Jack-o-Lanterns and 1 Creepy Clown

Kari Writes:

As promised - Ian did indeed get dressed up for the safety festival!

Once we got to the community center they informed us that Ian was going to be the "piero" which means clown (borrowed from French).  They really went all out with it too:

Mr Piero himself!

Pretty excellent right?  Also a tad creepy!  The kids didn't really know what to think of him!

Clown, Skeleton, and a stylish Mummy

Our trusty float!

So the basic gist of this festival is that each neighborhood in Akasaki creates a huge float on a cart and walks around for hours and hours (4 - 5 hours total for us!).   This is all organized by the parents of elementary students.  The dads all get dressed up crazy - ours were all classic Halloween goons (aka: Frankenstein, werewolf, mummy, and my personal favorite: zombie nurse)

So the moms, dads, and kids all pull the cart along down the road.  Chanting as we go (in Japanese so i'm not sure what exactly we were saying I think it was something to the effect of "hey look at us!").  We made many many stops along to way.  Because the purpose of this festival is to grant safety to homes and businesses in our neighborhood (for a donation of course).  So we stop and one guy sings something - then all of us sing something else.  And then we're on our way to the next place.

I had it easy - they just handed me a wizard hat and cape!

Thankfully we got to stop and have some drink/snack breaks along the way!  Once we made our way back to the community center the guys got to change out of their costumes and wipe off their faces!  Then it was time for more food and drink and general merriment.  We met a lot of great people in our neighborhood (hopefully we'll still recognize them without their costumes on :p hehe).     

                                                                       

a little collage of the day

Other than the safety festival we haven't done anything else "picture worthy" this month.  We've gone to a couple more Japanese lessons, had dinner with our future eikaiwa ladies, and had our first pottery class.  Which is a pretty neat way to learn something new and make our own souvenirs at the same time!   So far we aren't so great at it and the instructor had to help us a TON.  But I'm hopeful we'll improve over the next couple months!

This weekend we have not one but TWO Halloween parties.  Somehow I don't think Ian will be reprising his role as creepy clown though!

That's all for now!

-Kari

Sports and Shopping

Kari Writes:

Last weekend Ian and I went to see our Junior High girls play in a volleyball tournament.  And HOLY COW!  I knew they were good in practice . . .  but they seriously mopped the floor with the competition!  They didn't lose a single game and their "trophy" was a super awesome spear!  We're so proud of them!!  The boys team also won their tournament the day before.  How lucky are we to be at a school with such an amazing volleyball program??

The tournament was held in Misasa which is close to Kurayoshi.  So we drove around and explored.  We made it to the mall ("Purple Town") and found this at the dollar store:

Surprise! I stabbed you!

We also had our first KFC sighting. Though I have a feeling like the Colonel's original recipe will have some tweaks in Japan!  We've also run across a couple McDonalds but we haven't been in the mood for it yet!

This week has already been busy for us!  We have had an unusual amount of social engagements.  Tuesday we joined Ellen's eikaiwa.  It's basically a group of ladies who get together every couple of weeks to eat snacks and practice English conversation.  We will start hosting our own eikaiwa for our side of town here in the next couple weeks.

Last night we were invited to the town's Japanese lessons.  I was definitely the least proficient speaker there - extra motivation for me to keep practicing!  This crowd was also mostly women.  But very international: Philippines, Mongolia, Brazil, and of course us Americans.  The format for yesterdays lesson was simply pairing up with a partner and chatting in Japanese.  Even though being tossed into the language deep-end can be scary it can also be a great way to see what you can really do!

We received a HUGE daikon radish from our neighbors the other day.  And didn't have the slightest clue as to what we should do with it.  Found this nifty little recipe and made fried daikon cakes. Kind of like a crab cake but more radishy :)

We were so proud we had to take a glamour shot!

Then this weekend Ian will be involved in some way with a local festival of sorts.  I'm hoping he has to wear a costume.  I've got my fingers crossed that I'll have some excellent pictures to share next time!

-Kari