food... You probably shouldn't stay tuned for* Better late than never ever 3: a backlog of food-type-things.

*I mean really. I'm sure you have better things to do!

If you're really bored you could go back to part 1.

Tea Ceremony

A Monday Morning Bonus Blog!

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As a reward for my shameless plugging, the school let me join one of their traditional culture classes for free last week.

Short explanation: GenkiJACS offers a variety of course things, of which I'm taking the simplest (and cheapest!) one; just four hours of straight up language class per day. If you want to, you can supplement by having additional conversation classes or some level of culture class (traditional or pop (yes, pop culture does indeed mean what you think it means. Otakus of the world rejoice!)).

So I went to a "n00bs introduction to tea ceremony" last Thursday. This involved borrowing a yukata (simple summer Kimono thing),

The pretty colours are pretty! <3

taking a shoji screen selfie (of course),

Votes are up: Do I love selfies too much?

making tea,

I am apparently something of a tea-whisker natural talent. Who knew!

and then drinking it.

Very carefully crafted yum!

And yes, this did involve me sitting like that (in traditional "seiza" position) for 45 minutes. No I did not give up. After the first 20 it didn't hurt anymore anyway, because I completely lost contact with every sensory organ below my waist. Although admittedly, when the ceremony was done, my process of standing up was not the most graceful moment of my life so far, nor was it a particularly expeditious affair.

But in all seriousness, this was a very cool experience. This tradition is (I think) uniquely Japanese, and very fascinating. As this class was a primarily explanatory thing, I would love to do it again in a more organic fashion to really get into the spirit of the thing.

There is still so much I don't understand about Japan, but I really enjoy learning a little bit more every day. And on that sappy note, I wish you a very happy Monday.