Week 62: Happy November!

Ok, I mean, TECHNICALLY, Halloween was on Monday, but really, almost everyone had gotten their Halloween out over the weekend.

But hey, I did go to ONE party this week.  Tuesday. November 1.  :)  The adult English class held their party then.  Of course, Adults weren't the only ones to come.

But we did get to play games

I never did get the point of this one.

don't eat Pete

She ate too much Candy, so her mom took over the eating part.

Then there was food.

YAY FOOD

And it got a little late

So eventually we all went home and that was the last of our Halloween.  All that was left was marking the papers left over from class.

this was honestly my favorite one.

See how he's running away from the Jack-o-lantern, because they guard houses! :)

Wednesday's big thing was, I was still suffering fatigue and I thought "well...maybe I"m dehydrated. I doubt it though."  after about two hours and a gallon of water, I felt much better.  So I think I was dehydrated.  I've been forcing myself to drink more water now, and am feeling MUCH better as a result.

I guess I forgot to take into account how dry the air has been lately.

Thursday helped a lot too. It was a day off!  I slept in! I laid about my bed and read!  I did laundry and cleaned my room and organized my fridge!  I got SO much accomplished, and all before noon!  And then I went out.

I have no idea why they had the day off, and the only festival I saw didn't interest me, so I went shopping.  Had a few things I needed to pick up.

I was not the only one with that idea.

It was actually pretty darn crowded, but any time I went to take a picture, this happened. :P

I saw some fun stuff!

This cake has seen things.

This cat purse regrets what it has seen.

Yes, they are selling Santa masks. That's not creepy at all.

And I got the stuff I needed, which mostly was a walk outside. :)  I headed back home with my spoils and then took the Sister missionaries out to dinner.  Well, it was going to be an appointment, but the people couldn't make it, so we made it dinner.

I still find it odd how much Japan loves Indian food.

GUESS WHAT THEY HAD!

Sakura Lassi

Throw that on the list of odd Sakura flavored things I've had! :)

I had to go back to school on Friday, but after such a lovely Thursday, I felt much better about it.

Saturday was much like Thursday. Sleeping in, cleaning up, etc.  Then in the afternoon, I headed off! Festival time! (it's an addiction, it really is.)

There were SO many festivals this weekend, and one of them was a metalworking festival I remembered seeing last year and wanting to go, but I was sick, so I thought I'd check it out this year. Then I saw it was in Miki.  "Miki, hummm, that sounds familiar...Oh, right! Summer camp was in Miki!.....2 hours away.  Lets go to Kyoto!" :P

So there were two festivals in the Kyoto area I wanted to see, one was "Shinsenen Kyogen- A classic Japanese Performance art"  Ok, so Kyogen means "mad words" and is a traditional comedy that teaches Buddhist beliefs through funny stories.  This particular form of Kyogen is done in masks with no dialogue.  So I figured I'd understand as much as anyone else.

the stage

The only problem was...

no pictures.

But..... yeah.

I wanted you to see them anyhow.

I found it interesting how they kept the masks on.

with lots of strings.

And I'm not sure WHAT teaching the first play covered unless it was, "if you get attacked by a spider demon, don't lose."

isn't his coat GREAT?!

look at that thing, I want one.

paper streamers to simulate webbing.

 The demon was defeated in the end.  And about this time I got in trouble for taking pictures, so I stopped.  (so did everyone else taking pictures, so I didn't feel too bad) :P

The next play was much more comedic, it was about a burglar who was thwarted when the servant coated him in soap so he and his masters could get away, and everyone started slipping all over the stage.

I really only had two complaints.

1) from what I've seen, all Japanese theater is the exact OPPOSITE of fast paced.

2) it was accompanied by the same two measures of music the entire time played by gong and high pitched flute. I was constantly torn between annoyed and asleep.  :P

I still enjoyed it a great deal, but it is definitely an acquired taste.

I checked out the nearby shrine/garden.

very picturesque

And then I went to the second festival!  It was in a city nearish to Kyoto, so I figured I'd see it while I was out.

lantern festival!

Remembering that my phone doesn't like night pictures, bear with me.

This is a festival celebrating Kusatsu, which was an important post station in the Samurai period.

SPARKLY

you can tell kids made this. They colored plastic bottles.

At least it was easy to find.

The streets that were included were lined with little lights.

some bigger than others

And the venues that were incorporated had booths and food and music.

There were some lovely shrines and temples along the walk.

what you can SEE...

and me without marshmallows

they had soft music playing, that was nice.

And there were lanterns EVERYWHERE

the only carved pumpkins I saw all night

these are made out of tofu boxes. Recycling!

a more traditional lantern

this one is an advertisement for the night.

I liked these

TOTORO!!!

And at one point I saw a bunch of people going into a house, so I was like..."that looks like a tourist thing.  I wonder if it is?  What if I just get in line...."

and it was!

It was a historical house!

that's a really open floor plan

ooOOOOoo

the coloring there is lights.

the kitchen!

Daimyo toilet... :P

But it was really neat to see!

Oh, and there was one shrine that gave me fire!

BWAHAHAHA...I gave it back after.

And there was a historical crafts section!

Shamisen break it down

Black smithing!

how do they DO that?!

these lanterns are made of wrought iron lace.

::sigh:: I want to throw again.

glass art

Wood working

look! the kid gets to help!

It got a little chilly, so I was glad I was wearing all the layers I was.

In all, it was a lovely day.  Lots of walking, the evening was a calm and pleasant festival.  (some day I will learn how to spell pleasant without spell check)  Though there was so much to see, I almost wish the festival had lasted another half hour.  :)  Since the town was outside Kyoto, I got a seat on the ride back

which one, which one

Which would not have been an option if I had picked up the train in Kyoto.  It was a fast train, so it went almost directly to my stop, and then I had to limp home.  I was tired, chilled and just so content, I died and slept wonderfully. :)

Hope your week was wonderful too!