I should've posted this about a week ago

First, I want to let everyone know that while I did fail my driver's license test three times, there is a good reason. Take a look:


Mess up once, and FAIL!



My summer vacation ended today, rather unceremoniously. Had work today for some reason, but no classes. Spent the entirety of the day studying. Summer vacation was fun, as is any extended period of time when you have A) money and B) lots of free time. The ALTs in the area have changed, some went home, some became career english teachers elsewhere in japan, and some became ski bums. all very exciting. the new group of replacements should do just fine (think "first night in Shawshank" - FRESH FISH! FRESH FISH!).


So last week I spent some time a little north of my town. Went for a night to Oma, for the town festival. My friend Kathleen teaches there so we hung out with some of her friends, one of whom lent me an evidently expensive yukata (traditional summer clothes).

Kathleen & I with one of the locals:
Us in front of one of the floats that are pulled through the town fo Oma during the festival. Each day, a different group of men pull one of four through different sections of town, stopping periodically at particular houses to eat and drink. At 10 pm, on the last day, they stagger towards the town temple with the floats behind them, reuniting the shrines they're pulling at the main temple.


Singing some sort of chant upon reaching the temple and opening a gigantic barrell of sake:


Us with some of her adult students from town- the lady of the far right lent me the yukata:


On the stairs leading up to the temple:


The next day kathleen and I hopped on the ferry to Hakodate, a city in Hokkaido just across from Oma. Two of our friends had already spetn the night there and we met up with them for the day.

Exploring the morning fish market:


the morning market just looked like this, but for several large blocks and open warehouses...


Toby is suspicious that other might push him into the crab tank:


Joann in the clutches of a GIGANTIC (...) Hokkaido bear:


Me in the clutches of a Hello! Kitty knockoff:


Lucky Pierrot's! Best burgers for thirty longitude:


At Lucky Pierrot's, two things are in large quantitiies: grease and hyphens


Hakodate was one of the first ports to open to foreign trade after Japan opened itself up to the international world (well, after Admiral Perry almost blasted them into nothing over a few buckets of miso). That means there's a lot of old Western!-style architecture around Hakodate; a treat for them, nicely familiar to the rest of us.


Hakodate had excitement at every corner:


we went to a tropical plant garden. It also had monkeys. The monkeys were filthy.



Our little group around sunset in Hakodate harbor:


You can get a gondola ride up Mt. Hakodate at night to see the "Third best night View in Asia"

Taking the midnight ferry back. Note that instead of seats, they have small areas where you just take off your shoes and sit on the floor. Hey, it's clean. It's Japan.


THE NEXT DAY was the Oma Blue Marine festival (unrelated to the festival about; this was not religious and more of a public relations deal).

People line up to get tickets for chance at famous Oma tuna sashimi:


They had boat races!


...and power rangers!


...and ladies with fish hats who danced!


and fireworks!

This was taken on the way home from Oma. Dave (new Mutsu ALT) and I noticed the squid boats at work in the bay, which is an incredible sight. They light up the sky like a small city, strung with lots of high-powered light bulbs to bring the squid to the surface.


Some pictures of those of us who made ti to Oma, mostly newbies, some grizzled vets like myself:

Aomori Nebuta

Nebuta is aomori's most famous festival. Basically, people pull gigantic floats through the streets of the city; each float (or nebuta) is commissioned by an organization or company that does business in the prefecture. The power company has one, as does a local superconductor factory. Each year the english teachers are allowed to dance with the prefectural government nebuta.

First, you gotta get your dancing clothes on:

I don't remember what these particular outfits are called, but they are specific to the nebuta festival. Basically, they're supposed to become unraveled as your dance and stuff. they're also covered with bells that fall off as you dance. These are given thrown to the crowd for good luck.


These are all the english teachers/tranlsators in the Shimokita region, i.e. the only non-japanese people I can hang out with if I'm willing to drive about two hours.


English teachers assembling before the dancing starts. "No drinking booze," we're told, "stay hydrated." Half of those rules are obeyed.


This is the prefectural government nebuta. It's basically colored paper over a wooden frame. You can't see, but below the lit part are about thirty guys pulling the thing.


Oma-machi teacher Kathleen poses in front of the nebuta. you can see the underside of the nebuta better in this picture.


the parade route. getting ready and waiting.


...and we're off! we're held in a roped off area (the rope is carried by lots of guys so we can move within the parade).


how to dance in the aomori nebuta parade: jump on your right foot once, slide it forward once, do the same with the left foot, repeat for two hours.


as we danced, small children stood at the side of the parade route with fans, helping to keep us cool in exchange for the bells that fell off as we danced. if your bells werent falling off, you werent dancing hard enough.


there's large musical groups playing flutes and drums and assorted traditional instruments/music.... this si the only shot that really turned out ok.


these guys pulled a PA system in front of the dancing group. we he started shouting "RA-SE-RA, RA-SE-ERAU" you shout back "RA-SE, RA-SE, RA-SE-ERAU!" and start shuffling those feet:


I hope this works:


one of the bands:


all I gotta say is this: shin splints.