Honkies in Kimonos update

...Yes, the Yukata was donned, just like in the video!

The fireworks festival was splendid fun, all in all. There was little wind so the smoke did not clear between fireworks, making visibility difficult, but also adding an interesting soft effect. Here are a few photos...

(click to enlarge)


See the full photo set on flickr.

Since the Amagi Fireworks festival, was one of the first events I attended after I arrived last summer, it made me very nostalgic to be back again at the same riverbank, now understanding it in a completely different way. Just like last year, we went under the bridge where I met the new OISCA people.

Hard to believe I've been here a whole year! Frankly impossible really. It always seems like there is so much I don't yet know-- and yet comparing myself to the new batch of ALTs who just arrived, even those whose Japanese level surpasses me from years of college study, i realize how far I've come and that I've learned a lot in Japan.

When I arrived last summer, I was basically an infant. I couldnt even take out the garbage for fear that I would not sort it correctly. It was a very frustrating experience for the first few months with no predacessor, no local community, and little help from my Supervisor, but I feel like over the course of one year, I have really come into my own.

obligatory cultural posturing

Tomorrow my I'll be scampering around the hometown with my girlfriend, taking in the Summer Fireworks Festival in a yukata borrowed from her brother. Yukata are the Japanese summer version of the stuffy kimono. Less complicated and constrictive than the average kimono, yukata are usually the attire of choice for enjoying hanabi (fireworks, lit. fire-flowers) and grilled squid at the very uniform summer festivals. They come in both men's and women's styles, the men's being loose and free-flowing, much like a bathrobe, and the women's being constrictive, creating a giant gift out of the human female, complete with colorful wrapping paper and a decorative bow.

And with that, I will be joining the ranks of white people in kimonos/japanese clothes, at whom i have long scoffed at. Oh well. Here's how it's done:



And yes, we will necessarily be enjoying Suntory Premium Malts beer during this experience.