Newsflash!

Hey! Did you guys know that just because the sun is shining, that doesn't mean it warms up in the afternoon? And did you know that when you're riding your bike, pedalling faster doesn't warm up your muscles? It just makes the wind feel colder! Winter, man, I just don't know how the two of us are going to get along (and apparently it's been unseasonably warm)...

So it's been a solid month since I last posted, and of course I have about eight thousand stories to share. But I figure I should take this in bite-size pieces because spending hours in front of the computer can be a little mind-numbing. Lets see if smaller quantities yield more posts!

I went to three more Autumn festivals on October 14th (Oshio in the evening), 15th (Nada in the morning) and 21st (Aboshi in the evening). The first two wore me out on festivals because after awhile they all started to feel exactly the same.



That's me with Kevin and Mac at the Nada festival. I love it because we all look so epically dorky. We had the sweetest seats and we got free snacks and alcohol, though; it pays to be a city employee! But this festival was a lot like the Shinzaike festival a week before, with lots of guys carrying shrines above their heads, so it was hard to get excited.

However, the Aboshi festival the following weekend was really cool. All these guys get snockered and smash paper lanterns together. By the end of the night there's paper and wood scraps everywhere, and all the guys are bruised and scraped up from their moshpitting. I just realized I don't have any pictures...only videos (still trying to figure out how to upload them)!

Festival season is over. Whoo! But my friend Cecy is right...it's good that we went to all of them because there are no more until April, and by then we'll be glad they're back. Plus, I realized that I ended up seeing all the local festivals recommended in the Lonely Planet Japan guide without even trying!

On October 28th, we put on a Halloween party for kids in our neighborhood. Due to a scheduling conflict, only about forty kids came (versus over a hundred last year), but it worked out great! We shuffled them around in groups of ten, and they did pumpkin origami, a few different games, and bag decorating for trick-or-treating. We also showed them how to carve a pumpkin! The kids had a blast, but we had even more fun when they left!

I dressed up as a Koryo Junior High School PE student! I told Enami Sensei I didn't have any ideas for a costume, and she told one of the third graders (eighth grade in The States) to bring me her PE uniform...white knee-high socks and all! It was too perfect.


Just add pigtails!


Julian, the Pumpkin Master.


Allison the zombie pirate trying to eat my brains!

But the best part was when a few of us moved the party from Shirasagi Residence to our favorite local pub, Hosannah. I saw one of my teachers there, and he was totally freaked out! At first he thought I was one of his students!


Ahhh, Katsura Sensei, always a good sport.

So, this blog wasn't all that short, but it wasn't near complete, either. Look forward to stories of food that still moves on your plate!

Over and out.