Yasumi

PHEW. What a week it's been (has it only been one week?)!
Hanagasa was fantastic! I wore a yukata I bought at Yoku Benimaru Friday during my lunch hour, which I put on all by myself thank-you-very-much! Of course I didn't have any of the ties or anything to keep it together under the obi, but I cut up a towel into a long string and made do with that, haha. It looked pretty decent for my first try at dressing myself in traditional Japanese clothing =) I shouldn't have worn the geta (sandals) that came with it though--five minutes out of the car walking down the street towards the matsuri, I could feel huge blisters spring up under the straps. Not fun at all--they still haven't healed. Oh well.


For Hanagasa, there's a HUGE parade that proceeds down the main street, during which different groups of people perform the Hanagasa dance. It looked absolutely exhausting--they only got a couple of breaks in between. And it was so hot! As always--I've been here three weeks (!!!!!) almost, and the entire time I've felt like melting Jell-O. I'll never get used to being sticky and damp. Even taking a shower makes me sweat!
Anyway, after we watched the parade for a bit, a big group of us headed over to a standing bar where we drank and made merry. Unfortunately some people left without paying, so those of us who remained when it came time to pay the bill ended up paying an extra 2000 yen or so to cover it, since we were 14000 short. >(
After we left the bar we wandered around for a bit. We were loitering outside a convenience store when a couple groups of Japanese girls asked to take a picture with me, so I did. Another guy wanted to take his picture with me too (apparently they get a kick out of seeing a Westerner in a yukata--happy to oblige!), and then he gave me his hanagasa, the hat they use for the dance. It's hanging on my wall now--I love it! Totally worth the six-hours plus spent dying of agony in geta and melting in my yukata. Supposedly we'll be learning the dance at orientation, so maybe next year I'll be able to perform in the parade!
Amanda and I ended up crashing at Jessie's apartment. We slept in super late and then got some lunch and went to the train station to see off some JETs who were leaving. We ran into John on the way, a JET from Fukushima who transferred to Yamagata three months ago because of the earthquake. He's a super nice guy! He's from Boulder, so he and I get to geek out over Colorado together.
Anyway, there was a small group who performed the hanagasa in the station, so we watched them after we saw off the JETs, and then a nice woman who was with our group taught Amanda, John and me the dance. Or tried to, anyway--it was excruciatingly hot and humid, so we only practiced for about ten minutes or so. Then the three of us hung out in the A/C waiting room for a while, and then John wanted to get lunch at an Indian place he knew of near by, so we walked to that. They had JUST closed when we got there, but they were so nice and let us in and served us anyway!
Then we went back to John's apartment and hung out and watched videos, and even meditated for twenty minutes or so--he follows this online meditation class (I can't remember the name), and so he wanted to show us that. It was an interesting experience--I think I'm definitely going to ask him for  the link again and try and pick it up. I'm not the most patient person in the world, so I think meditating might help me relax and let go of whatever anxiety about waiting I have.
Amanda drove us home around 6, where we met up with Peter and Ben (who had left earlier in the day by train), and Susie and Amber, who are nearby JETs  that just came back from visiting home in England, and went to Nishida-mama's restaurant for dinner. Then we went to Loft Munk, where Ben, Peter and Susie played a game of pool, and then we went home.

Sunday morning, Nishida-mama took Ben and I to Mount Haguro. We went with her, Takkun, Mai's boyfriend, and jii-chan (whose name is Hideharu--pronounced jokingly Hideharu!). I thought we were going to climb it, but she drove us to the top and parked and we walked around and saw the shrine and had lunch. The shrine isn't normally open, but for some special reason that day it was, and there were priests performing a ceremony. It was very auspicious!
Nishida-mama bought me an omikuji, a temple fortune. It came with a cute little turtle sticker (which is now on my phone), and advice to take things one at a time, as they come, and be patient because I was going to live a long life. The omikuji I got from Tougawa Shrine last year with Higuchi-tou-san told me the same thing--huh. Guess I haven't learned yet! Thus, meditation.

We went to a fish market after Mount Haguro, and Nishida-mama bought lots of fish for a BBQ later that night.

After we got back from Mount Haguro, Nishida-mama took us to Sports Do, a sporting goods store near our apartment, because Ben and I wanted to buy workout gear and she knows the owner so she could get them to sell stuff to us for cheap. I got a yoga ball (for my desk chair!), a jump rope, a shirt, and an aerobics ball. We also ordered weight sets, which we're picking up today, and I ordered a mat as well.

Then we went back home, where I think I napped or organized or something, and then Ben and I went to the station to meet some JETs, since apparently there was a welcome party for the Shinjo JETs that night. I only went for a little bit, then biked over to Nishida-mama's for the BBQ since she had bought all that food.
Peter came over after about an hour and gave Nishida-mama a bottle of wine and a post card from Ireland to thank her for all she's done for us, and then she and Aya proceeded to bicker (lovingly) over who would be Peter's girlfriend. It was amusing--Peter says he's never gotten this much attention, and for doing so little! Guess it pays to be a cute gaijin boy in Japan.
At one point a cicada commited suicide by jumping into the firepit--which scared the crap out of me because it made this god-awful noise as it hit the coals. We couldn't help but laugh, because it was really morbidly hilarious.

This past week at the city office, Ben and I accomplished very little. We mainly just sat around, sometimes working on prep stuff for our first classes, most of the time just playing around on our iPhones. On Tuesday we met with all the teachers and I helped the one from Hagino-chuu with the speeches  for the speech contest in September. We also decided about cars--we're renting them starting September 1. Hopefully we'll be able to buy a used one from another JET soon, because we'll be paying around 30,000 yen a month for the car, which is what you'd expect to pay for a nice new car back in the States. According to Susie and Amber, there are loads of people selling their cars, but that's on the Yamagata Social Google group, which Ben and I have yet to be added to. Once that happens, though, we'll hopefully be able to find someone to buy a car from.

We also got to see a ton of fireworks this week! Nishida-mama took us to a place in Akita prefecture for some on Monday, and then we went to Tsuruoka on Wednesday night. It was fun--on Monday, Nishida-mama  dressed me up in one of her yukata to wear, and on Wednesday we got to meet Sean and Nelson, new JETs who just came with Group B who are living in Sakata (which is where Susie is). They're awesome guys--Sean is from England, and Nelson is from Canada, and they're hilarious. I haven't met one person that I don't like yet, and I'm hoping I never do.

Apparently we get three days of summer vacation in addition to our twenty days of normal paid leave, but we can only use those three days between July and September, so Ben and I are taking this Friday, Monday and Tuesday off, which is what most Japanese people are doing for obon, which is a sort of Buddhist festival to honor the ancestors. Our plan is to go to Fukushima City from Saturday afternoon till Monday night or Tuesday morning to see his friends that live there. Rina, my friend from Yamagata University who studied abroad at CSU a few years ago, might be able to meet us there too! She lives in Sendai, which isn't too far away from Fukushima City, and she says it'd actually be closer for her to go to Fukushima  instead of Shinjo. So yay!

Ben and I got Kappazushi for dinner last night, then went to Yamazawa to buy organizational stuff from the small 100 yen section they have there. We dropped off our stuff and went to Bulldog, this Spencer's-esque store just a little bit south of us. I love that place--once I get my paycheck next Friday I'm definitely going back to get a jewelry organizer and some big bins to organize my closet with. We left Bulldog around 9 or so and then came back and drank and watched The Dark Knight--or most of it. I got restless halfway through so we went for a walk instead, and then decided to call it a night.

Why is it that on the days I can actually sleep in, I still wake up at 7 or 8? It's not fair. At least I got some laundry done--and I should probably get dressed since Nishida-mama will be here in about half an hour to take Ben and me to get our weights from Sports Do. Today will be cleaning, finishing laundry, and then helping Takkun do his English homework. xD